After your surgery, the anesthesia will need time to wear off.  In most cases, you will rest in the recovery room, or if necessary, in the surgical intensive care unit.  During that time, the hospital staff will monitor you closely until you are released to your hospital room or are discharged.

You may have some discomfort after surgery.  Tell your doctor or nurse if you have any nausea, dizziness, or pain.  These are common side effects of anesthesia and surgery.  Your doctor may prescribe medications to relieve these discomforts.

While you will certainly need rest after surgery, becoming active will increase your blood flow and improve your recovery time.  Most likely, you will be encouraged to move around as soon as possible, but your level of activity should increase gradually.

You will be provided with instructions on caring for your incisions.  Follow these instructions carefully to avoid infection.  Make sure that you or your family understands your surgeon’s instructions before leaving.

If you notice any of the following, call our office immediately:

• A fever of 101 degrees or higher
• A rash around the incision
• Unusual redness around the incision
• Bleeding or opening of the incision
• Increased pain

If you do not have insurance we will work with you to establish payment arrangements.  Our office has a discount program available for those who qualify for financial need.  Being uninsured alone does not qualify you for a discount.  We may extend a discount to you based on the size of your family and your household income.  You must bring proof of your household income to your FIRST appointment.  Our Practice Administrator will calculate the level of discount you qualify for.  If you do not bring this information with you, no discount will be applied.  Your procedure will not be scheduled until you have made a down payment equal to one half of your estimated balance.

Our staff will assist you when you call.  Please identify which surgeon in the practice you see, what procedure you have had, and the nature of your call.  You will be connected with your surgeon’s Medical Assistant.  You may need to leave a message.  However, we strive to return all phone calls in a timely manner.  If you have not received a return phone call, please call back again.

If you have problems after surgery, please call our office.  We will help you with any surgical concerns you have.  If you have questions regarding on-going medical problems (i.e. diabetes, hypertension, heart problems, etc.), please call your primary care physician.

One of our surgeons is on call 24 hours a day and the same office number after hours will get you in touch with our answering service.  They will contact the surgeon on call.  You may be instructed to go to the emergency room.

As stated above, we will collect your insurance information when you come to our office. Most insurance companies require that we collect a co-payment for consults and some follow-up visits. Your insurance card should tell you what this will be. We accept cash, credit card, or check.

We will bill your insurance after the office visit or after your procedure. We have contracts with most of the major insurance companies. Once the insurance company pays for the service, you will receive a statement.  We will expect payment in full after you receive this statement.  If you can not afford to pay the full amount you need to first contact our office to set up payment arrangements.

Most surgeries have a global period. This means that the payment for your procedure includes the routine follow-up care. Most post-op visits do not require a co-payment.  We schedule your post operative visits accordingly.  If you cancel or do not show up for your post operative visit, when you do return to our office, you may be outside the global period.  This means you will be charged for an office visit.  It is important that you keep your follow-up appointments.

A post operative visit will be scheduled at the time you schedule your surgery, if scheduled through our office.  If you were seen in the hospital only, please contact our office to schedule your post operative appointment.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns after your surgery prior to this post-op visit.  Most post-op visits do not require a co-payment.  We schedule your post operative visits accordingly.  If you cancel or do not show up for your post operative visit, when you do return to our office, you may be outside the global period.  This means you will be charged for an office visit.  It is important that you keep your follow-up appointments.

If your surgeon determines surgery is needed, we will schedule your surgery as soon as possible, taking into account your schedule, insurance, and availability.  We will give you thorough instructions.  Our office can select the date that your surgery is scheduled for but not the time.  The Uniontown Hospital creates the schedule based on emergency, in-patients, and other factors such diabetic patients needing to be scheduled first.

The Uniontown Hospital personnel will contact you prior to surgery to ask further questions and set your arrival time.

Our physicians strive to be on time for all scheduled appointments, but unexpected delays may occur due to unforeseen hospital, surgery or office emergencies.  We will keep you informed of any delays.

