Office Policies
Welcome to our practice. Our mission is to provide the best urologic care available in the Chicago area. A wide range of services, including imaging, blood draws and minor surgery are provided at our two office locations. We are on staff at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, both of the hospitals in the Centegra Health System, and Sherman Hospital. Our physicians and staff are dedicated to treating patients with compassion and respect, and it is our goal that every patient feel better physically and emotionally.
Office Hours:
Our Crystal Lake and Lake Barrington offices are open five days a week from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Both offices close for a one-hour lunch break between 12, noon, and 1 pm. Please call our Sherman office for office hours. We do not have evening or weekend hours.
Appointments:
Appointments can be made in person or via phone. We recommend calling eight weeks in advance of non-urgent visits. Patients requiring urgent visits will be seen within 24 hours of contacting our office, excluding weekends and holidays. Our well-trained office staff will determine if your problem is urgent when you contact the office. An automated phone system will call you 48 hours prior to your anticipated visit as a reminder.
Bring a list of your medications so that nurses can update your medical records. Also, make the staff aware of allergies and, or changes in your health history. (Forms are available on our website to help you organize information. This website address is www.compurocare.com/Pages/Forms.html.) Bring a computer disc containing a copy of any x-rays or other radiology images. If an electronic version is not available, a hardcopy is fine. The disc can be obtained at the facility at which the x-ray or other imaging service was performed. Bring a copy of all recent laboratory testing.
We strongly suggest that all patients requiring a follow-up appointment make an appointment at the time of checkout.
Insurance:
We are aware that understanding the intricacies of medical insurance can be difficult. Our staff can help answer general questions regarding insurance plans but ultimately it is your responsibility to know the specifics of your health insurance plan. You are expected to satisfy any co-payments obligations required by your insurance carrier at the time services are provided to you. If you are unable to pay a required co-payment amount at the time of your visit, and you are insured through a commercial carrier, we reserve the right to send you a bill for an amount equal to the co-payment amount due, plus a $10 administrative fee.
For patients with a PPO plan, please check to make sure that we participate with your plan. If we are in-network, we will bill your primary and secondary insurance carriers. You are responsible for deductibles and percent payment as stipulated by your plan. If we do not participate with your plan, we can see you on an out-of-network basis. Review your plan coverage for out-of-network benefits.
For patients with an HM0 plan, patients are responsible for obtaining a referral for office visits and procedures. If you do not have a referral that is current, you cannot be seen in the office unless you assume financial responsibility for the services provided. Our staff may be able to assist you in obtaining a referral when needed. We will bill your insurance carrier.
Our practice participates in the Medicare program. Patients are responsible for deductibles and 20% of contracted amounts. Our practice does not participate in any Medicare replacement plans at this time.
Medicaid patients are seen if referred from their primary care physician’s office and if their primary care physician has called and requested a visit. Medicaid patients referred from the ER will be seen according to the bylaws of the referring ER.
Once your insurance carrier has reconciled your account, you will receive a statement from our billing department indicating the amount due directly from you. You can make a payment with a credit card, check or cash. Payment plans are available. For accounts that are unpaid and unaddressed for 60 days following the initial statement, these accounts may go to collection or to our attorney.
Patients without insurance coverage are responsible for payments the day service is provided. Our billing manager can provide information regarding costs and payment options.
On occasion, your physician may provide you with a service that is not covered by your insurance plan. For a service that is not expected to be covered, your physician or patient liaison will provide you with an Advanced Beneficiary Notification form (“ABN”), explain that the service may not be covered by your insurance, and provide the charge of the service. We require that you sign the ABN in advance in order to receive the service. You may elect to sign the ABN and receive the service, or to not sign the ABN and not receive the service. If you sign the ABN and your insurance carrier indicates that the service provided is not covered under your plan, you will be responsible for the charges associated with the service.
Telephone Calls:
We attempt to answer all calls with a live person during regular business hours. After hours, or during lunch hours, we utilize an answering service. An on-call physician is available seven days a week, 24 hours a day for emergency calls. Please do not leave urgent messages in a voicemail or on the answering machine. All urgent messages need to be addressed by our office staff or the on-call physician.
Health assistant calls: Our staff has been trained to provide instructions about on-going medical care and pre/post operative instructions. A health assistant can give test results but cannot provide interpretation or analysis of these results.
If a call requires a physician to initiate or coordinate care and you cannot or do not want to come to the office to have these services provided, you will be billed at a rate of $50/10 minutes. Often, this type of care is not covered by insurance plans and, therefore, you will be required to pay for this at the time it is rendered by submitting credit card information.
Physician calls: Physicians are available to speak with patients when the physician is in the office; physicians are not available when in the operating room. Please check with our office to determine when a specific physician will be in the office.
Physicians prefer to discuss results of tests, initiate care and discuss surgical plans at the time of an office visit. A decision regarding a phone consultation/discussion will be made on a case-by-case basis; a fee of $50/10 minutes will be billed to provide phone services. Often, this type of care is not covered by insurance plans and, therefore, you will be required to pay for this at the time it is rendered by submitting credit card information.
Delays:
Our physicians and staff make every effort to remain on schedule throughout the day; however, emergencies arise and on occasion, a patient’s care requires more time than allotted for his/her visit. This may lead to delays. Our front desk will inform you if the physician is running behind. If you cannot, or do not want to wait, you may reschedule for later in the day or on a new day.
For patients who are running late, please notify the front desk as soon as possible. We will work you into the schedule when you arrive. The front desk will let you know how long you may have to wait. If you prefer, you may reschedule.
For patients who repeatedly miss or cancel appointments without appropriate notification, the practice reserves the right to require a non-refundable $100 prepayment to reschedule. This payment will be applied to your charges when services are provided.
Refills:
You may request additional medication refills by having your pharmacy fax the request for refill authorization to our office. We will authorize additional refills as long as your physician has seen you in the past 12 months. If you have not been seen in the last 12 months, it is required that you have an appointment scheduled with your physician in the next four weeks from the date of your request. (A physician will determine if additional refills will be authorized.) This authorization will be provided during regular business hours and will generally be provided without a charge to you; however, when a physician provides you with a new prescription, or more substantial clinical decision-making rather than a refill authorization, a charge may apply. It is not the responsibility of the on-call physician to authorize medication refills after hours. If you absolutely require a refill authorization after hours, you will be charged a $50 fee. Narcotic refills will not be authorized after business hours.
