General Office Information and Policy

Office Hours:

Patient appointments can be made Monday through Thursday 8:30 am to 6:00 pm

Allergy injections are given without appointment  on the  following days and times:
Tuesday: 9 am -5 pm
Wednesday: 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Thursday: 9 am to 6 pm.  Closed from 11:45-1:30 pm

Appointments
Patients are seen by appointment only although we will make every effort to work you into the schedule if you need to be seen right away.  We will  contact you 1-2 business days prior to your appointment as a reminder.  If you are unable to keep your appointment please notify the office within 24 hours of your appointment to cancel or reschedule. A missed appointment fee of $30.00 will be charged if you do not keep your appointment and have not notified us in advance.

Insurance
We are providers for most private health insurances, health maintenance organization (HMO) and preferred provider (PPO) networks as well as medicare. For a complete list of the plans that we participate in please see our web site at www.allergywise.com.  If you do not see your plan listed let us know, new plans are added frequently.

If you have a change in insurance please notify the office as soon as possible.
Phone Calls and After Hours Coverage
If you have any questions during office hours, please call the office and a nurse or medical assistant will  help you. Questions for the doctor will be discussed as quickly as possible and you will be called back the same day.   Non-urgent matters such as billing questions, prescription refills, and appointment scheduling should be handled during usual business hours.  After-hour calls should be limited to urgent or emergency care.  If you need to speak with the doctor after hours, please call the office at 480-705-8844 and you will be given a number to call to reach the doctor.  Please call again if you have not received a call back within 30 minutes.  In case of a severe emergency call CALL 911 immediately or go to the emergency room as quickly as possible.

You may leave a message for call back regarding non-urgent matters after hours but do not leave a message if you have an emergency, your call will not be returned until the next business day.

Follow-up Office Visits
Please be aware that your initial evaluation consists of two visits: the first visit to review your history, complete allergy testing and prescribe medications, and the second, the summary visit, to review your tests results and evaluate your response to medications.  You should make every effort to keep your summary appointment, without it your evaluation is not complete.

Established patients without asthma who are doing well and need routine medication refills, as well as patients receiving maintenance immunotherapy, should be seen at least annually.  NIH guidelines suggest that patients with poorly controlled asthma should be seen frequently until the condition has stabilized.  We would like to see any asthma patient using inhaled steroids every 4-6 months to insure that they are using the least amount of medication to control their symptoms.

Medication Prescriptions
Medications can be expensive, particularly if a medication is not covered by your insurance plan.  Unfortunately, we cannot  know what medications are covered by every insurance policy and it may not be until you  get it filled that the cost is known. Less expensive alternatives are not always available but whenever possible, we will try to make sure that your are not paying more that you need to for your medications.  If you are charged more than seems appropriate for any prescription from us please call the office before paying for it, we may be able to find a less expensive alternative.

Payment Policy
Payment is expected at time of service unless prior arrangements have been made in advance. Patients are responsible for paying their annual deductible, coinsurance payments and any non-covered service charges at the time of the visit. The office accepts Master Card and Visa

Copy Request
We will be happy to provide you with a copy of your records after receiving a written request. Please allow 48 hrs advance notice. The cost associated with copying is  &1.00/ page to a max of $35 paid in advance.

Forms

Simple forms (return to work, school medication authorisation, school physicals, etc, can be completed at the time of your visit without cost.  Because of the time required, there is an additional charge of $30 to complete FMLA  and disability forms, Insurance forms $50-100, and Misc Forms $25-100, paid in advance.