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[This information is reproduced from our Welcome Brochure.]
Our mission is to provide comprehensive, state-of-the-art neurosurgical care in a regional neuroscience facility. We provide all aspects of neurosurgical care, including microsurgery, advanced spine surgery, as well as brain and spine trauma care. We actively participate in neuroscience education and training. We are dedicated to providing our patients with the highest quality care.
Dear New Patient:
Welcome to the Front Range Center for Brain & Spine Surgery, P.C. The doctors who will care for you and the people in the office who will help you with practical details will serve you with their best efforts. We hope your experience with the brain & Spine Center is both pleasant and beneficial. As a way to begin our association with you, we have prepared this Welcome Brochure and other information within our web site. These pages both provide you with necessary information and gives us an opportunity to ask you important questions by means of several forms included here.
Information for You
Included in this web site is a patient information brochure that will guide you through most of our policies. You will learn about scheduling, how to contact us in case of an emergency, how to renew prescriptions, and how billing works at the Brain & Spine Center. Please also find the brief biographical profile of each doctor.
Maps may assist you as you travel to the office. Please note that if the weather conditions are difficult when you get ready to leave, we encourage you to call and reschedule your appointment rather than risk travel.
If you are coming from a great distance, we suggest that you come prepared to stay overnight. On occasion, further testing will be necessary on the day following your appointment.
If you know ahead of time that you will be staying overnight, you may call the following discounted area hotels (located near I-25 and Highway 14) and let them know you have an appointment with our practice and ask about their hospital rate. Ramada Inn: (970) 484-4660. Plaza Inn: (970) 493-7800. Sleep Inn: (970) 484-5515.
Before you leave for your appointment, it is most important that you call the office to confirm your appointment time. The doctors are sometimes late due to emergencies or due to prolonged surgery. In rare cases, circumstances like these cause all or parts of the day’s appointments to be rescheduled. We will reschedule your appointment at the earliest time available.
Information About Calling Us
Several receptionists staff our front desk, responding to telephone calls and helping patients when they arrive at our office. When they are all helping patients or callers, the telephone answering system picks up incoming calls and automatically puts callers on hold. When a receptionist has finished one call, the next call in line is automatically connected. If a receptionist is unable to respond within three minutes, the caller is asked to leave a voice mail message that will be answered in the order that it is recorded. Leaving a voice mail message is the fastest way to get a response when the receptionists are unable to answer the phone within three minutes.
Calls for the surgery coordinator or case manager are handled in a similar way. These staff members answer their calls immediately or in the order they are received. But if they are unable to respond within three minutes, their phone calls are put through to a voice mail system and then answered in the order the messages are taken. Callers also have the option when they first speak with a receptionist to ask that the call be put through directly to the staff member’s voice mail instead of waiting on hold.
If you are calling one of our community offices, please bear in mind that if no one is physically in that office, your call will be answered by someone in the Fort Collins office.
Information from You for Your Doctor
There are several forms for you to fill out. You may be more comfortable completeing them at home. (Filling out the forms as completely as possible will assist in providing you with faster service once you arrive for your appointment.) Please take your time with all of these but especially with the medical history form. This information is important to the doctor when he formulates your treatment plan. As you complete these forms, please do not leave any blanks.
The other forms are the registration sheets, an authorization to release medical information, and the financial policy statement. If you have any questions about these, please feel free to call the office for clarification.
Please bring any pertinent x-rays, MRIs, or CT scans (the actual films) and specific test results (like EMG or nerve conduction studies) that you have.
If you have been seen previously by one of the Brain & Spine Center doctors but are now choosing to see another one of the doctors as a new patient, please let us know so we can get the approval of both doctors. We can then retrieve your medical records, which may be pertinent to your current condition. This may require several days.
Billing and Insurance
New patient evaluations cost between $153-342. Charges are payable at the time of service. We accept Visa, Mastercard, and American Express for your convenience. We also accept personal checks and money orders. For more specific details concerning the charges for your visit, please call the office.
If you are a patient covered by Worker’s Compensation, government regulations require you to bring a written referral from your doctor or worker’s compensation adjustor. Without a written referral, your appointment will have to be rescheduled. You will need to know your claim number, date of injury, adjustor’s name, and your insurance company’s name, address, and phone number. We will need this same information if you are filing an auto insurance claim.
Many insurance companies and managed care companies including HMOs require written referrals from the insurance company before seeking care from a specialist. In all cases, it is the patient’s responsibility to obtain referrals. Please have the necessary paperwork with you if your insurance policy has this requirement. Be prepared to pay your co-pay at the time of your visit. For information about insurance and more details about billing, please see the accompanying Patient Information brochure.
If your insurance is one with which our office is contracted, please be prepared to pay a co-pay at the time of service. If your insurance is one with which we are not contracted, please be prepared to pay for the visit in full at the time of service. If you don’t know if our office is contracted with your insurance, please call our office prior to your appointment and we will assist you in making that determination.
Your Appointment
When you come for your first visit to our office, please bring the forms completed as thoroughly as possible. Also, please bring your insurance card.
One of our offices may be more convenient for you than another. Appointments can be scheduled for any office by calling any of the Brain & Spine Center’s phone numbers. However, not all of our doctors see patients at all locations. Please ask the receptionist for details.
We look forward to seeing you for your appointment.
Sincerely,
The Doctors and Staff of the Front Range Center for Brain & Spine Surgery, P.C.
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