Telephone and Telehealth appointments
Effective 3/15/22: As many of you know, our physician assistants have been successfully able to help many of our patient’s with day to day questions or resolve small health issues over the phone. As the volume of these calls has continued to increase over the last couple of years, as well as the complexity of medical issues which are being peripherally managed, we have decided to make a couple of small changes so that we may continue to offer these services for you and care for you in the most robust manner.
Now when calling with medical questions or concerns you may be asked to schedule a telephone or telehealth appointment to speak with the provider.
These appointments are directed at certain more complex health issues, which do not necessarily require a full in person visit, but do require provider intervention (such as ordering new medications, adjusting medications/doses, ordering additional labs/imaging, or assessing a new symptoms). The determination of whether a patients questions/symptoms/concerns warrant a telehealth appointment such as this will be made on a case-by-case basis. These appointments will now be billed to your health insurance provider and will be a bit more encompassing. You will be notified and aware if you have been recommended to schedule such a telehealth appointment with one of our providers. We appreciate your understanding of this change as we continue to strive to provide you with the prompt, efficient, and excellent health care you deserve.
These appointments are available to established patient’s only who have been seen in the office within the last 12 calendar months or are awaiting their annual follow up. This service is not available to any new patients. Not all conditions or concerns are eligible for a telehealth visit.
Telehealth Appointments
These are appointments with a mid level provider or physician that involve both video and audio. These appointments are initiated by patient’s who call with cardiac questions/symptoms/concerns that may require adding a new medication, adjustments to a current medication, or ordering of additional testing/blood work. These appointments will be billed to your medical insurance and co-pays are equivalent to an in person office visit.
Telephone Appointments
These are telephone calls with a mid level provider or physician that were initiated by a patient’s concern and exceed 5 minutes in length. They typically do not require medication adjustments or ordering of additional labs/testing. You will be notified at the initiation of the call that if your call exceeds 5 minutes that your insurance company will be billed. Co-pays for these appointments are typically lower than an in-person office visit.