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Additional News and
Information goes here
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| Frequently Asked Questions |
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Office Hours |
| Our office is open
for appointments generally between 9:00
am and 4:00 pm. On some days we do have
earlier appointments for working
patients. Patients are seen by
appointment only. We try to see patients
as soon as feasible, usually in 1-3 days
if you can take any appointment time,
unless prior authorization has not been
approved. |
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Scheduling Appointments |
| You may schedule an
appointment by calling at 512-353-8658.
We try not to schedule new patient or
"new problem" appointments late in the
afternoon. This allows us to insure that
we have adequate time to evaluate your
problem and obtain any needed x-rays. We
will attempt to accommodate your
schedule as much as possible. Children
under 18 must be accompanied by a parent
or guardian on the first visit.
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Prepare for Your Appointment |
| If you are seeing Dr.
Baker for a knee, hip, or back problem,
please wear or bring a pair of shorts
from home. You'll be more comfortable in
your own shorts than ours. If you are
being evaluated for a shoulder problem,
please wear or bring a tank top.
When preparing for your
appointment, please consider completing
new patient forms before your visit at
your leisure in the comfort of your
home. To do this, click and print the
History Form, Privacy Form (required by
federal law), the Insurance Information
Form, and the Financial Policy Form. If
you have an injury or broken bone,
please print out and complete the
Accident Form.
And that's it! If you
print these forms, complete them, and
bring them to your visit, you shouldn't
have to complete forms when you come to
our office. This will save you time and
help us to keep on schedule for our
patients. |
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Registration Process |
| For your initial
appointment to see Dr. Baker, you should
arrive 15 minutes prior to your
scheduled appointment if you have
completed all of the above forms and
brought them with you to the
appointment. If you do not complete the
above forms before your visit, please
plan to arrive 30 minutes prior to your
appointment.
After arriving, please be sure to let
our front office personnel you are
present. If you are an established
patient and any of your insurance or
personal information has changed, be
sure to alert the office worker to make
these changes in your record. |
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Insurance and Personal Information
Changes |
| We must have accurate
records to contact you for medical
concerns, and we must have accurate
insurance information to aid you in
processing your bills. As a courtesy, we
will process your insurance claims for
you, but we cannot do so if your
insurance information is inaccurate.
It is your
responsibility to notify our office
personnel of any changes in your
personal information or insurance
information. It is important that you
update this information with our office
workers before your appointment with Dr.
Baker. |
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Rescheduling Appointments |
| You should reschedule
or cancel no later than 24 hours before
your appointment time. We would
appreciate a 48 hour notice, if
possible. This allows us to fill your
time with another patient's appointment,
reducing the waiting time for patients
like yourself to see the doctor.
Because Dr. Baker is a
surgeon and takes emergency call, there
are rare times when we must reschedule
your appointment for later in the day or
for another day. We try minimize the
these times. If you have updated
information in our records, we will make
every effort to contact you before your
appointment. We thank you in advance for
your understanding; if you had an
emergency, you would want the doctor
there for you. |
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Emergency Room Referrals |
| If you have been
referred to see Dr. Baker for further
evaluation of your injury or problem,
then we look forward to helping you with
your problem. Please be sure to bring a
copy of your plain x-ray films (not a CD
disk) and a copy of the report (reading
of the films by a radiologist) to your
appointment. If you had an MRI or CT
scan, bring those films and a copy of
the report also. In most instances, Dr.
Baker will need to see the films to
determine the correct treatment.
If you had films or
imaging studies made at the Central
Texas Medical Center, we can access
these images through a secure web
connection, so you do not have to bring
hard copy films of these studies, if you
do not have them. However, if you want
Dr. Baker to review the films with you,
please bring the hard copy films.
We participate in many
plans. Some plans require that you
obtain a referral from your primary care
physician before you see a specialist.
This is true even if the emergency
department physician refers you to this
office. Check with your plan's benefits
coordinator by calling the customer
service line listed on the back of your
insurance card. It is your
responsibility to obtain all necessary
referrals prior to your visit with us.
If you do not have
health insurance, our billing staff will
discuss a payment plan with you. |
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Insurance Co-pays and Deductibles |
| Your insurance
company requires us to collect any
insurance co-pays before your office
visit. Co-pays cannot be waived.
This is an obligation we have made by
contract, and we cannot waive co-pays
without committing fraud. Deductibles must also be paid at the
time of the visit and likewise cannot be
waived. |
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Referrals |
| If your insurance
company requires a referral from your
primary care physician to see a
specialist, it is your responsibility to
obtain all of the required referral
documentation and provide it to our
clinic. Please note that you must have
your referral document with you at your
initial visit to be seen. |
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X-ray Policy |
| We are required by
state law to keep the original
radiographs made in our office.
Unfortunately, we cannot give the films
to you, even if you are taking them to
another doctor. However, we will be
happy to make a copy of any films you
wish to have. The fee for film copy is
$10.00 a page. This fee is not covered by
insurance or Medicare. |
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Prescriptions |
| If you are being
prescribed a pain medication,
anti-inflammatory medication, or other
medication, please check your supply to
anticipate shortages before the weekend
or after hours in the evening. We do not
fill medication requests on the weekend
or after regular working hours when we
cannot access your medical record. If
you require medications during these
times, you will need to be assessed by a
physician to confirm the medical
condition requiring the medication.
Usually, this will mean that you will
need to go to an emergency department or
minor emergency clinic to get your
prescription refilled. Prevention is the
best strategy to avoid this scenario. |
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Great West/One
Health HMO |
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Blue Cross Blue
Shield PPO |
Great West/One
Health PPO/OAP |
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BCBS HMO Blue
Texas |
Medicare
(CMS-Trailblazer Medicare only) |
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BCBS Par Plan |
PacifiCare PPO/HMO |
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Cigna PPO |
PHCS PPO |
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Community Care
Network PPO |
Seton Health Plan
POS/HMO |
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CTMC Employer
Plan PPO |
Texas True Choice
PPO |
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HealthSmart PPO |
Unicare PPO
(Classic/Performance) |
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Humana HMO/PPO |
United Health
Care HMO/PPO |
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Integrated Health
Plan |
Worker's
Compensation |
We do NOT accept the following plans: Medicaid
Tri-Care Evercare Aetna (except CTMC)
We do NOT accept any Medicare Advantage plans (Medicare PPO/HMOplans)
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Out-of-Work and Disability Forms |
| If you are under our care and have a
medical condition that requires you to
be out-of-work, we will give simple
written statement that we recommend that
you stay out of work free-of-charge. If
you have a form to be completed, you
will need to pay a $15 fee to have this
completed. Unfortunately, insurance
companies and disability plans do not
pay for this and require you to pay
these fees. |
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