Patient Information

Hours and Appointments

Our office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

We see patients by appointment and ask that you call the office to schedule an appointment. If you are unable to keep an appointment, please call us to cancel at least 24 hours in advance. Your consideration may provide another patient with an opportunity to see the doctor. Please bring a list of current medications or the actual medications with you to your appointment.

New Patient Information and Forms

Please arrive at least 10 to 15 minutes before your first appointment to complete the necessary registration forms. New patients are asked to bring the following to their initial appointment:

• Your Insurance and Photo I.D.
• Any Required Referral Forms
• Your past medical records including any pertinent x-rays, test or lab results
• The name, address, and telephone number of your primary care physician

For your convenience, you can print and complete the HIPAA privacy form and a new patient form at home. Please bring these forms with you to your initial appointment.

Emergency and Urgent Appointments

If you experience a non life-threatening situation after hours, call our office at 703-866-3131. Your call will be automatically transferred to our on-call medical answering service. Our physicians are on call 24 hours per day and will respond to your call promptly. If our on-call physician does not return your call within a reasonable amount of time, please call us again as your first message may have experienced transmission difficulties.

Our cardiologists work together as a team and each has access to your medical records. This will ensure you the same high-quality care that you have come to expect from your regular cardiologist.

Physician Referrals

As cardiologists, we serve as consultants to your primary care physician, evaluating your cardiovascular problems and providing treatment. Your primary care physician, with whom we maintain a close professional relationship, will continue to provide your non-cardiac care on an ongoing basis. Rest assured we are committed to keeping your physician abreast of your diagnosis, treatment and progress. We are a very progressive practice that has implemented Electronic Medical Records.

Since we are a specialty practice, many insurance carriers require a written referral from your primary care physician. Most primary care physicians require three working days to obtain a referral from insurance carriers. Please make certain that your primary care physician sends us your referral prior to your appointment. If we do not have your referral at the time of your visit, you will be asked to re-schedule your appointment. Also, keep in mind, most insurance carriers also require additional referrals from your primary care physician for diagnostic testing, which may also delay the scheduling of your procedure.

Telephone Inquiries

We welcome your questions and concerns regarding your care, but please call during business hours. A receptionist will take your call and one of our nurses or physicians will respond with specific recommendations. Telephone calls are returned as soon as possible, but calls made to the office in the afternoon may not be returned until the next business day. Please be sure to provide a daytime and evening telephone number where you may be reached.

Prescription Policies

We request that you call your pharmacy directly for all refills. We have Electronic (E)-prescribing which will expedite your request directly to our office for faster service. In some cases, we may ask that you schedule an examination prior to ordering a refill or an additional medication. We generally do not renew or prescribe medications after hours or on weekends, when our on-call physician does not have direct access to your medical record, so please call your pharmacist during business hours. Most pharmacies will provide you with enough medications at night or over the weekend to ensure you do not run out of medications.

Medical Records

Since your medical record is a legal document, Amelia Heart & Vascular Center will not release any information without your written consent. On your first visit to our office, you will be asked which individuals have your permission to receive information from your medical record. Please let us know if you desire to make any changes regarding who has your permission to access your medical record. Please provide us 48 hours to process a medical records request.

Payment and Insurance

We participate with most major insurance carriers. As a courtesy to our patients, our staff will file for all services performed by our physicians. Payments of co-payments and payment for those without insurance must be made at the time of service. Payment Plans can be established for emergent self-pay care when necessary.

We accept cash, check, money orders, VISA, MasterCard, and Discover. If you need to make payment arrangements, call our office at (703) 866-3131 and ask to speak to the billing and insurance representative.