Office Policies
Contact Us: Your call will be answered by our office staff during routine office hours. Should you have a medical emergency after routine office hours or on the weekend, call (402) 462-8566 to reach a physician. If they are unavailable, your call will be received by our answering service, and they will contact the doctor or nurse midwife. Remember, non-urgent calls, such as those concerning prescription refills, rescheduling appointments, or insurance will only be handled during routine office hours with your chart in front of us.
Please make all telephone calls to our office YOURSELF. It is difficult to communicate through a third person, and we are concerned about keeping your medical matters confidential. If you wish to make an appointment, please give the receptionist as much information as possible so that we can allot the proper amount of time for your visit.
If you have a medical question or problem, your call may be transferred to a nurse or medical assistant. Our physicians, nurses and medical assistants work as a team, with the nurses and medical assistants handling most of the phone calls. You will get to know your doctor’s nurse/assistant quite well as you make return visits or calls. She will take your call directly if possible; if she is busy she will return your call as quickly as possible. If it is necessary for you to talk with the physician for any length of time, an office visit is generally preferred.
For Prescription Refills, please call your Pharmacy and ask that they contact our office for a refill. Many times that can be done through an electronic process by your Pharmacist.
Hours and Appointments
Our routine office hours are 8:30am to 5:30pm Monday through Friday. Office hours are by appointment only. If you are unable to keep your appointment, please cancel as far in advance as possible. Other patients waiting for an appointment will be grateful for your thoughtfulness. If you are more than 20 minutes late for a scheduled appointment, we will ask that you please reschedule for a later date. When you arrive for your appointment, please check in at the reception desk. We try to honor your appointment time, knowing your time is valuable. Please understand, however, the nature of our practice, babies being born, surgical emergencies and other unforeseen delays may contribute to delays in our schedule. We request your patience. If we anticipate a delay, we will try to call you ahead of time. If you are traveling any distance, we recommend calling before you leave to check on any change in the daily schedule.
The order in which patients are seen is not determined by their arrival at our office. In some cases, our scheduling allows patients requiring minimal treatment or attention to be seen 
before you, even though you arrived first. This type of scheduling will not delay your appointment.
At the time of your appointment, we ask about your past medical history and your present medical situation. Give some thought to your medical history beforehand, so you won’t omit important facts the doctor should know. The pattern of your menstrual period is important information. Please have available the dates of your last two periods. In general, we do not recommend douching. It is especially important not to douche for at least 48 hours before your appointment. Douching interferes with the investigation of discharges and may cause pap smears to be unsatisfactory
Emergencies
Emergencies always receive priority regardless of the day or time. DO NOT WAIT TO CALL if you are bleeding, in severe pain, or have other potentially serious symptoms. Call at once in those situations. If you happen to be in the waiting room when an emergency arises, or a seriously ill patient arrives at the office, please understand if there are delays.
We hope you will find reassurance in knowing that if you were in a similar situation, immediate medical attention would be given to you.
Children Accompanying Patients
Our specialty handles many types of patients and conditions which are particularly vulnerable to childhood illnesses and viruses. In order to protect our patients who are at high risk, post-surgical or immuno-compromised, we respectfully request that you do not bring children with you for your exams.
We also feel that communication between the provider and the patient is compromised when children must be attended to. Although we do allow children a visit with mom while she is pregnant to see the new baby on the ultrasound machine, we would prefer another adult accompany the children so that the exam is not interrupted.
Newborns are welcome up to 8 weeks as we enjoy seeing the “fruits of our labor”. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation with this request. If it is absolutely necessary to bring your children, please make arrangements to have an adult supervise them in the waiting room while you have your exam. Please note that we have limited space in our waiting area. In our Hastings office there is a main lobby/atrium on the first level with extra seating where family or friends may wait.
Payment & Insurance
As a courtesy to our patients, we will file a claim for our service with your insurance company. Please bring your insurance cards with you to every appointment. On the day of your visit, we will collect all co-pays, known deductibles, and any outstanding balances. If you are not covered by a health insurance plan, we will ask for payment in full at the time of your service.
For your convenience, we do accept Visa, MasterCard, and Discover. We understand that medical expenses can often affect the family budget and urge you to feel free to discuss methods of payment with our patient accounts department.
If surgery or obstetrical care are planned, a financial conference may be held with you to discuss the fee, how your insurance claims will be processed and the policies of the office regarding payment. Even though we will help you receive maximum benefits for your claim, medical insurance is a contract between you and the insurance company.
You are responsible for any balance not paid by your insurance company. We are willing to supply all pertinent information needed by the insurance company to support the claim, but please do not ask us to attempt to negotiate your coverage.
