Our offices are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Each of our physicians has specific hours in the office, and the staff will explain these to you.

We are proud of our office staff’s dedication to quality care delivery in the field of gastroenterology. In our effort to be the best, we welcome your comments and suggestions about our physicians, staff or facilities at any time.

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As a patient, you have the right to choose your own physician. Your appointment will be scheduled with the physician of your choice. As much as possible, the physician will see you and follow you throughout your treatment. You may also be consulted by our other highly qualified physicians in circumstances of hospitalization or emergent need.

Confidence and trust between patient and physician are vital to your treatment’s best outcome. Therefore, we encourage you to ask any questions you might have.

To provide for the best opportunity in care, we treat patients by appointment. We make a sincere attempt to adhere to the appointment schedule. Should you be unable to keep your appointment, please contact us as soon as possible so that we may use the time for another patient who needs medical attention.

Emergencies:

A physician at Gastroenterology Associates is always on call and available to assist with your care. Should you have an emergency during office hours, please call 911 or go to your nearest hospital emergency room. After regular office hours, or on weekends, please go to the nearest emergency room or call one of the following numbers to reach our after hours service:

Gastroenterology Associates Kingsport – 1-888-906-1022

Gastroenterology Associates Bristol – 1-888-906-1004

Telephone:

If you have a problem or question between appointments, please call us. Due to the volume of calls we receive, the office telephone may be automated. Please follow these procedures:

Please select the option that best suits your need or simply select 0

for an operator.

Inform the staff of the nature of your call, and our specially trained personnel will assist you promptly.

If your call is of a medical nature, our nurses, after discussion with your physician, will assist you. If they feel the matter needs to be further addressed, your physician will return your call as soon as possible.

Please leave numbers where you can be reached.

We will notify you either by letter or telephone as soon as your results are available and have been reviewed by the physician. If a serious problem is found with your X-ray, lab or biopsy, you will be notified as soon as we receive the results. If, for some reason, you do not receive your results within 7 to 10 days, please call our office.

The patient has the direct obligation for payment of fees. Any financial payment you may receive from private insurance or government agencies is a matter strictly between you and the insurance carriers or government agencies. Our physicians are participating Medicare physicians and do accept assignment on Medicare claims.

However, it is the patient’s responsibility:

To be aware of any deductibles, co-pays and/or percentages for which you are directly responsible.

To pay any deductible, co-payment or percentage not paid by Medicare or other carriers.

To know if your insurance has specific rules or regulations, such as the need for referrals from primary care physicians, precertification, limits on outpatient charges, specific physician networks and/or hospitals to use.

These same rules exist for HMOs or PPOs in which our physicians participate. As a courtesy to our patients, our staff will file your insurance or assist you in filing a claim if necessary.

Fees:

Our fees reflect:

• the time spent by the physician with you
• the specialized nature of the physician training
• the individual diagnostic studies performed

Our fees are comparable to similarly trained specialists in the community. We will discuss fees with you at anytime and encourage you to inquire about fees prior to receiving the services. If your care requires that you have a procedure in our Endoscopy Centers, a facility fee is issued by the Endoscopy Center to cover the expense of the room, equipment and nursing staff. This fee has been approved for the coverage by Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and other major insurance companies.

Following your treatment at the Endoscopy Center, a separate facility fee statement will be mailed to you. This means you will receive two bills—one for physician’s services, the other for facility usage.

Payment:

The fees for care during hospitalizations or for specialized procedures can be paid on a mutually agreeable basis. We can discuss any particular financial problem; you will find us understanding and patient.

Monthly Statements:

We send out monthly statements. The first statement will show all charges, with subsequent statements showing any insurance payments (it takes 4 to 6 weeks for most carriers to pay). You are responsible for any unpaid balance.

NOTE: Some Endoscopy Center procedures involve sending specimens for biopsy (tissue analysis). This prompts a separate billing from both the hospital and/or pathologists, or our office may provide the service through a client billing arrangement with an outside laboratory.

Nationally, the high cost of medical care is caused in part by an extraordinary amount of insurance paperwork. Please help us reduce these costs by being prepared to pay deductibles and co-pay amounts when services are rendered. Extra insurance forms, letters to attorneys, etc., will necessitate an extra fee due to the paperwork and time involved.

We regard the physician-patient relationship as sacred, requiring trust, mutual respect and confidentiality. Understanding this, the contents of your medical records remain confidential and will be released only upon your written authorization and in compliance with federally mandated Privacy Practices for Protected Health Information (HIPAA).