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Contact Us
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POLICIES
The Patient Doctor Relationship
Adults: Adults generally prefer to come to the examining room alone. In this way freedom in the patient-doctor relationship can be established. However, this decision is left up to the parties concerned. Children: At Northwestern Memorial Hospital Dr. Vazquez treats only patients older than 16 years of age. Children under the age of 16 years are referred to physicians at Children's Memorial Hospital or the Evanston Hospital. Coverage
Surgical care is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Attending staff coverage is arranged with other physicians for any time when Dr. Vazquez cannot personally attend to your needs, such as during a vacation period.
Smoking Policy
For sound medical reasons our building and office are nonsmoking areas.
Appointments
Office visits are arranged by appointment only.
The office telephone number is 312-649-6562. You may call the office Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 PM to schedule an appointment. Regular office visits are generally scheduled for Monday and Wednesday 9:00 am to 12 noon and 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM. Because patient needs do not occur on schedule, a delay may result. A sincere attempt is made to adhere to the appointment schedule whenever possible. Calling for an appointment at least two weeks in advance should enable us to schedule an appointment time convenient for you. Please do not ask that other members of the family be examined at the time of your appointment. This would interfere with the schedule of other patients. If you cannot keep an appointment, at least 24 hours notice would be appreciated. Emergencies
In the event of an emergency during business hours (Monday through Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 PM) please enlist the help of the office staff to locate Dr. Vazquez. If you have a medical emergency after hours or on the weekend, Dr. Vazquez is available through the answering service at Northwestern Memorial Hospital at (312)915-8132.
If you are injured or urgently ill and must be seen immediately by a physician, please go to the Emergency Room (ER) at Northwestern Memorial Hospital - Feinberg Pavilion, 240 East Erie Street. The ER is staffed by specialists in emergency medicine. Specialty residents from the surgical service are on call for your emergency care. The Emergency Room staff will locate Dr. Vazquez and inform him of your condition. Please inform the staff that Dr. Vazquez is your physician. Telephone Calls
The doctor-patient relationship is confidential. For this reason, in most circumstances, we will not give information regarding a patient to others without written authorization from the patient.
Dr. Vazquez is unable to leave a patient being examined to answer every phone call to the office. However, please do call the office if you have a question or a concern, or if the doctor has asked you to call to receive a report on test results or medication. The office staff has been trained to answer many questions by referring to your chart. If you or the staff member require the doctor's opinion, you will be advised to expect a return telephone call from the doctor as soon as possible. Please leave specific information as to how and when you may be reached by phone. Requests for prescription refills should be made only during office hours because your chart must be reviewed prior to authorization. If you need to speak with the doctor directly, he may be available during regular office hours to accept or return your phone call between patient visits. At other times please leave your message with the office staff and your call will be returned usually by the end of the day. In case of an emergency the doctor will return your call as soon as possible. If you have not heard from him within one hour please call again. Patient Registration
New patients will be asked to fill out a Patient Registration Form. A portion of this information is confidential and will be released only upon your written authorization.
You may be asked to complete a patient medical history form. These questionnaires were designed to give the doctor important information regarding the background of your problem and any previous treatment. Completion of this questionnaire gives you a chance to organize your thoughts and tell the doctor about the symptoms, history and treatment of this complaint and past illnesses, and other pertinent medical history. Reports of Blood Flow Laboratory Studies from Outside Laboratories
You will need to call the office to make an appointment to discuss the results of pre vein treatment blood flow reports from an outside laboratory that are done as part of a pre-procedure evaluation.
The results of blood flow studies performed in the several days after a closure procedure is performed are usually available shortly after the study is completed. You should be able to discuss the results of the post closure blood flow reports with Dr. Vazquez or his staff shortly after the study is completed. Remember, the secretarial staff is not permitted to interpret blood flow studies. Billing
For Consultations
We expect fees for initial office visits to be paid at the time the services are provided. Our office will file claims for services provided to patients who are having venous disorders treated because of medical necessity. Those patients who are receiving cosmetic treatment for venous disorders are required to pay at the time services are rendered. The fee for consultations varies depending upon the complexity of the consultation required. Additional fees are charged for any laboratory tests or diagnostic testing such as Doppler or duplex ultrasound examinations. We do not submit claims to insurance companies treatments such as sclerotherapy when done for cosmetic purposes. You will be furnished with one itemized statement for professional services rendered for each office visit. You may attach a copy of this statement to an insurance form should you wish to submit the charges for reimbursement. If you need additional copies of your statement please make photocopies of your original. These services are provided at our primary office by Veincare Consultants, Ltd. When our billing service submits a claim on behalf of a patient, it remains the patient's responsibility to secure payment from ALL third party payers. Collection of insurance benefits is not the responsibility of the physician or the office personnel. For medically necessary (non-cosmetic) procedures, we will submit a claim to your insurance carrier. However please be aware that it is the patient's responsibility to secure payment from ALL third party carriers. Collection of insurance benefits is not the responsibility of the physician or the office personnel. Outpatient Surgical Procedures
Outpatient surgical procedures may be performed in the hospital operating suite or a surgicenter. You will receive charges from the hospital or surgicenter for the use of the facility plus a separate bill from Dr. Vazquez for his professional services.
In the event that you require an operative procedure, the office will bill your insurance company for professional services only. If the insurance company has not made payment within sixty days from the date of operation, the balance becomes the patient's responsibility. For your convenience, the office accepts Visa, Mastercard, and the Discover card. Any balance outstanding after 90 days is automatically forwarded to our collection service unless prior arrangements have been made. Questions about your hospital/surgicenter bill should be directed to the hospital/surgicenter billing department. Questions regarding surgicenter bills should first be directed to their billing department and brought to Dr. Vazquez's attention if problems persist. Questions about bills for professional services rendered by Dr. Vazquez, please call Our Billing Department, Inc. :1-847-776-8887 Insurance and Legal Forms
In the event that your care is medically necessary, please bring your insurance card with you to the office for your first visit. If a decision is reached that you will require an outpatient surgical procedure, upon completion of the procedure an itemized standard Health Insurance Claim Form will be sent to your insurance company. You will be asked to sign a release and assignment of benefits for your insurance company on your first visit. We will also need you to supply us with the mailing address for your claim form. Once again, statements are due paid in full within 60 days of your procedure. We are happy to assist you with your reimbursement from your insurance company. If you have any questions or would like to make other arrangements for payment of services provided, arrangements MUST be made before your scheduled procedure or sclerotherapy session.
Release of Medical Records
No confidential information will be released to any person or agency without prior written authorization of the patient to do so. At times if it should be necessary to mail an entire chart there would be a nominal charge for this service.
Second Opinions
Some insurance companies require that the patient obtain a second opinion before scheduling a non-emergency elective procedure. Please check with your employee benefits representative or insurance company to determine if a second opinion is required to retain full insurance benefits. We can provide the name of a physician to supply a second opinion.
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