For Current Patients
Here’s a little bit about the day-to-day operations of our practice. For more information, please call us at 513-585-3238.
Access to Your Care Team
Our care team is available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Wednesday 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. When calling the office with a medical question, a message will be forwarded to the doctor. In order to avoid disruption to our scheduled patient appointments, non-urgent messages may not be addressed until lunch or after patient appointment hours. However, urgent calls are given priority and may be addressed in-between patients. Our goal is to return all calls within one business day.
Introducing your Care Team
Our entire staff strives to provide the best medical care to patients. In addition to your primary care practitioner, staff members you will likely interact with at our practice include:
Schedulers, who answer the phones, take messages, check patients in and out and schedule appointments.
Pharmacists work with Primary Care Providers to help you manage your medications. The Pharmacist may reach out to you to discuss your list of medications. Talking to you can help us find out more about the medications you are taking and how you take them. If you have a long-term condition, like Diabetes, the pharmacist can also work with your Primary Care Provider to better control it. Pharmacists can adjust your medications and see you in clinic.
Medical assistants, who work with the physicians by gathering information from the patients, taking vital signs or performing tests as requested by the physicians, ordering tests and responding to phone messages
Board certified nurse midwives, who provide full-scope care for women. They are primary care providers during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Included in their services are: gynecology exams, birth control, sexual health care, and procedures such as nexplanon insertion and intrauterine devices. Our nurse midwives are well known for their highly individualized, compassionate care resulting in excellent outcomes.
Behavioral health consultants, who assist patients with a variety of issues, such as depression, anxiety, stress, chronic disease management and weight loss and are trained to help patients develop the skills needed to manage these challenges.
A resource social worker, who can connect patients and family members with community resources that may help meet their needs. Your provider may refer you to a social worker to help with issues related to substance abuse, housing, finances, guardianship, facility placement for physical rehab, or abuse/neglect. Any discussions are covered under HIPAA and your personal medical information will be safeguarded.
Lab services that are available by scheduled appointment. Unless otherwise directed, all blood draws will be analyzed by The Christ Hospital Lab. It is your responsibility to check with your insurance company to identify which lab facilities are covered under your plan and to inform us if our lab is not within your plan.
Our registered nurse, who provides advice and education to our patients, plans and coordinates patient care, and works closely with the provider and the care team to determine the best possible care plan for the patient.
A care manager, who is a registered nurse who works with patients with complex medical needs. The care manager acts as a liaison between you and your care team. The care manager helps you navigate and coordinates follow-up care if you are discharged from the hospital or emergency room.
The practice manager who can assist you with questions about practice policies. The practice manager oversees daily operations of the office and supervises the staff. The manager is always available to handle problems that may arise.
Forms, Letters or Other Paperwork
If you have a form that needs to be completed and signed by your physician, you will need to make an appointment with the physician. This insures that the form is completed accurately. Although you will be expected to pay your copay, there is no additional charge for forms completion. Please review the form. If you are required to complete certain sections, please do so before the appointment.
Patient Portal
Your patient portal is your digital connection to your medical care and health information across The Christ Hospital Health Network – including your primary care office, specialists, testing and hospital visits.
Your patient portal makes it easy to manage your health online from your smartphone, tablet and computer – either through The Christ Hospital Mobile App or MyChart for Desktop.
Our staff will be happy to help you create your patient portal during your next visit - or click here to create your patient portal in a few easy steps.
Once you create your patient portal, you will be able to:
View and manage appointments
Request prescription refills
See test results and medical records
Send non-urgent email messages to your care team
Review and update personal information and medical history through eCheck-In prior to your appointment
Sharing access with family and caregivers (proxy access)
Your Office Visit
Please arrive to the office at least 20 minutes early to complete any necessary paperwork. We try very hard to see you at your appointed time; therefore, arriving late may necessitate rescheduling your appointment. If you are unable to keep your appointment, please call at least 24 hours in advance to cancel and/or reschedule. Any cancellations/changes within 24 hours of the appointment may result in a late cancellation designation. We reserve the right to charge for missed appointments or late cancellations. The fee is $50. Multiple missed appointments or late cancels may be cause for dismissal.
