The Spine Center

(847) 698-9330

Office Policies & Hours

The physicians and staff of The Spine Center, S.C. would like to welcome you as a new patient. It is our sincere desire to offer you the best medical care available in a friendly and courteous manner. If at any time you have any questions regarding any of the services you receive here, please do not hesitate to ask a member of our staff. General information regarding the procedures of The Spine Center, S.C. are as follows:

Office Hours

Mon 8:30am to 4:30pm
Tue 8:30am to 4:30pm
Wed 8:30am to 4:30pm
Thu 8:30am to 4:30pm
Fri 8:30am to 4:30pm
Sat 8:30am to 10:30am
(once per month – call to confirm)

Telephone Calls

Our calls are answered using an automated attendant system that offers you the necessary options to a specific department.

Appointments

All patients require an appointment before being seen. In an urgent/emergency situation, please ask to speak with a nurse regarding a possible same day appointment.

No Show or Cancellation

To cancel appointments, please call (847) 698-9330 at least 24 hours in advance. If you do not reach the receptionist you may leave a detailed message on the voice mail. Contact Us and send us a cancellation email. “No Show” or late cancellation will be subject to a fee according to office policy

Prescription Refills

Please refer to complete policy at the bottom of this page.

Co-Pays/Deductibles

All co-payments, deductible amounts and non-covered services for office visits are due at the time service is rendered.

Referrals

If your insurance requires a referral from your primary care physician, please call your doctor to obtain that referral each time you are scheduled to be seen. Referrals are the responsibility of the patient and if one is not available at appointment time, rescheduling may be necessary.

Disability/FMLA/Other Insurance Forms

The staff will complete forms for disability/FMLA/or other insurance. There will be a fee for each form, each time it is completed. The fee is payable at time of request. 7-10 working days are required for completion. Forms for handicapped parking will be completed at no charge. Please allow 12-14 days.

Minors

ALL minors under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian allowed to give medical consent.

“No Show” and Cancellation Policy

At the Spine Center, S.C. we care about your health. Our goal is to provide quality individualized medical care in a timely manner. “No-shows”, and late cancellations inconvenience those individuals who need access to medical care in a timely manner. We would like to remind you of our office policy regarding missed appointments.

If you are unable to keep your scheduled appointment, we want to remind you of the importance of follow up treatments as indicated by your physician, if your condition has not improved.

In order to be respectful of the medical needs of other patients, please be courteous and call the Spine Center, S.C promptly if you are unable to show up for an appointment. This time will be reallocated to someone who is in need of treatment. If it is necessary to cancel your scheduled appointment, we require that you call at least 24 hours in advance. Appointments are in high demand, and your early cancellation will give another person the possibility to have access to timely medical care.

How to Cancel your Appointment

To cancel appointments, please call (847) 698-9330. If you do not reach the receptionist you may leave a detailed message on the voice mail. Contact us and send us a cancellation email. If you would like to reschedule your appointment, please leave your phone number. We will return your call and give you the next available appointment time.

Late Cancellations: A late cancellation is considered when a patient fails to cancel their scheduled appointment with a 24 hour advance notice. Late cancellation will be accounted as a “no show”.

No Show Policy

A “no-show” is someone who misses an appointment without canceling it in an adequate manner. A failure to be present at the time of a scheduled appointment will be recorded in your medical record as a “no-show”.

  • three (3) “no show” appointments within a twelve (12) month period will result in a charge to your account for the appointment missed
  • four (4) “no show” appointments within a twelve (12) month period will result in you being dismissed as a patient from the clinic.

Prescription Refill Policy

Please note that on August 22, 2014, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a final rule rescheduling hydrocodone combination products (HCPs) into Schedule II effective October 6, 2014.

All new prescription orders for HCP must be treated as a Schedule II controlled substance and will required a valid prescription from the authorized practitioner prior to dispensing

These include:

  • Norco
  • Vicodin
  • Lortab
  • Vicodin ES
  • Vicoprofen
  • Lorcet
  • Cough Syrup that includes hydrocodone

What does this mean to you?

Patients will now require a valid signed prescription from our physicians in order to obtain their medication. Pharmacies will no longer accept faxes or phone orders to process prescriptions.

If you wish to read the final rule please refer to the published notice in the federal registry, Vol. 79, No. 163.

Purpose: To inform patients of the Spine Center, S.C. policy for processing medication refill requests.

Policy: Refills will be processed within 3-4 business days of receipt of the request. Refill requests received on Fridays after 12:00pm will be processed the following week.

To ensure that our physicians are prescribing the correct drug and dosage we prefer faxed request from your pharmacist, to ensure that we are refilling the correct medication and dose. This is a safety issue and we will only make exceptions in rare cases.

Procedures:

  • Patients should contact their pharmacy, or our office, 3-5 days before their medication is due to run out.
  • Patient medical record must be reviewed, check for expiration dates, verify the number of refills and ensure refill eligibility. Once the necessary information has been researched, it is presented to the doctor for final authorization.
  • Medication refills can only be authorized on medications prescribed by physicians in our office. We will not refill medications prescribed by other physicians.
  • If a patient has not been evaluated in three (3) or more months, a follow up visit will be needed to verify medication needs.
  • NO early refills if medications are overused, abused, misused, lost or stolen

In This Section