Index:
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Policies |
Late Appointments / No Shows |
If you are running late 15 minutes or more for your appointment, call 740-566-4880 to see if you need to reschedule your appointment. Running late affects others appointment times. If you know you will not be able to keep your appointment, re-schedule as soon as possible by calling 24 hrs in advance to let us know. Our policy is three (3) “No Shows” and you may be discharged from the practice. |
Cell Phones and Pagers |
Turn off all cell phones/pagers prior to entering an exam room. If your device has a vibrate mode, use this setting. Should you receive a phone call or page while in the room with one of our clinicians, do not answer/respond until after your appointment is over unless, of course, you feel you must. |
Prescriptions / Refills |
Let us know your pharmacy phone number and keep it in your wallet or purse. This will help us to the refill your prescription when you call in. When you call in to refill prescriptions, you will hear options to allow you to do this easily. Follow the instructions and have all necessary information listed below:
Your Name
Name of medication
Dose
How Taken
Pharmacy phone number
Allow 24-48 hours for medications to be refilled. Do not wait until the last day to renew your prescription! Wait at least 24 hours before you call the office to see if your medications are ready AND have called the pharmacy to see if your medicine is available. Repeatedly calling the office looking for prescriptions will not help expedite the process. |
Referrals |
You could be referred to specialists for:
- consultation or
- management
When a specialist is asked to consult on a problem, s/he is being asked to help shed light on what a problem might be. A specialist is asked to address and take over care of a particular problem the patient may have such as management of a painful neuropathy for example. You may be referred to a family medicine physician if you do not have a family doctor. Any specialist may care for your select problem indefinitely or until the problem is stable enough for your primary care doctor to take over. |
Prescriptions and their use |
Do not share your medication with others. It is dangerous to take medication without a physician’s consent/knowledge, and the person “lending” the medication to you will have less than they need for their condition. This creates a problem for both individuals! Take your medications exactly as they were prescribed. If you have questions about how to take a medication, call our office or your pharmacy. |
Samples |
We understand medications are expensive and the use of samples is a great help for those patients who are on tight budgets. We use samples primarily to “bridge” patients so they have medicine until their medications arrive.
We may provide samples to patients depending upon availability and unfortunately these cannot be consistent sources for medications. We process sample medications like any other prescription refill. Allow 24 to 48hrs before picking up your sample medications if you need to come in and pick up your samples.
At this time we do not charge a fee for staff time for handling samples. |
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Prepare for Your Visit |
Bring the names of all of your previous doctors. Make sure you are clear as to why you were referred to us by your doctor. You only need to bring your medication bottles to the first appointment ONLY! If you are new, arrange to have your medical records transferred to our office as soon as possible. New patients need to come to the office at least one-half hour before their appointment for insurance information, medical history paperwork and other such details.
We understand there will be times when you are not feeling well. We promise we strive to treat and deal with everyone with respect and dignity and we expect this in return. |
First Visit |
About 30 minutes long, this visit addresses your medical and social history and physical exam is done. You may be asked to get into a gown. Chronic problems or a new issue that brought you to our office will be discussed. Because we believe in treating the whole person, we will ask about all aspects of your life as it could affect your health. |
Follow-up Visits |
About 15 minutes long, these appointments will address 1-2 problems/issues. Generally, if you are well, you will be scheduled to see your doctor every 3 months or annually/semi-annually if you are well and your primary care physician can manage your condition. Due to the complex nature of most endocrine conditions, diabetes especially, we cannot address every problem you have in one visit. Be prepared for your visit by bringing in your glucometer and writing down your main questions. We are able to “download” most glucometers information so that the data from your finger sticks can be examined for patterns.
