OFFICE POLICIES

Primary Care of Western New York, LLP Plan Participation

Primary Care of Western New York, LLP participates with most major insurance providers. See the full list of plans we accept below. Not all providers may be enrolled in all insurances. Patients should be aware of their insurance coverage, policy provisions, authorizations requirements, and network providers. It is our patients’ responsibility to inform us of any changes in their insurance coverage. This includes identification number, insurance company, or group number changes.

Primary Care of Western New York, LLP Appointment Policy

Primary Care of Western New York provides medical services by appointment. Patients cannot walk into the office and expect to be seen by their provider. When we see patients without appointments we create situations that are unfair to other patients. True emergency treatment needs should always go to the hospital emergency room.

Our phone lines are open 8am to 7pm Monday through Thursday, 8am to 4pm Friday, and 8am to 11am Saturday. We experience a high volume of calls on Mondays and Fridays from 8am-6pm. We recommend to patients that non-urgent and routine calls be avoided during the high volume times or be made after 6pm when our call volume decreases. In addition, established patients may use the online patient portal to communicate with the office for administrative (appointments, billings, non-urgent questions) matters.

New Patients must be seen for a physical exam appointment to establish a doctor-patient relationship before we can begin to provide medical care or prescribe medication. New Patient appointments necessitate extra time and it is important that new patients keep their initial appointments.

New Patients who fail to keep their new patient appointment without proper cancellation notice will be sent a letter informing them that the practice will no longer be able to accept them as a patient.

Established Patients phoning for appointments for urgent or sick visits are offered our sick visit appointments for that day. If there are no more available appointments for that day, the call will be taken by a nurse so that we can establish the nature and severity of your illness. She will determine when you can be seen or refer you to an immediate care center or emergency room for urgent care.

In an attempt to minimize everyone’s time in the waiting room, we must advise that if patients are more than 10 minutes late for an appointment they may need to reschedule their appointment.

Appointments must be cancelled in a timely manner or there may be a missed appointment charge of $25. In most cases, timely cancellation means informing the office at least 24 hours prior to the appointment time. Established Patients who do not show for more than three appointments without timely cancellation will be sent a letter discharging them from the practice.

As a courtesy, we remind our patients of their upcoming appointments by phone. Lack of an answering machine, busy signals, and unlisted/changed/non-working phone numbers mean that we cannot always accomplish the reminder. Please keep your appointment on your calendar.

Patients who walk in and demand to see a provider are disruptive and this jeopardizes the doctor-patient relationship. It is our policy to see patients by appointment only and we will not be able to accommodate any walk-in requests.

Primary Care of Western New York, LLP Vaccine Policy

As primary care family medicine physicians we believe in the prevention of diseases, and stress the importance of promoting healthy lifestyle and medical practices. This includes disease prevention and vaccination against serious medical diseases that can be life threatening, especially to children. Refusal to vaccinate continues to be an ongoing problem in the community. Based on evidence and scientific research, we believe in the effectiveness and safety of vaccines to prevent serious and life threatening illnesses. We also believe that there is no current medical literature, evidence, or study supporting the idea that routine preventive vaccines cause behavioral or other developmental disabilities.

By choosing not to vaccinate your child, you are putting your family at risk for serious illnesses or even death. Furthermore, it is irresponsible to rely on others in the community who have been vaccinated to help protect your own children and family.
Please be advised that vaccines have been studied and recommended by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) to be given according to a specified schedule in order to provide the best immunity and protection for your child that is safe and effective.

We do not intend to coerce or scare you into vaccinating your children and family, but believe vaccination is an important part of health maintenance and prevention. We feel strongly that vaccinating children on schedule, and remaining current with available vaccines is the medically correct thing to do for our patients.

For parents who choose not to vaccinate their children, we regretfully inform you that we will not be able to provide medical care for your child or family, and will ask that you find another medical provider who can accommodate your views and practices. We thank you for understanding, and look forward to continuing to provide you with the best evidence based and preventive health care available. Please feel free to discuss any questions or concerns you may have with your primary physician.

Primary Care of Western New York, LLP No-Fault Policy

The policy of Primary Care of Western New York, LLP is not to accept assignments of benefits for no-fault insurance treatment.

Patient’s should understand that they will be responsible to pay Primary Care of Western New York, LLP for any charges associated with their no-fault treatment from their injuries. Primary Care of Western New York, LLP will mail patients a claim form within a few days of their visit. As per New York State Law, it is the patients responsibility to submit the claim form as proof of treatment to their no-fault insurance carrier within 45 days of treatment.

Patients should understand that their no-fault insurance carrier will make any reimbursement payments directly to them.

As per Primary Care of Western New York, LLP policy, patients will be charged $25 at every motor vehicle accident (MVA) visit which is considered a deposit toward payment for their treatment.

Primary Care of Western New York, LLP Worker’s Compensation Policy

Primary Care of Western New York, LLP does not accept any new workers compensation cases. Unfortunately, we will not be able to see any work related injury.

Patient Form Completion Policy

There has been an increasing frequency of requests from insurance companies, lawyers, governments, and patients to complete forms on behalf of our patients. This has created an increased workload for our providers and staff. Completion of a form by your Primary Care of WNY provider may incur a $25 charge.