Cardiovascular Surgery for Patients

Appointments

Abilene Cardiovascular Surgery schedules appointments by referral only.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Routine appointments are scheduled through the appointment scheduler. If your requested time is unavailable, the scheduler will mail an appointment date and time of the next available opening to you. Please let the scheduler know if you need an appointment sooner than the date provided, and she will contact the nurse to see if it is possible to schedule you sooner. Please allow 24 hours for response about a “work-in” appointment.

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

1. In preparation for your visit, be sure to bring the following:
   1. Social Security card
   2. Insurance or Medicare cards
   3. Required insurance referral, authorization, or Medicaid paperwork
   4. ALL your medication bottles (or a list of medicine names, dosages, and directions for all prescribed or over the counter medicines)
   5. Previous medical records
   6. Recent test results (Stress tests, ECGs, X-rays, etc.)
2. Be sure to contact your referring physician 5 – 7 days prior to your appointment to ensure your medical information has been sent.
3. 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.
4. New patients should arrive 15 – 30 minutes before their scheduled appointment time to complete required paperwork.

After Your Visit

1. 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.
2. 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.