If you have an emergency
If your situation is life-threatening, call 911 or go straight to the nearest emergency room. Do not wait for a call back.
For urgent problems that are not life-threatening, call the office on (951) 303-6158. During office hours we will get you to the right person. Outside office hours your call is directed to the physician on call, and calls are returned as soon as possible. If you believe your call is an emergency, say so as soon as it is answered so it can be passed on straight away.
Please keep after-hours calls to things that genuinely cannot wait. Routine medical questions are best handled during business hours, when we have your full record in front of us.
Making an appointment
Appointments can be made by calling the office during business hours on (951) 303-6158. You can also send an appointment request through this site — a request is not a confirmed booking; we will contact you to agree a definite time.
When you call, please describe your medical problem clearly to the staff member booking you in. That isn't nosiness — it lets us set aside the right amount of time so your visit isn't rushed.
- Routine care and physicals are best booked well in advance, ideally at the end of your previous appointment.
- School, sports and camp physicals should be booked several months ahead, especially over the summer when demand is highest.
- Sick visits should be called in early in the day, so we have the best chance of seeing you the same day.
Your first visit as a new patient
Please arrive 30 minutes before your appointment so there is room to complete your paperwork without eating into your time with the doctor. You can also complete the forms in advance — see Patient Forms.
- Your driver's license or photo ID
- All insurance cards
- Your contact and demographic details, so we can set your chart up correctly
- Your co-payment, or payment in full if you are not covered by insurance
- The actual containers of every medication you take, prescription and over-the-counter
What to bring to every visit
Keeping your record accurate is a shared job. It is your responsibility to tell both our office and your insurance company about any change to your details, so please be ready to review your information and show your insurance card at every visit. That is what lets us bill correctly and reach you when we need to.
Please also bring any new medications you have started since we last saw you. Original containers are best, so we can check the name and dose exactly rather than working from memory.
Making the most of your appointment
Good care runs on good communication. Ask whatever you need to ask. Your doctor may want to talk through your current symptoms, your medical history, allergies, current medications and treatments, personal habits, and any recent changes in your life.
So that appointments stay on time for everyone, please keep the visit to the reason it was booked for. If there is time at the end we will gladly look at other concerns — and if there isn't, we will book you back in rather than rush you.
If you need to cancel
Please phone at least 24 hours in advance if you cannot keep your appointment. We hold same-day slots open for people who are unwell, and a cancelled appointment we know about is a slot someone else can use.
Appointments cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice, and appointments missed without notice, are subject to a $25 fee. Arriving 10 or more minutes late may also be recorded as a missed appointment, because it usually means the visit can no longer be given the time it needs.
Calling the office with a question
Routine medical questions are handled by calling during business hours. Our medical assistants are often with patients, so please leave a message and we will call you back. To make the call back as useful as possible, have ready:
- Your full name and date of birth
- As much detail about the problem as you can give — temperature, medications taken, how long it has been going on
- Your pharmacy's phone number
- A pen and paper
Services we provide
We offer primary care for the whole family, from infants and children through to older adults.
Preventive care — newborn visits and childhood check-ups, school, work and sports physicals, cancer screening counseling, immunizations, cardiac risk assessment and blood screening.
Acute care — including earaches, rashes, colds, sore throats, flu, headaches, urinary tract infections and respiratory problems.
Chronic condition care — including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, thyroid disorders, emphysema, asthma, gastrointestinal disease and heart disease.
Referrals to specialists
If you have been referred to a specialist and your plan requires a formal referral, please allow our office and your insurance company a few days to process the paperwork and obtain authorization.
Any specialist visit that requires a referral must be authorized by our office in advance. If you are not sure whether your plan needs one, call your insurance company or call us — we would much rather answer that before your specialist appointment than after it.
Medicare
We accept assignment on all Medicare claims. This means we file your claims to Medicare, and Medicare pays its portion directly to our office.
Once Medicare has paid, you will receive an Explanation of Benefits from them, and we will then send you a statement for any deductible you owe plus the 20% co-insurance Medicare does not cover. If you give us your secondary insurance details, we will be happy to file that for you as well.
Fees for forms and paperwork
There is a $50 fee for completing forms intended for use outside your medical record. This covers employment-related forms, disability paperwork, Social Security forms and Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) paperwork.
Please hand paperwork in at the front desk rather than at your appointment, so the doctor has time to complete it properly.
Payment and credit policy
Payment for services, including any applicable co-payment, is due at the time of your visit and is collected on the day you see the doctor. We accept cash, Visa and MasterCard.
Unpaid charges are billed to you on a monthly statement and are due on receipt. If you need to arrange a payment plan, please call our office manager on (951) 303-6158 ext 5. We will make every effort to work out a schedule that suits you.