Please read these policies carefully. Dr. Schwartz understands that there is a lot of material to review here, but the more you know about this type of medical practice, the more you will benefit from my patient-centered approach.
Scheduling Appointments
Appointments with Dr. Schwartz are scheduled electronically via the office website. Please visit the Make An Appointment page for more detailed information on scheduling your appointment online through the scheduling program. You simply need to create an account and establish contact with Dr. Schwartz, and then wait for your new account to be accepted. Patients are seen by appointment only. There are no “walk-in” appointments.
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Open Access Scheduling
Every day, a portion of my appointments are reserved for patients with acute problems who need to be seen that day. These appointments are made available on the online scheduling program every evening for the following morning. If all of the same-day appointments are taken, please contact Dr. Schwartz by e-mail or telephone as soon as possible. In most cases, she will be able to evaluate you in the office within the next 1-2 business days. If you must be seen the same day and Dr. Schwartz agrees to see you outside of her normal office hours, an additional fee may apply.
Because Dr. Schwartz can generally accommodate appointment requests on the same or next business day, please help her to maintain open access by:
- Consulting with her in person instead of over the telephone or by email.
- Discussing your needs for new medications or tests by coming in to see her, not via telephone.
- Bringing your medications with you each time you come to the office.
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Office Accessibility
Dr. Schwartz's office is located on the second floor. If you have trouble with stairs, please alert Dr. Schwartz prior to your first appointment, so that she can schedule you in a first-floor office in her building.
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Antibiotic Policy
It can be very difficult to recognize and treat illness over the telephone, and the best attention can be given to those making an appointment to see Dr. Schwartz in person. Open access scheduling allows for personal diagnosis and discussion, which helps guide appropriate treatment. Please understand that Dr. Schwartz can only supply a new prescription for antibiotics after you have been seen in the office.
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Timeliness
Dr. Schwartz knows your time is valuable and makes every effort to keep on schedule. Please call if you are running late or if you are on your way, but please note that your appointment time will not be extended due to a late arrival and you may be asked to reschedule.
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Cancellation/No-Show Policy
Your appointment time is reserved especially for you. Please call or use the online scheduler to cancel your appointment at least 24 hours prior to your scheduled appointment if you will be unable to keep your appointment. This allows Dr. Schwartz to offer that time to another patient. If a patient forgets or fails to show up for their appointment, there will be a $50.00 fee charged to your account. The same applies to appointments canceled with less than 24 hours notice. Patients who schedule and fail to keep three appointments in the span of one year will be dismissed from the practice.
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After Hours and Emergency Access
If you have a life-threatening medical emergency, please call 911 immediately. Dr. Schwartz can be reached by calling her cell phone number only in the event of a medically urgent, non life-threatening issue. This is a service available to registered patients of the practice only. Most importantly, never delay emergency treatment.
All non-urgent issues should be addressed by calling the main office telephone number, where a message can be left for Dr. Schwartz anytime. Non-urgent matters may also be addressed by email (see below for the office email policy). These messages will be checked routinely during regular business hours. The expectation is that Dr. Schwartz will be able to respond to these non-urgent messages within one business day. During the times when Dr. Schwartz may be out of town, or otherwise unavailable, urgent patient issues will be forwarded to another physician with whom Dr. Schwartz has arranged coverage.
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Inpatient Hospital Coverage
Dr. Schwartz has admitting privileges at Strong Memorial Hospital. In the event that a patient requires admission to the hospital, patients will be under the care of the team of Hospitalist Physicians on staff at SMH. Dr. Schwartz will work closely with these physicians to coordinate your care.
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Insurance Plans Accepted
Dr. Schwartz currently accepts BlueCross/BlueShield, Excellus, MVP and Aetna insurance policies, as well as self-payment for fee-for-service. She is not currently accepting any new patients with Medicaid, Medicare, or Worker’s Compensation. Please be sure to bring your insurance card with you and to alert the practice of any changes in your insurance status.
It is the responsibility of the patient to ensure that Dr. Schwartz is a participating provider for their insurance plan. If Dr. Schwartz is not a participating provider for your particular plan, you may still select her office for your medical care, but “out of network” benefits will apply. In that case, patients will be responsible for the full cost of their visit on the day of service and can submit a receipt for reimbursement to their insurance plan. It is not Dr. Schwartz’s responsibility to know or advise you on your insurance benefits. Patients with questions about their coverage should contact their particular insurance carrier’s customer service representatives.
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Financial/Payment Policy
Dr. Schwartz can accept checks or credit card payment (Visa, MasterCard and Discover) for your convenience. Cash is not accepted at the office for reasons of security. Patients are required to pay the full amount of their co-pay, co-insurance, or deductible fees for their visit at the time of the visit. Checks can be written to Dr. Lisa Schwartz at the time of the visit. If Dr. Schwartz must bill you for these items, you will be charged an additional $25 Co-Payment Billing Fee. A receipt for the co-pay will be provided on the day of service only. If a receipt is requested at a later day, they will be provided at a charge of $1.00 per receipt.
Dr. Schwartz will bill your primary health care plan for any services provided. Any required co-pays or deductibles owed by you will be collected at the time of service. A service fee of $25.00 will be applied to your account for failure to pay at the time of service, unless other arrangements are made prior to your appointment.
It is understood, and agreed, that in the event an outstanding balance is not paid by your insurance company, you are personally responsible for the payment of all charges due. In addition, if your insurance has not paid the submitted charges within 90 days, you will be responsible for the amount charged and will pursue payment yourself by contacting your insurance company directly.
If Dr. Schwartz does not have a contract with your insurance carrier and you do not have out of network benefits, you will be responsible for the full charges of the service at the time of your visit.
