Primary Care Physician and After-Hours Urgent Medical Problem Policy
Your physician at The Asthma Center is a specialist and cannot act as your primary care physician or general doctor. All patients must have a primary care physician manage other medical symptoms that are not due to allergy, asthma, sinus and related problems. If you have a medical problem which is related to our specialty or a question regarding our treatment, then call us directly to discuss it. All other problems should be reviewed with your primary care physician.
In the event that you are insured by an HMO, you should also notify your primary care physician of any acute problems that may require an emergency room visit before or immediately after you speak to one of our doctors. Should you go to the emergency room without a referral from your primary care physician, it may not be covered by your HMO plan if you have not spoken to your primary care physician.
Should you need to speak to one of The Asthma Center physicians regarding a medical problem concerning your allergy or asthma, it is best to call early in the day so that we have time to review your chart and respond professionally. If you have an emergency, let the receptionist know about it in order to get immediate attention.
One of our specialists is available for urgent problems in our specialty after-hours at all times. Please call our page number to speak to one of the doctors. Our page number is available on our after-hours phone message. If you do not receive a return call within 15 minutes of calling our paging service, please call and page us again.
Prescription refill authorizations are given during normal working hours (8am – 4:30 pm) when we can review the patient’s chart and should not be requested after hours.