For Patients
Appointments
Hendrick Clinic Cardiovascular Surgery schedules appointments by referral only.
- To best manage the high traffic calls received each day, our office utilizes
a voicemail system to receive phone calls. We ask that you listen carefully
to the message, and then leave your name, a phone number you can be reached
at, and a brief message. All calls are returned as soon as possible. If
you do not receive a returned call within 24 hours, please call again.
- In more urgent cases (please note that in emergency situations you should
call 911 and not the office), press “0” to speak with an operator.
This option should only be used in urgent situations, as the misuse of
it can delay prompt handling of emergencies, as well as other returned calls.
- Routine appointments are scheduled by our front office staff.
This facility has on staff a physician assistant (PA) or nurse practitioner
(NP) to assist in delivery of medical care. A PA/NP is a graduate of a
certified training program and is licensed by the state board. Under the
supervision of a physician, a PA/NP can diagnose, treat and monitor common
acute and chronic disease, as well as provide health maintenance care.
Supervision does not require the constant physical presence of the supervising
physician, but rather overseeing the activities of and accepting responsibility
for the medical services provided.
Before Your Visit
-
In preparation for your visit, be sure to bring the following:
- Social Security card
- Insurance or Medicare cards
- Required insurance referral, authorization, or Medicaid paperwork
- ALL your medication bottles (or a list of medicine names, dosages, and
directions for all prescribed or over the counter medicines)
- Previous medical records
- Recent test results (Stress tests, ECGs, X-rays, etc.)
- Be sure to contact your referring physician 5 – 7 days prior to your
appointment to ensure your medical information has been sent.
-
Our patients have the option of pre-registering for your visit using the
email link that will be sent to you five (5) days prior to your visit.
You may also fill out the forms and print them. If you are using this
option, please bring the completed forms to your appointment.
Download the Medical History Form.
Download the Medication List Form.
Download free Adobe Reader.
- New patients should arrive 15 – 30 minutes before their scheduled
appointment time to complete required paperwork.
During Your Visit
- Delays are sometimes unavoidable. Hendrick Clinic Cardiovascular Surgery
strives to see patients promptly, but at times are unavoidably detained
by patient emergencies. We appreciate your patience and understanding
as we handle the emergency. When scheduling your appointment, please allow
plenty of time in your day for your appointment in the event of delay.
- Diabetics or patients with special nutritional needs should come to their
visit prepared with a snack or drink if required in order to avoid problems.
After Your Visit
- All test results will be reported as soon as possible via mail or phone.
Reports could take up to five to seven days before becoming available.
If you have not received a call or note after seven business days, please
call the office and leave a voice message for the nurse.
- For new prescriptions, call and leave the nurse a voice message at least
one week before the medication is needed. For medication refill requests,
call the pharmacy at least three working days before the prescription
refill is needed; this will help avoid delay/interruption of your medications.
Referrals/Authorizations
It is solely the patient’s responsibility to obtain an initial referral
as well as keep up with authorizations for follow up visits. We will obtain
any required authorization for tests or procedures that are ordered by
our physicians.
Please do not assume your primary care physician or your referring physician
has called or faxed the authorization to our office. If an authorization
has not been received by our office, you may be asked to sign a waiver
accepting financial responsibility for the visit if we are not able to
obtain an authorization for the visit.
Insurance Plans
We file all types of health benefit plans and is the leading contracted
in-network hospital in Abilene for the following managed care plans:
- Aetna
- Aetna Medicare Advantage
- Blue Cross Blue Shield (Medicare Select)
- CHIP
- Care Improvements Plus
- CIGNA
- Coventry
- First Health
- Firstcare Health Plans
- Firstcare Medicare Advantage
- Healthsmart Preferred Care
- Humana Choicecare PPO
- Humana Medicare Advantage
- Multiplan
- OMNI Networks
- Private Healthcare Systems
- TRICARE
- United Healthcare
Medicare SELECT Supplements
Hendrick expertly files your Medicare and Medicare supplement and is the
contracted in-network hospital in Abilene for the following Medicare Select
supplements:
- American Exchange Life
- American Pioneer Life
- Bankers Life & Casualty
- Lincoln Heritage Life Insurance Company
- Loyal American Life Insurance Company
- Marquette National Life
- Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company
- New Era Life Insurance
- Physicians’ Mutual Insurance Company
- Pioneer Life Insurance Company
- Pyramid Life Insurance Company
- State Mutual Insurance Company
- United Healthcare / AARP
- United Teacher Associates
What is Medicare Select?
Medicare Select policies are Medicare supplements attractive to seniors
because their premiums are less expensive than standard supplements. Select
plans require patients to use contracted in-network hospitals for scheduled
inpatient service in order for their Part A deductible to be paid; the
coordination of services at the contracted hospital enables premiums to
be more affordable than standard supplements. Call your Medicare insurance
professional to compare rates and to consider your eligibility.
Medicare Advantage PFFS Hendrick accepts and files all Medicare Advantage
Private Fee For Service (PFFS) plans. PFFS plans are often called Medicare
Replacement plans and are administered directly by an insurance company.
Most PFFS benefit plans mimic traditional Medicare benefits and offer
a chance to save patients money in comparison to traditional Medicare.
Call your Medicare insurance professional to compare benefits and features
and to consider your eligibility.
Financial Policy
Payment is expected at the time of your visit for any co-payment/co-insurance
amount, plus any deductible. If you do not have insurance or if your insurance
sends payments directly to you, then payment in full is due at each visit.
For your convenience, we accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, cash or check.
Should an over-payment occur on the deductible or percentage amounts charged,
we will apply a credit to your account. If you have an appointment within
the next 60 days, the credit is applied to your account and can be used
at that visit. If no further appointments are needed, a refund check for
the credit amount will be mailed to you.
You will also be asked to make a payment on any outstanding balance at
the time of your visit. Patient balances after insurance processing are
due within 30 days.
Please let us know if you have any questions regarding your account.
NSF (non-sufficient funds) checks are sent to InstaChek for collection.
A service fee of up to $30 is charged on all returned checks in addition
to the amount of the check.
Each patient will be asked to sign a statement of agreement with our Financial
Policy upon arrival in one of our offices.
Privacy Rights
The Notice of Privacy Rights describes how medical information about you
may be disclosed and how you can get access to this information. As our
patient, under HIPAA (the new federal privacy act), you have specific
privacy rights. We are required by law to provide you a copy of the notice
and obtain your signature verifying that we did so. Each patient will
be given this notice upon arrival in one of our offices, and will be asked
to sign an acknowledgement of receipt.
If you would like to obtain the Privacy Notice and sign the acknowledgement
form prior to your arrival, you may download them both now, read the notice,
print the acknowledgement form, sign it, and bring it into the office
with you.
Download the Privacy Notice.
Download the Spanish Privacy Notice.
Download free Adobe Reader.