A $30.00 fee will apply for all returned checks, in addition to the amount originally owed. In the event of a returned check, your privilege to pay by check during future visits may be terminated.
You are responsible to pay any billed amount upon receipt of a statement from Dr. Schwartz. Failure to pay any outstanding amount upon receipt of a third and final statement will subject your account to be forwarded to a collection agency, with any additional fees charged by the collection agency added to the original amount owed. It is understood, and agreed that in the event your overdue balance is referred to a collections agency or attorney for recovery of fees, you are fully responsible for any and all costs incurred, including, but not limited to, attorney fees.
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Prescription Refill Policy
The best time to request prescription refills is during an office visit. The task of faxing and calling pharmacies for prescription refills can be very time-consuming for a solo practitioner. If you are aware of how many refills you have left, you will be able to plan ahead for appointments as needed. If your current prescription bottle indicates that you have remaining refills, please contact your pharmacy. Requests from the pharmacy to renew an expired prescription will require 24 hours to process. If requests are received after 9 a.m. on Friday, please be aware that these requests may not be called into the pharmacy until the next business day, which may be the following Monday. You may leave after-hours requests on the voicemail or email systems, but the same turn-around time to process will apply. Please do not call Dr. Schwartz after hours on the emergency line for refill requests.
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Narcotics and Controlled Substances Policy
Long term or chronic use of habit-forming drugs such as narcotics pain medications and benzodiazepines is seldom in the best interest of patients. Patients who require narcotics and/or controlled substances for longer than one month for acute medical problems will be required to sign a “Controlled Substances Prescribing Contract” which outlines the conditions under which Dr. Schwartz is willing to prescribe. Patients are required to agree to receive their controlled substance prescriptions solely from Dr. Schwartz and to use a single pharmacy for refills. Any patient who joins the practice and is already using controlled substances will need to provide medical documentation for their use and will be asked to submit a urine sample for drug and chemical dependency screening. If the conditions of the controlled substance contract are not met, Dr. Schwartz reserves the right to terminate her relationship with the patient. Controlled substances used for the treatment of ADD/ADHD are only initiated after an appropriate psychological evaluation.
All after-hours requests for narcotics and controlled substances will be denied.
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Pharmaceutical Samples Policy
Dr. Schwartz believes her time should be spent with patients, not sales representatives for pharmaceutical companies. Prescription samples are marketing tools and will not be available in this office. Instead, every attempt will be made to prescribe the best medication that costs the least amount of money. Short-term prescriptions can be written if you wish to try a medication only for a short period of time.
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Form Completion Policy
All paper forms that require a physician to complete (school physicals, disability forms, insurance forms, travel forms, etc.) should be submitted at the time of service. Any form submitted should be given FIVE business days for completion. There will be a $10.00 form completion charge. If forms need to be processed more urgently there will be an additional $10.00 expedited form completion fee.
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Other Non-Covered Services
- Returned checks: if your check is returned to Dr. Schwartz for any reason you will be charged $30.00.
- Missed appointments: failure to notify Dr. Schwartz at least 24 hours in advance that you will not be able to keep your appointment will incur a $50.00 missed appointment charge.
- Medical records: Upon written request, a paper or electronic copy of your medical records can be provided to you. For paper copies, there will be a $10.00 charge plus a fee of $0.25 per page. For a CD copy there will be a $25.00 charge.
- After hours appointment fee: $20.00 in addition to your regular visit charge.
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Grounds For Termination of Patient-Physician Relationship
A physician may terminate a relationship with a patient at any time by giving 30 days notice during which the physician is responsible only for responding to urgent medical matters. Dr. Schwartz will reserve this action for patients who demonstrate a lack of respect for themselves and the practice by repeatedly missing appointments, failing to pay their bills, disregarding the stated policies of the practice, or acting in a way that is deceptive, dishonest or abusive.
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Email Policy
Email is a convenient and efficient way to communicate non-urgent questions, requests, and messages you may have for Dr. Schwartz. Patients need to understand that the confidentiality of email exchanges cannot be guaranteed. While the security of email is still comparable to other forms of communication, there are some special conditions that apply to email:
- If your email address is through your employer, your employer may own all emails sent to that address.
- If your family shares your email address, other family members may see your messages.
- If you use an Internet service provider, there is a small risk that messages may be intercepted by others (“hackers”).
- Email sent to your doctor may also be read by others in the practice. At this time Dr. Schwartz does not have any office staff but may hire employees in the future who may have access to email.
What types of communication are appropriate for standard email?
- Prescription refill requests
- Appointment scheduling concerns or questions
- Non-urgent medical advice or follow-up (including some types of test results) - for example, clarification of treatment plan or self-reporting of blood pressure
- Billing/insurance questions
The following subjects are never appropriate for standard email:
- Any urgent medical problem or emergencies that require immediate response
- Mental health issues
- Alcohol and substance abuse problems
- HIV and other sexually transmitted infections
- Legal matters
Dr. Schwartz does not control or guarantee the security or confidentiality of incoming email messages from patients. Patients who choose to email personal health information do so at their own risk.
Dr. Schwartz will attempt to answer email within one business day, but she does not routinely check email after regular business hours or on weekends. Patients with more urgent medical questions or concerns should telephone the office.
Dr. Schwartz is not responsible for email information that is lost or undelivered due to technical failures. Please remember that email becomes part of your permanent medical record and is saved in your chart.
Please keep in mind that although email is a very effective tool, it is not a substitute for personal visits for examination and counseling with your doctor.
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Privacy Policy
Please click to download and print Dr. Schwartz's patient privacy statement. Please sign this document where indicated and bring it with you to your New Patient Appointment. Please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Schwartz if you have any questions about the content of this document.
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