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| Office Hours
| Privacy Rights
| Emergencies
| Appointments
| Cancellations |
| Telephone Calls
| Prescription Refills
| Fees & Insurance
|
This web page is designed to answer your
questions and to improve our efficiency in providing you with medical care.
We encourage you to discuss with us any aspect of your care for we
think that good communication is important to your treatment and recovery.
Our office staff is ready and willing to help you.
Our goal is to provide you with the highest quality care in a
comfortable, caring, convenient and friendly environment.
Bayfront Digestive Disease Associates
has offices at the following locations:
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|
| 100 Peach Street, Suite 200 |
| Erie, PA
16507 |
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Telephone: (814) 456-7733 |
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Fax:
(814) 456-7213 |
We
make every effort to ensure a friendly, comfortable and confidential
environment for our patients.
Please review our Notice
of Privacy Practices.
We
are available for emergencies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
During office hours, call and identify yourself and the nature of
the problem to our staff.
After office hours and on weekends, call our main office phone
number, (814) 456-7733 and you will speak with the answering service.
The physicians of Bayfront Digestive Disease Associates share
evening and weekend coverage.
The on-call physician will be notified and return your call as
soon as possible.
Since calls are sometimes returned from private phones, you must
unblock your phone so that it will accept a call without caller ID.
Making An Appointment - Whenever possible, appointments are scheduled in advance.
If an emergency or urgent situation arises, every effort will be
made to evaluate the problem in the office or at the hospital.
The office personnel are carefully trained
 to handle telephone
calls. The receptionist may handle some calls or refer them to one of
the physician’s message assistants.
When the office is closed, the answering service will only
respond to emergencies. Appointment
questions should be called to the office during regular hours.
The First Visit - For your
first visit, please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes early so we may
review your general history form. It is helpful to accurately complete
the detailed form that is usually mailed prior to the appointment.
Please bring along a list of medications you are currently taking, any
allergies to medications and any other information and/or medical
records that the physician may need.
We will also need information about your insurance coverage.
Please bring the necessary forms from your primary care physician
if you belong to an HMO. Should
any of this information change between visits, please let us know so we
can update our records.
The initial visit begins with a
comprehensive review of your medical history.
Our clinical staff first reviews the general history with the
patient and then the provider will review the history and perform
 a
general physical examination. Initial
tests done at the time of your visit may include blood and stool
analysis. Additional
testing may be necessary which could include laboratory work and x-rays.
Endoscopic examination of the esophagus and stomach (EGD) or
large intestine (Colonoscopy) may be scheduled.
If any of these procedures are required for treatment, our office
will explain and schedule these for you.
If
it is necessary for you to return to our office, you will be scheduled
for a return appointment at the time of your first visit.
When tests are completed, we ask that you call us within one week
(preferably in the morning) to review the findings and then
recommendations will be discussed with you by the physician’s medical
assistant. If you have been
referred to our office by your doctor, reports of our findings will be
sent to your referring or primary care physician as the evaluation
progresses.
If you can’t keep your appointment,
please notify the office as soon as possible so that we may accommodate
other patients who are waiting to be seen.
The office reserves the right to charge for missed appointments
if 24 hour notice is not given. We
realize that your time is important.
If your appointment must be changed because of an office
emergency, we will call you immediately. While the physicians try to keep to the appointment schedule,
emergencies may cause a slight delay in your appointment.
The front office staff will advise you of any unusual delays.
Our office is open Monday through Friday
from 9:00 am until 4:30 pm. For
non-emergency calls, we suggest you try to call as early in the day as
possible. If you
require a
call back from a physician, be sure to leave a telephone number where
you can be reached, and the times at which you will be there.
Please be aware that phone calls are often returned after the
conclusion of office hours.
Each physician has his own Medical
Assistant who is responsible for relaying patient messages to them.
These assistants are well trained in all aspects of
gastroenterology and the procedures and tests that are scheduled.
If you are an established patient and are calling for
prescription refills, biopsy results, or if you have a medical problem
you will be directed to that physician’s medical assistant.
Once the medical assistant reviews your problem or concern and
the physician reviews your chart, we will return your call, normally in
the afternoon.
When calling for prescription refills, you will be directed
to your physician’s medical assistant.
She will take down the information which should include the
medication, milligram strength,  quantity taken, pharmacy phone number
and a contact number in case we need to call you back.
At times when the physician’s medical assistant
is on another call, you may opt to leave her a voice mail message.
If you do need to leave a message, please be sure to leave your
full name, telephone number in case we have a question, what medication
you require, the pharmacy name and phone number and any other pertinent
information. Please check
with your pharmacy after 4:00 pm so as to allow time for your chart to
be reviewed with the physician and the medication to be call to the
pharmacy.
The fees we charge are based on our knowledge,
skill and service. You will
find them consistent with the high quality specialty care that you will
receive.
Fees will be
clearly stated on our itemized fee slip.
Do not hesitate to ask for further explanations for any charges.
All laboratory tests are performed by an outside laboratory.
You will be billed separately by the laboratory for the tests.
Also, if you
 need to have a procedure performed, there will be
two separate charges, one for the physician portion and another for
hospital or surgery center. The facility bills for the use of their procedure rooms, nursing staff and
other items used for your care.
We participate with Medicare, Highmark Blue Shield,
Health America, and a variety of HMO and PPO carriers. If you have private insurance, please be
advised that many
insurance carriers do not pay for office visits, and pay only a portion
of the cost of some procedures. If
your insurance carrier requires you to obtain a referral for specialist
visits, it must be presented at the time of service.
Some insurance carriers insist on being notified in advance that
a procedure is necessary. Failure
to obtain their authorization to proceed (i.e. pre-certification) may
result in denied or partial coverage.
Some policies may also have restrictions on routine screenings.
Please check with your insurance carrier to determine the extent
to which they will cover your healthcare needs.
Please refer to our “Participating
Insurance Company List” page for further information.
As a service to our patients, we will bill
insurance carriers directly for visits and procedures, but please bear
in mind that the patient is responsible for any outstanding balance.
Any co-pays should be made at the time of each
visit. It is against the
law for your physician to waive co-pays.
In addition to cash and personal checks, we accept Visa, Mastercard and
Discover.
If you have any questions regarding our fees or your
specific insurance coverage, or if there is an unusual financial
situation making payment of your bill difficult, please contact our
billing office at (814) 456-7733 to speak with a billing specialist. |
