Policies

Frequently Asked Questions

Our office hours are 8:15 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday.  We are closed from 12:15PM to 1:15 PM for lunch.  Routine appointments usually begin at 8:30AM, and our last scheduled appointment is at 4:30PM. Telehealth visits also available in appropriate circumstances.

To reach our offices call our office phone number: 303-805-1800. This same number will reach our answering service for emergencies after hours.

Appointment Procedures

For initial visits we ask that you show up at least 15 minutes early to allow time for completion of the information sheets. We make every effort to stay on schedule, but because of emergencies or other unforeseen circumstances, a wait is occasionally required. If the delay is unusually prolonged, we will attempt to contact you to see if you would like to reschedule your appointment.

Patient’s who fail to show up for their appointment without 24 hours notice may be charged a $40-$60 fee depending on the time allotted for their appointment. We would appreciate as much notice as possible if it is necessary to cancel an appointment. This will not be covered by your insurance. If you are going to be late, please notify our office so that we can make the appropriate arrangements and reschedule your appointment if necessary. We appreciate your understanding.

Physical Examinations: Complete physical examinations, also known as Health Maintenance Exams, require a comprehensive appointment. Additional time is required for the physician to perform the history and physical exam as well as complete any testing that may be required. Physical examinations are considered periodic Health and Wellness visits. There is usually no time to properly attend to new or changing acute or chronic health problems. If this is the case, it is better to schedule the episodic care visit separately from the Health and Wellness physical exam. This is also the expectation of the various health plans we participate with. Procedures will also require a separately scheduled office visit. In selected cases that are more complex it may be necessary to schedule an appointment for the history alone with the actual exam performed at a later date. You should also plan to spend extra time in addition to that spent with the doctor for any required laboratory evaluations, X-rays, and/or other studies.

To our Medicare patients-a “Welcome to Medicare exam” is not a complete physical exam or well-woman exam. Please let the receptionist know if you are requesting the “welcome” visit.

“Walk-in” Patients: Although you may have to wait to be seen, and you may not see your regular provider, you will be evaluated and treated as soon as we can work you in. If your situation is less urgent, we may be able to work you into a “cancellation” appointment slot with your usual doctor. In general, it is better to call ahead for an appointment time to avoid a potentially long wait. We have appointment slots reserved for same day appointments. Please call as soon as the office opens and we will make every effort to schedule you that day.

Laboratory Testing and Free Blood Pressure Readings: We offer free blood pressure checks for our regular patients. Follow-up laboratory tests and an office visit to review these tests may be requested by your provider.

The laboratories are occasionally sending bills directly to the patients. This can especially be a problem if your health insurance plan has special billing codes they use for their wellness visits. You may need to provide this information directly to the lab billing department. Recoding a visit that has already occurred is not an option. We follow generally accepted guidelines for coding lab orders to a patient’s diagnosis. Labs requested by an outside provider can be discussed, but unless medically indicated, we can not order them. They are also often not covered by your insurance.

Residency Training Program: Drs. Aboaf, and Burroughs are on the clinical teaching faculty at the University of Colorado Medical Center, and our office participates in the University’s residency training program. The residents in our office have completed medical school and internship and are in their second or third year of a three year residency training program to become internal medicine specialists. We welcome any comments or suggestions that you may have regarding your experience with them.

• Telephone Messages: When calling the office for advice or information, you can help us out by observing the following guidelines:
  Let us know if you feel you are dealing with an emergency. Your call will ALWAYS get immediate and special attention.
• If you are calling for the results of routine blood tests or other tests such as pap smears, we will take your name and phone number so that someone will be able to get back to you later.
• If you have a special problem that requires a call from the doctor, he will attempt to get back to you that same day either over the lunch hour or after office hours. Please leave both a work, home or cell phone number and unblock your phone to facilitate these call-backs.

Electronic Health Record: Our office uses an electronic health record. It also provides access to a communication portal. This provides access to portions of your chart. We will provide a link to set up your portal account. You can communicate through the portal with your provider. There may be a charge for communication through the portal. Please be aware that urgent and emergent issues should NOT be communicated through the portal.

New Prescriptions and Prescription Refills: All prescriptions are filled via our electronic health record and occasionally by fax with local pharmacies for the convenience of our patients. However, please call your pharmacies at least 72 hours in advance with your request. This gives us time to review the chart and confirm the prescription. Refills are then faxed back or electronically sent to the pharmacy within 72 hours of receipt. Some narcotic prescriptions MUST be picked up by Federal Law; you will be required to provide picture ID to do this. Please be sure to request that the refills be requested electronically
Please do not go to the pharmacy to pick up your medication until you know that it has been approved and filled. Also, it is our policy to not prescribe narcotics or antibiotics over the phone unless the doctor is aware of the particular situation. An office appointment may be necessary to determine the need for these medications. No narcotics (pain medicines) or other controlled substances will be refilled after hours or on weekends/holidays by the on call doctor.

Prescription requests for chronic medications will require an office visit with one of our providers at least once per year.

Payment Procedures

Private Insurance: If you have a private health insurance plan (non-participating by our office), payment is expected at the time of service. We expect patients with private plans to file their own insurance. To facilitate this, we have designed our billing form so that it contains all the necessary information for the various insurance companies. Just attach the superbill provided to the claim form after you have completed your section and mail it in to the insurance company.

Health Care Plans: You are responsible to ensure that you are covered by your health care plan before service is rendered. If your eligibility is not known at the time of your visit, you may be responsible for the fee and it may be required at the time of service. Please bring your current health care benefits card and ID with you to every visit. Failure to notify our office in a timely fashion of a change of your insurance coverage may result in your being responsible for the charges incurred from your office visit.

Co-payment at the time of service is required by your health insurance provider. Co-payments will not be billed and must be paid at the time of service or a service charge will be accessed.

Delinquent Accounts: An account is delinquent if there has been no payment for 30 days. We send out two regular billing statements and another seriously past due. If no response, a certified letter with service charge is sent giving you the option to pay the account or to have the account sent to the collection agency. If no reply is received, the account will be referred to our collection agents. All unpaid accounts, no matter the amount, will be accessed a $20.00/month finance charge when over 60 days. This will continue until the account is paid in full. It is important that you keep our Clinic Service billing manager advised if you are having any difficulties with your balance so that special arrangements can be made for unusual circumstances. This is Linda Shores at Clinic Service Corporation, 303-755-2900.

Motor Vehicle Accidents and Workman’s Comp Claims: Claims are to be filed by the patient, unless otherwise arranged with the billing clerk.

Billing: Our billing service may be reached by calling Clinic Service 303-755-2900 and asking to speak to the person who is assigned to Aurora Internal Medicine Clinic. If there is a serious billing problem please ask for our office to assist you