More frequent follow up visits may be necessary if we are attempting to control blood sugar levels better or control another problematic condition such as your thyroid. These are necessary visits until a problem becomes more stable. Please appreciate you are expected to show up to these appointments. Remember any preventive visits are separate visits from office visits concerning an on-going illness. |
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Labs and Other Tests |
You may be asked to have an HbA1C drawn, have a urinary micro albumin done, or even have an ECG or other testing done while here in the office. We prefer that all/any of tests being ordered outside the office be performed as soon as possible so that the results can be available for the next office visit. These tests are critical to your treatment and the results help define the problem you may have. |
Other Studies / Tests |
Based on your problem(s), other studies or testing may be ordered by your doctor and may be performed at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital or the hospital/outpatient center of your choice. Your choice may depend upon your insurance, where you live, and other factors. Please keep in mind that some of these tests may require an over-night stay in the hospital (a sleep study for example) or require specific and strict protocols such as an oral glucose tolerance test. Should you have ANY questions about your tests and the instructions pre and post testing, contact the testing facility or our office.
O’Bleness Memorial Hospital’s main number is (740) 593-5551. Ask for the outpatient lab and you will be helped. Again, please get these tests done as soon as possible. The results of testing help define the problem you are seeking help for and enable your doctor and others to provide you with the best and most effective treatment available. |
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Hospitalization |
There are two possible ways you may be hospitalized:
- As a direct admit
- Admitted from the Emergency Department (ED)
As a direct admission, you will be sent to the hospital and go directly to the floor where you will be staying for your treatment. This type of admission occurs when you are not so sick as to require the an emergency room visit but sick enough to warrant being in the hospital for further testing and treatment, such as a 48-60 hour fast when your blood sugars are very high and difficult to manage.
Being admitted from the Emergency Department (ED) is a more common event. The ED physician can order more tests quickly to determine the state of your health so that other specialist may be called in. This may occur in the ED or when you are already up on the floor or in the intensive care unit or ICU.
Regardless of your admission process, you may be cared for by other doctors in the hospital called “hospitalists” while you are hospitalized. They are typically general internists or family medicine physicians who elect to do nothing but care for patients in the hospital. There are a number of physicians who work as hospitalists at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital and work with our doctors on a regular basis. Their main responsibility is to get you admitted into the hospital but they may care for you generally and consult specifically for a problem with your diabetes or other endocrine/metabolic condition.
Other doctors (specialists) may be called in to help take care of you such as a cardiologist, for example. When you are discharged, your care will return to your primary care physician and your doctor at the Diabetes/Endocrine Center.
Make sure you understand your discharge instructions, including any new medications that you may have been prescribed while you were in the hospital. Your medications may have been changed or the dosages may have been altered to better care for your condition.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions about your care while you are in the hospital and at your discharge. Follow up with all of your doctors soon after you are out of the hospital. The discharge information usually will have these appointments listed for you. If no appointment to return to the Diabetes/Endocrine Center has been given at discharge, call our office to check when you should be seen. If you need to see one of our doctors before your scheduled appointment because you are not feeling well, please call the office and we will arrange to see you sooner. Do not hesitate to call our office with any questions regarding your discharge information, especially related to your medications. |
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Understanding Your Diabetes |
We here at the Diabetes/Endocrine Center strongly believe in educating our patients about their condition, especially diabetes. Diabetes, particularly type 1 or insulin requiring diabetes, is a chronic condition that can and often affects every part of a person’s life. Understanding this condition can be a great advantage in lessening the impact of this disease. Learning about diabetes, why and how it occurs, how nutrition, exercise, stress, sleep, and your medicines can decrease your blood sugar put you, the patient in control. You learn to control the diabetes instead of the diabetes controlling you.
As an academic research center, our physicians have many clinical trials that are on-going and upcoming studies that may be of interest to you. Studies are seen as a win- win for patients and physicians. Treatments that might otherwise be either unavailable or too costly for some patients can be available provided that criteria are met to allow entrance into the study. Our clinician/researchers gain valuable information about treatments and other critical pieces of information filling in the many data gaps still existing. |
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Discharging Patients from the Practice |
The management of the Diabetes/Endocrine Center reserves the right to discharge any patient from the practice who is either clearly noncompliant in their care or who is disrespectful of staff or our policies and procedures. If discharged, you will have 30 days to find a new doctor while still receiving care here. The staff will be happy to provide you with names and addresses of other physicians to care for you and your condition(s). |
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