Office Hours: 8am - 5 pm, Monday through Thursday . On Fridays 8am - 4:30pm. Our office is open throughout the lunch hour for appointments but the phones are rolled over to an answering service. Physician hours may vary.
Messages to the Physician: We attempt to answer all calls by the end of the day. Please let us know if your call is urgent and needs immediate attention. You may reach the doctor directly for non-urgent issues via e-mail by registering at www.relayhealth.com. There may be a fee for this service. Do not e-mail and call in your message at the same time. This causes confusion and further delays our response time.
Telephone Treatment: For our patients who are too busy to come in, it is possible in some circumstances to prescribe over the phone. There is a $20 administrative charge for this service as it involves the doctor taking time out of her schedule to address this immediately and staff time to coordinate treatment with the patient. To avoid this charge, you may come in for an appointment with the doctor or you can complete a webVisit at www.relayhealth.com. There is a charge for the latter, in most cases your co-payment amount. This fee is determined by your insurance.
Medication Refills: Please contact you pharmacy to fax your request to 949-262-0700. Refills take approximately 48-72 hours to process. There is a $20 charge for rush / urgent prescription refills. You are responsible to know when you run low on pills and we do not keep track of this. You are welcome to come in for an appointment to refill medications. Do not request refills at the pharmacy and www.relayhealth.com at the same time; this will result in further delays.
Test Results: Please allow TWO weeks after you have completed the test(s) to receive the results via US mail. If you are registered at www.relayhealth.com (e-mail), results will be posted in about ONE week. Do not call the office for results unless you have waited TWO weeks. We will call you if there are concerning results. If you would like to discuss test results with the doctor directly, please make an appointment or complete a webVisit. The staff is not permitted to give out test results over the phone.
Appointment Policy: There is a $35 charge for missed appointments. We make every effort to accommodate you for a same-day appointment if your problem is urgent. You will be seen by the doctor, but there may be extra waiting time. Please note that these appointments are not for add-on non-urgent problems. We cannot accommodate every patient who says, “By the way…” or “While I have your attention…” or “Can you also look at this and do that?” One day you could be that patient waiting on the other end! Our cancellation policy is 24 hours. With due respect to patients who schedule appointments in advance and to best maintain a timely schedule, it is not appropriate to demand a same-day appointment, urgent care or ER services simply because you have 'free time' at that moment for non-life-threatening issues
Referrals: For our HMO patients, referrals not processed at the time of the visit will be mailed to you by your insurance plan within TWO weeks. Please call our office if you do not receive the paperwork. For our PPO patients, it is your responsibility to know your benefits and when pre-authorization is needed for test/procedures/referrals. We do not process retro-authorizations.
Forms: An administrative fee of $35.00 will be assessed for every form that requires the doctor’s signature, exclusive of prescriptions and State of California disability forms. We will not release the form(s) until the fee is received. Forms include and are NOT limited to: prescription prior authorization forms, work/school/camp/sports/insurance physical forms, work/school time off notes, disability extension notes/forms, DMV forms, life/health/disability forms, private/work disability forms, prescription assistance program forms, and any certificates of current medical status.
Lost Paperwork: An administrative fee of $20.00 will be assessed to replace all paperwork (test orders, letter, forms…) that you have lost.
After Hours: A physician is ALWAYS on-call after hours and on weekends for URGENT MEDICAL ISSUES. Please call 949.262.9700. HMO patients must have authorization PRIOR to going to urgent care or the emergency room. HMO patients may only use Hoag Hospital and certain designated urgent care centers, using other facilities will result in unexpected medical bills. Again, this policy applies 24hrs/day, 365 days/year.
Urgent Care Policy / ER Policy : Please note that urgent care / ER services use is not a substitute for a non-life threatening office visit (examples are and not limited to: chronic conditions, physical check-ups, referrals, test results discussion, vaccinations, paperwork processing, and refills).
Your insurance carrier will not cover urgent care / ER services without prior contact with this office (this applies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year). Please call us at 949 262 9700 prior to seeking these services. The only exception is a life-threatening emergency or when you are physically over 40 miles outside our office area.
Urgent care / ER services will NOT be authorized because you do not have time to come into the office during regular office hours. This is not acceptable by insurance companies as a reason for urgent care / ER services. We make every effort to accommodate same-day urgent issues, however if the doctor feels that the problem can wait 24-48 hours, she will direct the staff to inform you. With due respect to patients who schedule appointments in advance and to best maintain a timely schedule, it is not appropriate to demand a same-day appointment, urgent care or ER services simply because you have 'free time' at that moment for non-life-threatening issues.
Billing Policy: It is customary to pay all deductibles, co-insurance, and /or co-payments at the time of service. It is illegal for us to waive these charges. If your insurance cannot be verified at the time of service, you may reschedule your appointment or make full payment and a refund will be issued after the claim is billed and paid. It is your responsibility to know your benefits and bring proper valid documentation. We are unable to verify benefits due to time constraints; our billing company is off-site. Please review the Financial Liability Waiver for details.