We are living through a time of great change in healthcare. As you know, many physicians are limiting their practices to accept only cash, only certain insurance plans or requiring additional fees. We are trying to avoid dropping any health plans or adding extra charges but we are being squeezed because insurance plans are requiring additional documentation to write prescriptions and order tests. There is a lot going on behind the scene that is making our job more difficult. There are ways that our patients can help and we would appreciate it.
Phoenix Diabetes and Endocrinology needs to coordinate efforts between patients and providers to provide the best medical care. The following patient responsibilities would help maintain safe, quality, and cost effective treatment.
1. Patients need to schedule appointments for regular visits and recommended follow ups. Follow up visits are individualized and will be discussed by your provider. For diabetes patients these guidelines are from national organizations for quality care and what your insurance plans expect of us:
- Controlled blood sugars and stable health every 3 – 6 months.
- Insulin Pumps and continuous glucose monitors every 3 months to complete required documentation for insurance companies.
- Uncontrolled blood sugars, low blood sugars, renal problems, and insulin adjustment at least every 3 months.
- New patients may be requested to come more frequently for control of blood sugars and stabilization of medication.
2. A recorded phone system is used at the office. To insure your call is addressed in a timely manner please:
- Listen to the complete message.
- Choose the correct option.
- Spell your last name, include date of birth, and leave a telephone number where we can reach you. If you don’t answer your house phone, please don’t leave that number. Please leave us your cell number if you only answer that number.
3. Update changes at every visit.
- Phone numbers, addresses, and insurance.
- Medication, allergies, hospitalizations.
- Pharmacies or durable medical goods provider. If we change a prescription dosage, the prescription number changes. Dispose of old prescriptions to avoid refilling the wrong prescription. This happens frequently. If you change pharmacies, notify the old pharmacy of the change. We continue to get requests for refills from your old pharmacy and we don’t always know your preference. Another issue is if you contact a company like Liberty or Medtronics and give them our contact information, they will contact us to initiate services through them whether you want these services or not. These companies are aggressive and do what they can to get business. We have had many problems with this. Please notify us if you want to use these types of companies. It has gotten to the point that we cannot trust these types of providers. They do not discontinue services when asked and try to initiate service even when not requested. This is a large problem for us given the number of patients involved and the type of prescriptions we try to accommodate.
4. All paperwork, prescriptions, and lab requests need to be completed at visits.
- If you are changing pharmacies and we can do this without a visit we will try to accommodate you. Prior authorizations because of changes in your health insurance policy will require a visit.
- Paperwork, documents to be completed, and repeated pharmacy issues require a scheduled visit.
- Pharmacy refill requests will be denied if your office visits are not current.
- Our office needs to be notified if you are applying for new equipment or supplies from mail order companies.
5. Changes in symptoms, medications, or interactive discussion of lab results require a scheduled visit.
6. Labs and records from other providers need to be available at the visit if important in your care. If you are having your blood drawn at another doctor’s office, please bring the results with you so you can be sure they will be here to discuss. We will obtain your blood work at an official Sonora Quest draw station or Labcorp draw station but your privacy rights prevent us from accessing your test results if obtained elsewhere or in another doctor’s name. If results are obtained after the visit, another visit may be needed to review tests.
Thank you for reading these policies. We suggest you also read your personal health benefits.
Call for an appointment
Office hours:
8:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Monday - Thursday
Phoenix Diabetes and Endocrinology
4045 E. Union Hills Dr.
Suite 107
Phoenix, AZ 85050
Phone (602) 788-3636
Fax (602) 788-3646
phoenixdiabetes@gmail.com
