Office Procedures

Office Hours are from 8:30 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M., EST Monday thru Friday.

Primary Care Physician

In order to promote the highest standard of care, our physicians limit your care to rheumatological conditions. Therefore, it is necessary that all our patients have a primary care physician that they see every year for an annual examination.

New Patient

Our physicians allot 45 minutes for a New Patient Consultation and Exam. For this reason, it is very important to cancel or confirm your appointment 48 hours in advance. This will enable our office to serve other patients who otherwise may have to wait several weeks for an appointment. Appointments canceled less than 48 hours in advance will not be rescheduled.

No Show Policy

Our office provides a courtesy call to all of our established patients several days prior to your scheduled appointment. You may receive an automated call, so please listen to the entire message and respond as requested. If you are unable to keep an appointment, we request that you call our office at least 24 hours in advance so we may utilize the space to care for other patients. Therefore, patients who do not choose to call our office within 24 hours to cancel their appointment, will be charged a $25 no-show fee and may be dismissed from the practice on the third occasion.

Refill Policy

We try to provide you with all of the prescriptions we prescribe at your appointment time. We request that you call for refills several days prior to your last dose. We ask that refill calls be made Monday thru Friday during office hours only, unless you have an emergency. You may leave your refill request by the use of our automated phone system. Please be sure to leave the medication and dosage. Please allow 48 hours for our office to respond to your request. Please do not leave duplicate messages as this prolongs a response. You may check with your pharmacy after 4:40 to see if your prescription has been filled. It is our policy not to call in controlled medication (narcotics) after normal business hours Monday – Thursday or after 12:00 noon on Friday.

Phone Calls and Emergencies

Due to the number of calls we receive and the volume of patients we are caring for, it is impossible for us to personally answer all phone calls. However, we will attend to your needs as soon as possible.  Please leave a detailed message for the appropriate department by using the automated phone system and your call will be returned within 48 hours. Return calls will be made by the medical assistant once your physician has reviewed your chart and delivered instructions. In the event of an immediate emergency, please call 911.

For after hours Rheumatology emergencies, you can reach us at 859-254-7000 and follow the prompts to leave a message for the on-call physician. Once the message is received, you will receive a return call. 

Test Results

In efforts to provide the best care for you, if your tests  are abnormal, you will be contacted by phone with results and recommendations.

Coordination of Care

In efforts to improve the coordination of care, your visit summary will be forwarded to your referring provider. If you have additional providers needing this information, please let one of our staff members know.

Release of Information and Form Completion

 
The relationship between the doctor and patient is confidential and any information exchanged will be held in the strictest confidence. Therefore, confidential medical information will be released only with expressed consent and through completed on an authorization form. 
 
 
Additionally,due to the volume of requests we receive for form completion, please submit the form to your physicians medical records staff member. If the form is one our physicians can complete, it will be processed. Requests may take up to thirty days to complete. In addition, there may be a fee of $25 of greater applied to your account depending on the type of form requested. 
 
 

Insurance and Private Pay Procedures

Please check with your insurance provider to see if a referral is necessary from your primary care physician to see our specialists. It is your responsibility to obtain the necessary referral information in order for your insurance to pay for services. In the event that your referral has not been received, your appointment will be rescheduled. Co-payments and deductibles are due at time of service (this includes Medicare 20% co-pay and deductible). If a co-payment is not made at time of service, a $10.00 billing fee will be applied to your account. If a patient does not have insurance, payment is due in full on the day of service. Prior arrangements can be made with our insurance department. We do not process secondary claims unless it is with one of the following insurances: Medicare, Anthem, BCBS, CHA Health, Bluegrass Family Health, Humana, United Healthcare, Aetna or Tricare. If your secondary insurance is not listed, we do not file it. As a courtesy, we will supply you with a form for you to submit to your insurance carrier.

Due to the expense of processing fees from our bank, we charge a $25.00 service fee for returned checks.

 

Our office does not perform examinations for disability, work related injuries, functional capacity, or auto related injuries.