If your appointment time is pushed back due to an emergency, you will be given a choice to be re-scheduled if you are unable to wait.

When you schedule a new patient consult with our office, we will verify your insurance coverage.  This helps us in identifying insurance coverage prior to scheduling surgery.  Our billing office will contact you if they need further information.

If surgery is scheduled, we will once again contact your insurance company to get the surgery pre-authorized.  Most insurance companies have a list of procedures that require pre-authorization.  This needs to be done prior to any planned surgeries.  This can also take time in some cases.  Please know that we are doing everything we can to have your surgery approved.  However, your surgery date may need to be changed if authorization has not gone through.

If your visit is due to an accident or injury, please let us know when we schedule your appointment.  We need to pre-authorize any services for Worker’s Compensation claims.  You should already have injury / accident forms from your insurance adjuster filled out prior to the visit.  If you do not already have these forms, with your claim number, date of loss, and where our billing staff should submit claims to, please be certain to have that information on the day of your appointment.  You will not be seen without it.

The first time you see a surgeon, whether it was in the hospital or in our office, it is considered a consult visit.  The surgeon determines the level of service provided after the visit.  Various factors influence this level of service including history and physical taken, assessment done, medical decision making needed and medical diagnosis provided.  The level of service selected by the physician then determines billing.  There are strict guidelines for determining the level of service.

During or after this visit, the surgeon will determine the need for surgery.  Sometimes, that surgery can be performed in the office setting.  Most often our Medical Assistants will have to schedule the surgery for a later date. The surgeon will send a letter to your physician letting him or her know what his plan is for the future.

If your insurance plan does not cover consults, the visit will be your responsibility.  Please do not phone our office after we have billed for these services to request that we change the billing codes.  This is considered fraudulent on our part.  We will be happy to help you to set up a payment plan if you can not pay the bill all at one time.

When the appointment is made we will collect as much information as possible over the phone.  This will include your name, address, phone number as well as your date of birth, insurance coverage and referring physician.

You can make your first visit more efficient by having your forms filled out prior to your visit.  These can be found on the FORMS page of this website.

PLEASE BRING YOUR FILMS.  If X-Ray films or other testing is required for your appointment YOU will be asked to bring the films to your appointment.  This assists the physician in determining a plan of care.  Please tell us of any X-Rays, ultrasounds, mammograms, CT, MRI, or lab tests you recently had performed when you schedule your appointment.

PLEASE BRING YOUR INSURANCE CARD to your appointment.  We will need this information to accurately file claims with your insurance company.  If you do not have insurance, you will be asked to make payment arrangements at the time of your visit.

PLEASE BRING A LIST OF MEDICATIONS and dosages (including any over the counter medications) to the visit.  Some medications may need to be stopped for surgery.

You will be asked to pay your co-payment on the day of your appointment.  You may pay it by cash, personal check, Visa, or MasterCard.

We accept all insurance plans.  This means we will bill your insurance plan for the services you are provided, however you will most likely have out-of-pocket expenses that your are responsible for paying if we are not participating with your plan.

We participate with the following insurance plans.  If your insurance plan is not on the list, please call your insurance company to inquire if you can be seen by an out-of-network provider.

You should also inquire if you have a deductible or co-insurance that will be your responsibility.

• Aetna
• Blue Cross / Blue Shield
• Gateway
• Health America, Health Assurance, Advantra
• Medicare
• Prime Health Services
• Private Health Care Systems
• Tricare
• United Healthcare
• Unison
• UPMC (all plans)

Most often you will be referred to us by your primary care physician or another specialist.  Your doctor may ask you to call or they may place the call for you.  The first visit to our office is usually a consult visit.  You or your doctor may call us at 724-439-1020 to schedule.  Please be certain to have your insurance information when calling.  If your insurance requires a referral, it is your responsibility to get the referral from your Primary Care Physician before you arrive at our office.  You will not be seen without it.