After Hours If you have an urgent issue after regular business hours, please call the main office number. The operator will take your name, date of birth, phone number, reason for call, and help you reach our on-call medical provider. The on-call medical provider returns patients phone calls as soon as possible and assists them with urgent medical issues that cannot wait until regular business hours. In case of emergency, please call 911.

Appointment Hours Our offices are open Monday through Friday. Portage office opens at 8 AM everyday while Merrillville office opens at 8:30 AM. Each office is open 1 Saturday a month to accommodate our patients who are unable to make it because of their work schedule. Portage is open 1st Saturday of the month and Merrillville office is open 2nd Saturday of every month. Please see office hours below. Appointment can be made by calling 219-762-3196 for Portage and 219-769-2258 for Merrillville or request an appointment.

Financial Responsibility As a patient it is in your best interest to know and understand your insurance plan benefits and responsibility for any deductibles, co-insurance, or co-payment amounts prior to any visit. Please have your current insurance card with you at all appointments, as well as a government issued photo ID. You are responsible to notify us of your insurance plan and to provide us the necessary information about your insurance policy. It is your responsibility to know your insurance company’s patient responsibilities and procedures. Not all services are covered in all insurance contracts. If your insurance plan does not cover a service, or procedure, you are responsible for payment of these charges. To find out what your insurance plan covers and what your financial obligation may be, call the customer service or member services department of your insurance company (the phone numbers are on your insurance card). If you do not have any insurance coverage for the visit please notify us when you schedule the appointment and a time of service payment will be due at the time of visit. Resolution of any outstanding balance is expected prior to obtaining additional services from our practice.

HIPAA Privacy Policy Protecting the privacy of your health information is important. The Privacy Rule requires us to give you access and copies of our Notice of Privacy Practices. Prior to signing acknowledgment of the privacy rule you have a right to access, review.

Laboratory Testing The lab services are provided by LabCorp. For your convenience these services are provided in both of our facilities. In order to ensure accurate laboratory testing is done, a patient must have an order for lab tests from one of our medical providers. We use LabCorp for our lab services; however a patient that does not wish to use this lab must request an alternate lab service prior to any lab work. The lab service may bill your insurance separately for any test we do not bill for in our office. The turnaround time on lab results can vary, however routine labs usually take 2-3 business days, while cultures and biopsies generally take 1-2 weeks. All lab results that are received are reviewed by the medical provides. Results are reviewed and discussed with patients at the time of next appointment.

Late Appointment Arrival We strive to see all patients on time for their scheduled appointments. If you are a returning patient please plan to arrive at least 10 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment to check in. New patients please arrive 30 minutes prior to your appointment to complete the new patient paperwork. If you arrive 10 or more minutes late for your appointment time, you may be asked to reschedule for the next available appointment time.

Missed Appointment A missed appointment is when you fail to show up for an appointment without a phone call, fail to cancel within one business day or arrive 15 minutes past your scheduled appointment time. A broken appointment is a loss to everyone. Please inform us 24 hours in advance if you are unable to keep your appointment. A $50.00 fee will be assessed without 24 hours cancellation notice. Please advise staff at time of service if there are any changes in insurance or personal information.

Parental Consent for a Minor When parents cannot be present at the time of their child’s appointment, it is the policy of our offices that no child under the age of thirteen will be treated in the office without a designated adult chaperone present. Children between the ages of thirteen and eighteen who will be coming to the office alone must either have a signed or verbal consent form on file prior to being treated.

Phone Messages In order to provide the best care possible to our patients and allow our scheduled patients to be seen by our medical providers without multiple interruptions our medical staff are available to take messages for our medical providers during office hours. When leaving a message please indicate your name, the patient’s name, date of birth, the reason for your call, and phone number where you can be reached. The medical staff will alert your medical provider about the message and will call back with the providers response in a timely manner. This may take up to 3-4 business days Please be aware that certain messages may require a visit with a medical provider.

Preauthorization & Referral Some insurance plans may require pre-authorization, or referrals for services, tests, and medications. It is your responsibility to know your insurance company’s patient responsibilities and procedures. If proper insurance procedures are not followed, you may be liable for full payment of the bill. If your insurance company requires a referral and/or prior authorization you must contact our office at least 7 business days prior to seeing a specialist or having any testing done. Please check and make sure if the doctors you may be referred to is in network with your insurance.

Prescription Refill Guidelines **Please contact your pharmacy directly for all refills ** Most pharmacies have automated services for this purpose. If no refills remain on your prescription, request your pharmacy to fax a refill request to our office at 219-763-6438 for Portage and 219-769-2743 for Merrillville. Refill requests are processed daily. Avoid calling the office directly for refills unless problems arise while attempting to follow the instructions shown here. Refills can take up to 5-7 business days to process. Please plan appropriately. No controlled substances or narcotics or antibiotics will be authorized over the phone, after hours or over weekends An office visit may be required for refills. ​ We have developed a policy for handling prescription refills in the hope that our time may be spent caring for our patients and delivering the best care possible. One way we try to keep our medical assistants available to take patient phone calls with urgent problems and questions is by limiting pharmacy and medication refill calls. Please notify your pharmacy if you are requesting refills and have them fax your refill request to our office at 219-763-6438 or 219-769-3643 for Portage and Merrillville offices respectively. Prescription refills are only done during our regular business hours and will be responded to within 5 business days. When a refill by phone is necessary, please be prepared to provide the name of the medication, strength, dosage, and the pharmacy name, address and phone number. No controlled substances and antibiotics are prescribed over the phone. Your refill request may require a visit with our medical providers. PLEASE ALLOW 10 BUSINESS DAYS FOR THE REFILLS BEFORE RUNNING OUT AS YOUR INSURANCE MAY REQUIRE PRIOR AUTHORIZATION. MOST MAIL ORDER PHARMACIES TAKE 2-3 WEEKS TO PROCESS ANY REFILLS. WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THEIR PROCESSING OF THE REFILLS. PLEASE ALLOW YOURSELF THIS TIME BEFORE RUNNING OUT OF YOUR MEDICINES.

Protected Health Information In accordance with HIPAA The Practice may use and disclose protected health information about patients to carry out treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. Our offices may call a patient’s home or other designated location and leave a message on voicemail or in person in reference to any items that assist the practice in carrying out healthcare operations, such as appointment reminders, insurance items, collection calls, and any calls pertaining to clinical care, including laboratory results among others. The Practice may mail to a patient’s home or other designated location any items that assist the practice in carrying out healthcare operations, such as appointment reminder cards and patient statements. A patient may revoke their consent to disclose protected health information in writing except to the extent that the practice has already made disclosures in reliance with their prior consent and upon a patient revoking consent The Practice may decline to provide treatment to the patient.