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Before the first visit

 

In order to help you prepare for your first visit, we recommend that you go through the following items that will make your visit more efficient: 

 

1. Print the following packet and fill it out and bring it with you to your appointment:

 

2. Our HIPAA rules is under the following link for your review:

3. If you would like your records transfered from or to our office, print the following  form and fill it out and send it to the appropriate office for processing: 

4. Log into your portal by clicking on this link and and enter your email address and the password that we provided you on the phone:

Once you sign in, please complete your health history by clicking on "complete health history" under "Upcoming Appointments". 

5. We like to have our patients consent to email communication. Although we prefer the patient portal to communicate with our paitents, the email has the additional benefit of attaching documents. please print the "Email consent form" and sign it and email or mail it back to us if you agree to it: 

 

  

Helpful information about your first visit:

1.  Documents to bring to the visit :  insurance card and an personal ID.   

 

2. If you have any recent labs, please email them to our office or bring them with you to your visit 

 

3.  Please arrive to your visit at least 15 minutes before the appointment. For parking information, please visit the link below. They accept cash only. 

 

4. Cancellation: If you need to cancel your appointment, please do so at least 24 business hours in advance (from your scheduled time). Otherwise you might be charged $50. You must speak with a staff member. Neither voice nor patient portal messages will be accepted as a form of notification.

 

5. Financial Responsibility / Credit Card on File: Co-payments are due at the time of service. You can request to be billed for the copay for an additional charge of $ 15.00. 

 

6. Insurance eligibility is performed at time of service as well. If eligibility is not confirmed, the patient is responsible for the full payment at the time of service.  

7. In order to verify coverage of the visit by your insurance company, we highly recommend that you contact your insurance before the visit and clarify the coverage of your visit at our clinic. 

8. If you have a deductible plan, we expect you to provide an active credit card to keep on file. No-show fee, late cancellation fees and any due balances on the account will be deducted from the credit card and a statement will be mailed to the address on file.  

9. Late Arrival: Please note that if your arrival is delayed by more than 20 minutes, we can not guarantee that you will be seen by the physician. 

Your visit will be noted as a no-show, and you might incur a fee of $ 50 on your balance. 

10. Family Members: Patients are advised to spend their visit with the provider on their own. Family members are allowed to join during the last 5 minutes of the visit. 

11. No Scents PLEASE: For the well-being of our patients and our staff, we keep our clinic scent-free. Please refrain from wearing any scented product, perfume or cologne to your visit. 

We look forward to seeing you, and if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reply to this email or call our office. 

Scheduling an initial visit

 

The Berkeley Endocrine Clinic is a referral-based specialty practice. We require that our patients have a primary care physician to ensure that their care is well coordinated. 

 

Once a referral is received, we review the information and we contact the patient to schedule the initial consultation.  

 

Office Policies

 

Our office aims to provide you excellent medical care and customer service. We have implemented policies that will assist us to achieve our goals that we would like to bring to your attention:

 

1-New patients are advised to arrive 15 minutes before their appointment time. We recommend that you have a valid insurance card and current identification at the time of the first visit.

 

2- Insurance co-pays are due at the time of service: Patients who do not pay their co-pay are billed a $15.00 service charge in addition to their co-pay. If you there is an outstanding balance at the time of appointment, payment will be expected. We accept cash, checks, and all major credit cards for your convenience. There is a $25.00 service charge for a returned check. Insurances are billed as a courtesy and the patient has financial responsibility for payment in full for services rendered.

 

 3- Insurance coverage: We recommend that patients check with their insurance company whether we are listed under the network and what’s the expected patient's portion of the payment.

 

 4- Appointment and Cancellation policy: We recommend arrival 15 minutes prior to the visit. Late arrivals will be seen only upon the discretion of the provider. We request the courtesy of an advanced notification of 24 business hours.  If you fail to notify us of your inability to keep your appointment, a “no-show” for your appointment time will be noted in your chart. After two consecutive no-shows, you may be considered for discharge from the practice. All patients who fail to present for their visits or cancel within 24 hours of their appointment will be subject for a fee of $ 50. 

 

5-Prescription refills: New prescriptions and prescription changes are available to you during your visit. Refill requests should be made to your pharmacy. Please do not wait until you are out of medication to request a refill and allow 72 hours for prescription refills.

 

6- Lab copies: Most of the time, your labs will be available to be seen through the patient portal online. Paper copies of your labs can be requested during your visit as well.

 

 7- Medical records: If another practitioner is requesting your records, they can be sent electronically or faxed to the requesting provider at no charge after you sign a medical release. Otherwise, to obtain a copy of medical records, we charge a fee of $ 25 and may take up to 2 weeks. The records can be picked up at the office. Upon request they may be mailed Certified/Return Receipt for an additional cost of the mailing fee.

 

8- Online Communication: As a courtesy to our patients, we respond to your requests online through the patient portal.  We recommend that the online communication be brief and limited to simple questions and answers. Please allow 24 - 48 hours for a response from our office. For urgent matters, we recommend that you call our office. Email communication requires a consent to be signed before initiating the communication and timely response is not guaranteed. 

 

9. Phone visits: Communication with the physician through the portal is provided as a courtesy to our patients. Follow up visits on the phone upon the discretion of the provider.

 

10.  After-hour phone calls:  We are happy to answer the phone during our regular business hours, which is Monday to Friday, 8:00 am till 5:00 pm and we are closed for lunch between 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm. If you call our office after 5:00 pm or over the weekend, we advise that you leave a message and we will respond to you the next business day. If you have a matter that requires urgent medical attention, we advise that you visit the nearest Emergency Room.

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