Patient Education Center

Office Hours
The office is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday. MRI hours are 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and some weekends. In observance of New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, the office is closed. If you have any questions, please call us at (757) 596-1900.

Appointments
We attempt to schedule all appointments according to the patient's needs. Some insurance plans require a referral by your primary care provider before appointments are made. We will do our best to follow these requirements but it is the responsibility of the patient to know the requirements of their particular health plan. Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian at the time of their appointment. Emergency appointments can lead to unscheduled delays. We will keep you informed of delays and reschedule appointments as necessary.

Workers’ Compensation patients may not cancel their appointments and reschedule them if they are out of work.

What to Bring to Your Appointment:

• Current insurance information and cards
• Co-pay and deductible payments
• Any insurance required referral number
• A list of medications you are currently taking
• Any recent medical records and/or x-rays from other physicians pertaining to the problem
• Referral Form from Primary Care Provider (PCP) if necessary

Medical Questions & Emergencies
If you have medical questions, problems or special needs, you are encouraged to call the office at (757) 596-1900 during regular hours. If you have an emergency after hours, our regular office phone number will connect you with the answering service. The answering service will contact the doctor on call, who will respond to your emergencies.

If you go to an emergency room, you may request our physicians for your orthopaedic treatment.

Please do not call after regular hours to discuss prescriptions, insurance, or non-urgent questions. Calls after regular business hours should be on an emergency basis only.

Prescriptions and Renewals
Prescriptions and renewals of prescriptions should be completed during a regular office visit. In exceptional cases, renewal prescriptions can be handled by telephone during regular office hours when the patient's chart and information are available to the physicians and staff.

Financial/Insurance Procedures
It is the responsibility of the patient to pay for medical treatment. Insurance is filed as a courtesy to patients. Payment is due at time of service, however, no one will be denied urgent care due to inability to pay. This office participates in most health insurance plans. Please ask for information regarding your coverage.

As a convenience to our patients, we will file all insurance claims, primary and supplementary, using our computer system. Patients, insurance companies and doctor's offices can make mistakes and it requires the assistance of all three parties to make the process go smoothly. We process refunds for over-payment on a monthly basis.

Any questions about surgical charges should be directed to the accounting staff. Follow your monthly statements to keep track of payments by your insurance company.

Workers’ Compensation Accounts
Workers’ compensation claims are verified with the employer or their compensation carrier. The address and claim number of the compensation carrier, not the employer, are required for treatment. Patients will not receive a bill unless the claim is denied by the employer or the carrier. In that case, the patient will be responsible for all medical expenses.

MRI Services
Magnetic Resonance Imaging plays an important role in orthopaedic care. MRI allows the doctor to see inside your body without surgery or other invasive radiological techniques. We are proud to offer the newest and most comfortable MRI equipment in the area as part of our practice. If your doctor decides that you should have an MRI scan, our staff will obtain appropriate authorization from your insurance carrier.

Delinquent Accounts
We realize that medical care can be quite expensive and that patients are frequently out of work due to their injury or illness. If you anticipate financial problems, please discuss it with our accounting staff to make appropriate arrangements. When no payment is made on the account after 60 days, it is considered delinquent and special attempts to contact the responsible party will be made by telephone and mail. If no attempt is made by the patient to settle the account after 90 days, the account will be given to our collection attorney or credit bureau. The patient will then be responsible for collection fees and risk damaging their credit status.