General Frequently Asked Questions

It generally takes 3-4 business days for a referral to be completed. Please be advised that if you have not been seen in our office for more than six (6) months or the condition you are consulting the specialist for is new, we may require an office visit before issuing a referral.

We do our very best to prescribe medications that are on your insurance company’s preferred drug list, aka, “formulary”, however, there are times when a prior authorization form is needed. Unfortunately, because we deal with hundreds of different insurance companies, we can’t always find the right form for your particular plan. Therefore, we must have the patient contact their insurance company and have them send us the correct form. In order to route the form correctly, please have them fax the form to (410) 897-9852 to your physician’s attention, and with your name and date of birth included. (Insurance companies often send forms with no patient information and then we have no idea who it’s for, delaying the process even more.) It’s important to know that it can take several days from the time you request the form to the time it is either approved or denied by your insurance company because of the multiple steps required in between. While we do our best to complete and return the required forms within two (2) business days, it can take another three (3) business days for the form to be reviewed, and a decision made, by your insurance company. Therefore, we ask that you keep this time frame in mind when a medication we’ve prescribed requires a prior authorization.

First and foremost, if your message is urgent, or needs an immediate response, DO NOT submit it online. In such cases, please call our office at (410) 897-9841 and speak with one of our telephone operators so that your message can be triaged appropriately. If your call is life-threatening, please go to your nearest Emergency Room or dial 9-1-1 immediately. If you have a routine question for our physicians and/or office staff, you will generally receive a response in 1-2 business days. If you do not receive a response after two business days, please call our office to check the status of your message as we may have the wrong contact information for you. It is important that you keep your contact information current, so please verify that your phone/email/mailing address is up-to-date at all times.

There are several ways to submit your request, and depending on the route you choose, this can affect the turn-around time for processing. We highly recommend that you call your pharmacy to request your prescription refill. They will send us the request electronically, and our providers are able to process these requests the most quickly. We do not call or email patients to confirm that your prescription has been sent. Unless you receive a phone call or message from us, you can assume the refill was authorized and can check with your pharmacy to confirm. In general, you can expect your refills to be done within two business days. You may also speak to one of our phone operators or leave us a message on our voicemail system to request your refill, but these requests take longer to process. Please allow 2-3 business days for processing these requests.(Scheduled drugs, such as Percocet, Oxycodone, etc. are handled differently and are addressed in the next section.)

Patients on long-term chronic pain medications must be seen in the office regularly (usually every other month), and must sign our Opioid Use Contract. Patients must also have regular urine drug screenings. Failure to keep your follow-up appointments or refusing urine drug screens will result in immediate discontinuation issuing prescriptions. Please keep in mind that refills will not be given early, nor will they replaced if the medication is lost or stolen. When picking up your prescriptions, please be prepared to show picture ID. If you are having a friend or family member pick up a prescription for you, they must also show identification before the prescriptions will be released. On months that you are not required to have an office visit, please allow two to three business days for opioid medication refill requests to be processed. Please plan your request accordingly.

​There are a few reasons why an office visit may have been billed in addition to your physical. The most frequent reason is because a new condition or illness was treated in addition to the physical that was scheduled. For example, you are scheduled for your annual physical, but you also have a new rash on your arm that just appeared in the past couple of days. The doctor performs the physical, but he/she also evaluates the rash and treats it. Because treating that new rash is outside of what the provider would normally treat during a physical, there will be an office visit billed as well. Depending on your insurance policy, you may be charged an office visit copay for the additional service performed. Should you have additional questions, please contact our Billing Department Staff at (410) 897-9841 and select option 7 from the automated phone menu.

Please be advised that patients scheduled or seen before 8:00am or after 5:00pm Monday through Friday, as well as on Saturdays and Federal holidays, are charged an “after-hours” code, as allowed under the standard Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) definitions published by the American Medical Association (AMA). Many insurers will cover the cost, but there are some that do not. If you wish to verify your coverage, please call the Member Services number on your insurance card and inquire if they cover CPT code 99051 under your plan.

Our providers participate with most major insurance carriers, including but not limited to:

• Aetna
• Amerigroup
• Carefirst BC/BS
• CIGNA
• Johns Hopkins
• Medicare
• Multiplan/PHCS
• Priority Partners

This list is not all inclusive, and we recommend that you call the members services number on your insurance card to check the participation status of the provider prior to being seen.

If you are uninsured, we offer a discount if the balance is paid at the time of service.  We accept cash, checks, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover.

We do not accept Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance, nor accept attorney’s liens as a form of payment.  Any services related to an automobile accident are payable at the time of service.  You will be provided with a receipt for which you can apply directly to your insurance plan for reimbursement.