Phone Calls

We do not believe in pain or disease management over the phone. Because of this, we would like to avoid phone calls as much as possible. Any questions or concerns about your management or your condition should be addressed during your regular appointments. Phone calls should be made only for emergencies. (Please see the section on “Emergencies” for a clear definition of what an emergency is.)

You may be billed for your phone call. If a physician talks to you on the phone, you will be billed for the call. Since the call will have to be documented (dictated, transcribed and filed), it caries an expense, which also includes physician time. Because most insurance companies do not cover this expense, you will be personally responsible for this charge. Please ask your physician for phone call rates.

During regular business hours, the Pain Center staff will be committed to the treatment and service of patients in the facility. Phone calls will be returned at the end of the day, in the order in which they were received. No phone calls will be returned until the end of the day. Please avoid multiple phone calls, they will not speed up the return of your call. In fact, they tend to slow it down since every time you call, your chart will be taken out of the order in which it was received, to add the new message and then placed back at the end of the stack. (Example: Your 1^st call was at 8:43 AM, and the 2^nd call was at 3:52 PM. You were the 1^st and last call of the day. Between those two, there were 52 other calls. Rather than been the 1^st call to be returned, now you will be the last since your chart had to be removed from its initial 1^st place, to have the 3:52 PM message added to it. Now, upon been returned to the stack, it occupies the number 52 position.)

We will not to discuss case matters over the phone. If you have had a recent study done and there is no evidence of a significant problem, we will discuss the results upon your return to your next appointment. In the event that the results of the test suggest that there may be an urgency, or emergency, we will contact you as soon as possible. Make sure that we always have a way of getting a hold of you. If you have any questions about your care or any planned procedures, please contact our receptionist and schedule an appointment to come in and have them answered. We will be more than glad to answer all of your questions, but we will not do it over the phone since it leads to very poor documentation.

Our “Patient Confidentiality Policy” prohibits us from providing any of your medical information to anybody, including family members, without your consent. We will not answer any family member’s questions over the phone. If any members of your family want information about your condition, treatment, or test results, they will need to accompany you to your appointments, at which time, with your permission, we’ll be more than happy to answer all of their questions.

For requesting appointments or appointment changes, please call (336) 538-7180 and ask to speak to the receptionist or the person in charge of scheduling. Please do not discuss scheduling details with the physician(s). It is the responsibility of the supporting staff to help you with these matters.

For questions regarding your bills, account, or any financial aspect of your care, please call our billing offices at (803) 808-8070. Please do not discuss the financial aspects of your care with the physician(s). It is important for them to be allowed to practice medicine and provide patient care.