General Office Policies

• Office hours and locations
  Our main office, located in Winter Haven, is open from 8:30 AM until 5:00 PM Monday through Friday.  We have additional offices located in Lakeland, Lake Wales, Sebring, Haines City, and Clermont.
  
  We see patients by appointment only; a referral is not necessary unless mandated by an insurance company.

• Appointments and Cancellations
  We value your time, and scheduling of patients is done in a way to minimize your wait.  However, delays cannot always be foreseen and avoided.  A sincere attempt is made to adhere to the schedule as much as possible.
  
  We ask that all routine appointments be made in advance.  If you find you are unable to keep your appointment, please notify our office 24 hours in advance to avoid a cancellation charge.  This courtesy on your part makes it possible to give an appointment to another patient who desires to see the doctor. There will be a $50.00 charge after two consecutive missed appointments. This charge must be paid prior to scheduling any further appointments. (This charge will not be billed to insurance.)
  
  Forgive us should we need to change your office appointment due to an unexpected emergency.

• Fees and Insurance
  In general, fees charged in our office are comparable to those charged by other competent ENT specialists in this area.
  
  An estimate of the charge for surgery and allergy testing will be given, although it may be impossible to quote an exact figure.  A specified period of postoperative care will be included in the charge for most operations.  This includes routine postoperative treatment directly related to the surgery, but not unexpected complications or unrelated conditions that might arise.
  
  We participate with many types of health insurance plans and therefore will either submit or assist you with your insurance claim.  We do accept Medicare assignment and will file the claim for you.  Deductibles, co-payments and/or co-insurance amounts are asked for at the time of service, and the total bill ultimately remains the patient's responsibility.  Please be sure to bring your insurance information with you on your initial visit.
  
  If our office does not participate with your insurance plan, we ask that you kindly pay your bill after services have been rendered.  In some instances, for example with special testing or surgery, our office will submit your claim as a courtesy to you.
  
  For surgeries, we ask that the patient's portion of the bill be paid prior to surgery.  Any portion of the bill not paid by insurance is the responsibility of the patient, including instances where the insurance company fails to cover an authorized service.
  
  For your convenience, we offer the options of paying by cash, check, money order, VISA/MasterCard or Discover.  Special payment arrangements can be made by speaking with our insurance department in advance of services.

• Telephone Calls
  The doctor-patient relationship is a privileged one.  For this reason we do not encourage giving out information about the patient to others, including family members or spouses, except in cases where power-of-attorney has been granted.
  
  Asking the doctor to leave a patient being examined to answer every phone call to the office would obviously be unfair to the patient under treatment.  The office staff has been trained to answer most questions.  If they are unable to answer your questions, your chart will be reviewed and the answer to your questions will be relayed to you as soon as possible.  Calls that the doctor has to return are sometimes made after office hours.  Please remember that many diseases have the same symptoms.  For this reason, most phone requests for medical treatment will require an office examination.  If you have reason to think that medication will be required, please have the phone number of your pharmacy available.  Please call only during office hours for prescription refills so that your chart may be reviewed.