Appointments
Physician, nurse, and laboratory visits are by appointment only. Please call during business hours to schedule, cancel, or reschedule appointments. Visits can also be scheduled when checking out from an office visit.
Prescriptions
In general, prescription refills should be obtained at the time of your physician visit. If you find that you will need a refill prior to a visit, please do one of the following:
- Contact your pharmacy and ask that they send a refill request to our office. With some pharmacies this can be accomplished with their automated refill line. They will either send an electronic refill request or a fax request to our office. This is the best option, since it will reduce the chance of a medication error.
- Place a refill request through the patient portal.
- You may call our office during business hours as well. Please have the bottle available to provide information to the nurse or receptionist.
Please allow one-two business days to process your request. Since most medicines require physician monitoring, you may be asked to schedule an appointment prior to the prescription refill.
Controlled substance refills. The DEA sets regulations regarding controlled substance refills. To comply with regulations, patients on schedule II medications (narcotics and stimulants) will be required to be seen every 3 months; patients on schedule III-V medications (sedatives and anxiolytics) will be required to be seen every 6 months. If you have not been seen in the appropriate time frame, a doctor visit will be required in order to get refills of these medications.
Test Results
Our office policy is that you will be notified by phone or mail regarding the results of every test ordered by our physicians, whether normal or abnormal. In general, if you have not heard about your test result after one week, please contact our office. Please be aware that some test results (e.g. pap smears) may take longer than one week.
Referrals
Some insurance requires referrals from our office for certain types of care. (This may include consultations, X-rays, procedures, surgeries, and diagnostic tests.) For services ordered by our physicians, please contact our office with information including the date of appointment or procedure, and the facility or physician. When our office arranges the test or appointment, please ask if the referral has been completed. The staff will inform you if there is paperwork that you need to pick up prior to the appointment. For services ordered by a consulting physician, please contact their office.
Test and Consultation Scheduling
For your convenience, we will provide the information needed so that you can arrange the visit to meet your schedule. If you prefer, we may be able to assist you in scheduling a test or a consultation ordered by our physicians. Should you need to reschedule or cancel a test, please contact that office or facility directly.
On-Call Physician
Should you require urgent or emergent medical care when our office is closed, a physician is available to advise you. To page the physician on call, call 249-1212, which is the Carlisle Regional Medical Center operator. If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, call 911.
Insurance Information
Unfortunately health insurance can be confusing and cumbersome. To insure proper billing, please present all of your insurance cards each time you come to the office. Patients are responsible to know and understand their coverage and benefits. If you know of any special circumstances, please inform our reception staff. We participate in many of the local insurance plans, including Capital Blue Cross, Highmark Blue Shield, Gateway, Health America/Assurance, Keystone, Aetna/US Healthcare, Medicaid and Medicare. In addition, we also accept many plans that we do not participate in. Please ask our staff about your plan if you have any questions.
Payments
Payment is expected at the time of service for any amounts not covered by insurance. This includes any co-payments or deductibles. These amounts are arrangements between you and your insurance company. Reduction of these charges is considered fraudulent. We accept cash, check, VISA, and MasterCard. We provide a discount to uninsured patients when full payment is made at the time of service.
Billing
Billing services are performed by our office staff. After insurance payments or adjustments have been posted, you will receive a bill for the remainder owed. Full payment is due immediately. If there are questions about the charges, please contact our billing line at 717-636-3335. If there are questions about the insurance payments or denials please contact your insurance company.
Minors
Except in special cases, as defined by law, all children under 18 years old must be accompanied by a legally responsible adult (parent or guardian) to receive medical care. Parents or guardians may give permission for another adult to present the child for care. This permission should be in writing. Please contact our office for guidance.
Medical Records
Our office complies with the federal HIPAA regulations and Pennsylvania law with regard to health information. A copy of our Privacy Policy is available upon request. Medical records will be released in accordance with that policy.
HIPAA Policy |