Family Practice Patient Brochure
Dein M Shapiro MD
3461
Route 22 Eastbound
FAMILY PRACTICE
and
MEDICAL ACUPUNCTURE
EMAIL: contact@drshapiromd.com
Please note: This email function is not secure.
Please be careful. We cannot be held responsible for the privacy
of any personal information you include.
Voice: 908-534-6271 or 908-526-4499
Fax: 908-526-4499
Answering Service: 908-806-5343
Dr.
Shapiro
MD
is a graduate of Tufts University and The Georgetown School of
Medicine. He completed a three year residency program in Family Practice at
The York Hospital in York, Pa. He is a board certified specialist in family
practice and a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He is
also board certified in Medical Acupuncture. Dr Shapiro was trained
in acupuncture at The UCLA School of Medicine and
is a member of The American Academy of Medical Acupuncture.
Dr. Shapiro has hospital privileges in both Family Practice and Medical
Acupuncture at the Hunterdon Medical Center.
We welcome you
as a patient...
This medical practice is
dedicated to the physical and emotional well-being
of
the families it serves.
We appreciate your selection of this
office to serve your family health care needs,
and we will do our very best to
provide you with quality care.
The following information is provided in order
to familiarize you with our office policies and
to help us serve you as efficiently as
possible.
Range
of Services
Family practice
is one of medicine's newest specialties.
The family practitioner is trained to
provide continuous and comprehensive care for all ages.
You should use
the family practice office as your first
step in evaluating any health problem
The doctor will advise you if
further diagnostic testing or consultation is necessary.
The following services are provided:
Acupuncture
Chinese Herbal Medicine
Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Comprehensive physical examinations
Counseling
Electrocardiograms
General medical care for adults and adolescents
Laboratory services
Minor Surgery
Nutritional Counseling
Office gynecology
Patient education services
Pediatrics including newborn nursery care well
child care, and immunizations
Pulmonary
function tests
Flexible Sigmoidoscopies
24 hour emergency services
Hospital care is provided at the Hunterdon Medical Center where Dr. Shapiro has been a Family Practice staff physician since 1979. Dr. Shapiro also has inpatient privileges for medical acupuncture.
Office
Hours - By
Appointment Only
Appointments
are available on the following schedule:
Monday 9 AM - 5:30 PM
Tuesday
9 AM - 4:30 PM
Wednesday
9 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursday
9 AM - 4:30 PM
Friday
9 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday
9 AM - 1 PM
(once monthly)
When calling to
schedule an appointment, it is helpful if
you inform the receptionist as to the nature
of your problem so that sufficient time
may be allotted for your visit. When an appointment will include
the completion of a form for school, camp,
sports physicals, etc., please complete the patient
information section prior to your visit.
Keeping your family immunization records
up to date will expedite the completion
of your forms. If
on the day of a scheduled appointment,
you have an additional family member who
wishes to be seen, please call the office
first and notify us in advance.
Every effort will be made to accommodate
you. If you are
unable to keep an appointment, please
cancel as far in advance as possible
so that we accommodate other patients. On
occasion, emergencies can cause delays in the
appointment schedule. If you experience a delay that
will create a problem for you, please
feel free to discuss it with the
receptionist.
Emergencies and After Hours Calls: A doctor is available 24/7/365.
If you have a medical problem which you feel cannot wait until office
hours, please call one of our main
numbers (534-6271 or 526-4499).
The recording will either list the doctors on call or instruct you to
call the answering service (806-5343).
It should not take more than 30 minutes for the doctor to return your
call. If you do not receive a
return call within 30 minutes please feel free to call again.
If you have a serious emergency which cannot wait for a return call, call 911, or go
directly to the hospital emergency room by rescue squad if necessary, and have
Dr. Shapiro or the covering doctor contacted from there.
You do not need to call in advance for managed care authorization
to be seen in the emergency room in a true emergency.
Telephone
Calls (during office hours)
All patients are
encouraged to call with any questions they have concerning medical problems.
The office staff has been trained to answer many
of your questions. They will also
relay your information to the doctor and your call will be returned or otherwise
answered at the earliest opportunity.
Managed
Care Referrals
We have a trained and dedicated staff to manage referrals.
However, the referral process
is not entirely under our control. It
takes time to obtain approval from your insurance company and to receive the
necessary paper work from them. Please allow 3 business days to process routine
referrals. Non-emergent
referrals cannot be expedited, even if you have already scheduled
an appointment. Verbal requests
from specialists or other health care providers for additional visits or tests
cannot be accepted. Requests
for additional care must come from a specialist in writing accompanied by the appropriate insurance
codes. Without the codes, the
request cannot be submitted to your insurance company.
Without approval you may find yourself without coverage for costly
procedures.
Prescriptions
and Renewals
When you call the hotline
regarding a prescription refill, please
have the name and of the medication, prescription
number, and the name and number of the pharmacy readily available.
Routine medication refills can only
be made during regular office hours.
Try to anticipate your refill needs.
If you are running low on your regular medicines,
you are probably due for a revisit as well!
New prescriptions require an office visit so that we can evaluate your problem and make a proper medical diagnosis.
Laboratory
Facilities
The nursing staff can draw blood and perform a limited number of lab
tests at our office. They also perform electrocardiograms and pulmonary
function tests. These are usually
done in the morning before regular offices hours beginning at 8:30 am.
Some patients prefer to go directly to one of the commercial laboratories
which open around 7am.
Results of laboratory studies done in the office are usually available within 24 hours Specimens sent to an outside laboratory are usually
available in
2 or 3 days. Pap smear reports may take a week or longer. Lab results are not routinely called to patients unless
there is a problem. However,
if you are concerned, please feel free to call.
Some laboratory studies require that the
patient be fasting, which means that no food or beverage (other than
water) should be taken after 7 pm the evening prior to the testing.
If you are scheduled for a morning
examination, you may wish to come in fasting, so that if
these tests are indicated they may be done at that time.
Fees
and Payments
We make every effort to keep down the cost of your medical care. You can help by paying your portion of the bill upon completion of each visit. Co-pays must be paid at the time of service. There is a $1.00 service charge to bill a co-pay.
Insurance
and Insurance Forms
We are participants in most major insurance plans and we have a
sophisticated computerized billing system.
In most cases, we can submit your insurance for you and the insurance
payment will come directly to us. However,
some private indemnity plans
require that you
pay at the time of service. We submit the claim, and payment comes to you.
In rare cases,
the patient pays at
the time of service and submits their own insurance.
Please, remember that no
insurance is 100%. Some
portion of the bill, sooner or later, will be your responsibility.
Guarantors are required to sign a “Managed Care Letter”.
This states that in the event you dispute a claim that is denied by your
insurance company, you will not delay payment to us until the dispute is
settled.
Some companies pay fixed allowances for certain procedures and others pay
a percentage of the charge. It
is your responsibility to pay any deductible amount, co-insurance, or any other
balance not paid for or denied by your insurance company.
We know questions can arise on insurance matters and these should be
discussed with the receptionist or billing staff person.
We will be happy to help you receive maximum benefits.
No Smoking
Please
Smoking in a medical facility is prohibited by New Jersey state law and punishable by a stiff fine. Also, second hand smoke is a well documented bio-hazard.
Help is available for those who would like to quit !
For information on acupuncture and smoking cessation, please refer to the acupuncture
page.