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About My Practice My goal is to provide superior healthcare by providing open and easy access, by fostering a deep and personal doctor-patient relationship, and by bringing together new technologies with old-fashioned values to provide the personal care you deserve. My practice focuses on wellness, health maintenance and disease prevention. I choose to see a limited number of patients in my practice. This ensures I have enough time to spend with you addressing preventative health, as well as educating you on your medical problems and the wide array of treatment options available. Patients will be considered a patient of mine once they have read the office and financial policies, signed the consent to treatment form, and paid the Non-covered Benefits Fee. Services may be delayed or discontinued if the above measures are not completed. Access and Communication There are two ways to communicate with me outside of office visits: electronic messaging and telephone. Electronic messages are the preferred route; I will check and respond to electronic messages prior to telephone messages. Electronic messages can be sent via traditional email. Electronic messages are appropriate for questions regarding non-urgent medical advice, for new issues or follow-up from prior visits (including most test and study results), scheduling issues that cannot be handled by the online scheduler, and billing/insurance issues. The confidentiality of e-mail exchanges cannot be guaranteed. If your e-mail address is through your employer, your employer may own all e-mails sent to that address. If your e-mail address is a family address, other family members may see your messages. If you use an internet service provider, there is a small risk that messages may be intercepted by others (“hackers”). The following subjects are never appropriate for electronic communication (e-mail or secure messaging):
The telephone will not be manned by a receptionist. Instead you will be asked to either leave a message in the general mailbox that will be checked frequently, or for urgent matters you can chose to be connected to my cell phone. If you leave me a message, I will respond by phone or secure online message as soon as possible. When leaving a message, please leave your first and last name, a phone number at which you can be reached, and the purpose of your call. When you choose to be transferred to my cell phone, keep in mind that I may be conducting an examination with another patient when you call. As a courtesy to other patients, please do not request to be connected directly to me unless it is something that cannot wait. Also, as a courtesy to me and my family, please ensure only urgent matters are directed to my cell phone after 7PM or before 8AM. If I cannot answer my cell phone, please leave a message. I will get immediate notification that a message has been left and your voice message will be converted to a written message that I can see immediately. In case of any life-threatening emergency, do not call me! Instead you should always call 911 or go to the closest hospital for any emergency. Increased access to me is part of the Non-Covered Benefits of my practice at Integrative Medicine of Cherry Creek. Please keep in mind that although this communication is an integral part of your care, I may ask you to schedule an appointment to address an issue in more depth. Telephone and electronic messaging is never a complete substitute for a physical exam or face-to-face counseling. Scheduling Appointments By limiting the size of my practice, you can almost always schedule an appointment within 24 hours for new or follow-up issues. Annual or physical exams may require several days scheduling in advance. I prefer all patients schedule their own appointments online via my website. Patients without internet access can have a close family member or friend schedule an appointment for them or can call the office and leave a voice message with requested dates and times. My regular office visit hours are: Monday 9AM to 4PM Tuesday 2PM to 7PM Wednesday 9AM to 4PM Thursday Closed or as needed Friday 7AM to 1PM My office hours are subject to change without notice. If you need to be seen and the online appointment schedule is full for the day, please call or send an electronic message to contact me. Walk-In Appointments I am not able to accommodate walk-in appointments. Generally, you will be able to schedule a same-day appointment online with as little as one-hour lead time. Again, if you need to be seen and the online appointment schedule is full for the day, please call or send an online message to contact me. Late or Missed Appointments / Cancellations From time to time, unforeseen circumstances can arise that may prevent you from keeping your appointment. To be fair to all concerned, if you are late for an appointment, I will see patients who have shown up for their appointments on time first, and then see you at an available opportunity. At times, if you are late for an appointment, you may need to reschedule. If you cancel an appointment at least 4 hours before the scheduled time, there will be no penalty. If you miss an appointment more than once without notifying me first, I will charge you a $40 No Show Fee. If you miss an appointment without prior notification a 3rd time or more, I may decide to terminate my relationship as your physician. Vacations, Holidays and After Hours Call When I am out of the office, I will continue to monitor my online and voice messages regularly. For extended absences, I will provide the name and telephone number of a qualified physician and/or urgent care facility to be available for you in the event of an urgent need. Prescription Refills If you need a refill from me for a prescription medication that you take on a daily or continuous basis, please contact the pharmacy first. They will either fill the prescription or contact my office to request an authorization. If the pharmacy cannot handle the request, you may request a refill by contacting me. If I have not seen you within the past year, I will fill one month worth of medication and require an office visit prior to further refills. If you need a refill for a prescription medication that you do not take regularly, I will probably need to see you first. Please allow at least 24 hours for all prescription refill requests during the week and at least 72 hours on weekends and holidays. Samples I will not be stocking drug samples in the office. Short-term prescriptions can be written if you wish to try a new medication. Patient Dismissal While I will make every effort to work with you, sometimes I feel it is best for all involved to dismiss you from the practice. If you are dismissed from the practice, you will be allowed 30 days for emergency treatment from me. After that time, you will be required to see another physician. Common reasons for dismissal include: failure to keep appointments, repeated non-compliance with treatment plans, abusiveness to me or any staff, and failure to pay outstanding balances. Transferring Care From Integrative Medicine of Cherry Creek Prior to ending your relationship with my practice, I recommend you first find another physician. This way, there are no gaps in your care and you always have a primary physician. Once you have found another physician, you should request that records be sent to that physician. You can fill out a release at the new physician’s office or use my form.
If you request your records be transferred to another physician, there will be no charge. There will be a charge if you have records released to yourself. The charge is substantially less than the fee schedule dictated by the Colorado State Medical Board. If your chart costs would be cheaper per the State Board's Fee Schedule, you will be refunded the difference. All records must be mailed. Confidentiality and Its Limits Our discussions are strictly confidential and will not be shared with anyone without your express permission given in writing to me. There are, however, certain exceptions that you should know about:
Please see my Notification of Privacy Practices on my website for complete details regarding patient confidentiality and your protected health information. Confidentiality with Adolescent Minors As a specialist in Internal Medicine, I see patients 16 years of age and up. Parents are often understandably curious and concerned about the treatment of their teenagers. It is my position that young people need to develop trust in their doctor and need some degree of security and privacy to do so. I encourage teenagers to share information about their health with their parents or guardians. However, there will be some things that your teenager would rather talk about with a doctor, nurse, or counselor. If your teenager receives the following services, I cannot give you information about these visits without permission from your son or daughter:
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360 South Monroe Street
Suite #150
Denver, CO 80209