If you have a copay, it will be collected at the time of your visit. If you have a high deductible health plan or do not have insurance, we ask that you pay the portion that is your responsibility, or a minimum of $50 when you arrive for your appointment. If a minimum payment is made, you will be billed for the remaining balance. If you have an outstanding balance, you will be reminded when you schedule that payment in full is expected at your next appointment. Failure to pay your outstanding balance may require us to reschedule your visit until you are able to make these payments.
If you have billing questions, please call 877-651-4343. We can assist you with questions regarding your balance, setting up a payment plan or financial assistance arrangements.
24 Hour Access to Care
In the event of an emergency, call 9-1-1.
A practitioner is on call after hours for urgent matters only. Please limit your after-hours calls to medically urgent issues that cannot wait until the office re-opens. When calling our office after hours, please listen carefully to the instructions. You will be instructed to leave a message for the physician on call.
If you contact an on-call practitioner, keep your phone line open, disable call block by dialing *87 and remain available until the call is returned. When returning the call, the physician will need to speak directly to the patient, if possible. Please have the name and number of a 24-hour pharmacy available when you call, in case a prescription is required. Please do not call after hours for medication refills, test results or appointments.
The Christ Hospital is proud to offer our own Urgent Care that offers the same excellent level of service you have grown accustomed to with your primary care provider. If you need care after hours, the on-call physician may send you to the Urgent Care. The Christ Hospital Urgent Care is within our network and ensures that your health history including problems, medications and allergies are available to any providers you see at this location.
4440 Red Bank Road, Suite #110
Cincinnati, OH 45227
513-564-1366
1955 Dixie Highway, Suite F
Ft. Wright, KY 41011
859-292-9176
Lab Tests and Results
We make every effort to notify you as quickly as possible of test results either by phone or mail. Do not assume that your test was normal if we haven't contacted you. Please allow 2 - 3 days for most lab tests and 3 - 4 days for radiology results. If you have not heard from us within a week, please call the office. If you utilize your patient portal, your labs will be available to review once released.
Messages
If you would like to reach out to your care team, you can do so in two ways:
Phone: Please provide our schedulers as much pertinent information as possible about your problem. By providing complete information with your initial call, you will avoid delays in having your message addressed and/or treatment received.
Patient Portal: For those patients signed up for patient portal, you can send and receive non-urgent messages via your patient portal. Messages can be sent 24 hours a day. You can expect a response within two business days of the message being sent.
Medications and Refills
If you are on any medications, you may need refills. When your practitioner prescribes a medication for you, he/she will generally allow a certain number of refills to last until your next visit. Follow-up appointments to monitor your progress on the medications are very important and are required by state pharmacy laws. Patients on medications are required to be seen at least annually. Some medications require periodic lab tests and/or more frequent visits. Usually, running low on your medications indicates you need to schedule your appointment so you do not run out prior to being seen. If you are not due for a follow-up, please request a refill 2 - 3 days in advance by contacting your pharmacy or through your patient portal. Prescriptions may not be refilled on Fridays or after hours. The practitioner reserves the right to refuse early refills.
Referrals, Pre-Certification and Prior Authorization
Before seeing a specialist, please contact your insurance plan to find out if the specialist is in your network. Additionally, some insurance companies require a referral authorization. Please contact your insurance plan to determine if an authorization is required. If so, please contact us with the following information:
Patient name, date of birth and phone number
Name of specialist or facility
Appointment date and reason for appointment
Name of insurance company
Please allow 72 business hours for referral authorizations.
Once the authorization is received, the referral authorization will be sent to the specialist
Your practitioner may order a test or medication that may require pre-certification or prior authorization from your insurance company. While the office staff will make every effort to obtain this in a timely manner, it is ultimately your responsibility to confirm authorization has been granted prior to obtaining a test or refilling a medication.
Financial/Billing/Insurance
Please present your current insurance card when checking in at every visit. We will submit your claim to your insurance company. However, you are responsible for any balance that is not paid. Failure to pay a delinquent balance may result in dismissal from the office. If you do not have insurance coverage, payment in full is due at the time of the appointment.
If you need to be seen as a result of a motor vehicle accident, we will bill your primary insurance.
You may be asked to sign a waiver accepting financial responsibility for certain procedures or lab work that may not be covered by your insurance. Please check with your insurance plan for any coverage questions.
For any balances you may owe, you will receive a statement from our billing department. Please refer to the contact information on that statement for all billing related questions. Our practice manager may also be able to help you with questions.