INFORMATION FOR PATIENTS REGARDING TESTS AND CONSULTATIONS

Since we are a small office, we can be very flexible where we direct you for tests and consultations. If you have a particular preference, please let us know. The billing is done directly by the laboratory, x-ray facility or specialist. Please be sure to check with your insurance and the facility regarding payment policies.

LAB TESTS (BLOOD, URINE, STOOL)

You may use:

· Stanford Outpatient Labs (main hospital, Blake-Wilbur, Hoover Pavilion at 211 Quarry Road in Palo Alto)

· Menlo Clinic Labs (1300 Crane Street, 321 Middlefield Road)

· Palo Alto Medical Foundation (if you are already a registered patient)

· Labcorp (closest location: 853 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto)

· Quest Diagnostics (closest location: 401 Warren Street in Redwood City)

· or any other laboratory of your choice.

Remember fasting lab tests mean that you should not eat or drink anything (except plain water, plain tea, plain coffee) for 10-12 hours before the blood tests. You may take your medications as usual unless specifically instructed otherwise.

Please check to see if your insurance is accepted by the laboratory if you wish to maximize your covered benefits. Ask for “cash prices” if you have a high deductible plan or no coverage for your labs.

X-RAYS and SCANS:

These can be done at:

· Stanford Radiology (main hospital, Blake-Wilbur Building, 451 Sherman Avenue in Palo Alto, 450 Broadway in Redwood City, or 2589 Los Gatos Blvd in San Jose)

· WRI at Burgess (401 Burgess Dr Ste D, Menlo Park)

· Health Diagnostics

· Palo Alto Medical Foundation Radiology Department (if you are already a registered patient)

· or any other imaging facility of your choice.

Please check to see if your insurance is accepted by the facility if you wish to maximize your covered benefits. Ask for “cash prices” if you have a high deductible plan or no coverage for your imaging studies.

Insurances usually will not pay for scans such as CT scans, MRIs without a “prior-authorization” process. The process to try to get approval from your insurance may take up to 7-10 days. Facilities such as Stanford, WRI at Burgess, and Health Diagnostics have staff to handle the process and will ask our office for information. Palo Alto Medical Foundation Radiology will not handle your prior-authorization process so it will take longer to try for insurance approval for PAMF scans.

Unfortunately, these days, even after the best efforts of the radiology staff and our office, our experience has been that most scans are being denied by insurance companies. If this happens, you may try to appeal to your insurance (usually still denied), call your human resources department to intervene with the insurance company (sometimes effective), or pay for the scan. If you decide to pay for your scan, check into “cash prices” at the facilities which are usually significantly discounted.

CONSULTATIONS:

Our physicians have worked with many specialists so will usually refer you to the best specialist given the situation. You may help decide where you would like go and we will work with you in order to facilitate the referral process. We can refer you to see specialists at Stanford, private offices, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, UCSF or anywhere that has an appropriate specialist.

EKGS:

These can be done in our office.