OFFICE HOURS: Appointments may be scheduled between the hours of 8:15am and 4:15pm, Monday through Friday. Emergency care is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

APPOINTMENTS: All patients are expected to arrive on time for their scheduled appointment. Patients are asked to arrive 15 minutes prior to their scheduled time to allow time for registration and insurance verification. You may complete your patient registration form at our website, and bring the completed form with you. If the patients insurance requires a referral, a valid referral must be brought with the patient at the time of the appointment in order to be seen by the physician. All new patients need to complete a history and physical form. You may complete this form via our website and bring the completed form with you to your appointment.

RESCHEDULING OF APPOINTMENTS: Please call the phone receptionist as soon as possible to arrange a new appointment time.

CANCELLATION OF APPOINTMENTS: The patient must notify us at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled appointment time. Failure to notify us may result in a charge for the missed appointment.

IF YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY REQUIRES A REFERRAL: The patient is responsible for knowing that a referral is required, obtaining the written referral and bringing a valid referral to the office at the time of the scheduled appointment. The referral is to be obtained from your primary care physician. Please allow adequate time for you to obtain the referral from your primary care physician prior to seeing the specialist. Due to insurance requirements, patients arriving without the required valid referrals may have to reschedule. In all circumstances, patients arriving without the necessary referral will be required to sign a "referral waiver", which indicates that you agree to be responsible for the cost of services provided to you should you not be able to obtain the required referral by your insurance company. AAGA utilizes Advanced Beneficiary Notice (ABN) when your insurance plan requires such notification.

LABORATORY/RADIOLOGY SERVICES: All laboratory and /or radiology testing will be performed at the location the patients' insurance company requires. We will provide the written orders to the patient for the testing the physician orders. It is the patient's responsibility to arrange for the testing. If you call the office for results, you will need to let the receptionist know where the testing was done.

PROCEDURE SCHEDULING: Our Maryland Center for Digestive Health an affiliate of Anne Arundel Gastroenterology Associates is accredited by The American Association of Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC). Our staff will schedule the ordered procedures at the Maryland Center for Digestive Health an affiliate of Anne Arundel Gastroenterology Associates for you. You will receive any preparation instructions at the time that the appointment is made. Sometimes, your insurance will only allow the procedures to be performed at a hospital, our staff will advise you. All procedure preparation instructions are also available on our website.

EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENT: Patients will be advised of and given the opportunity to acknowledge participation in any diagnostic test, therapeutic regime and/or pharmaceutical intervention that is deemed experimental by our physicians.

PRESCRIPTION REFILLS: You have the following options to obtain a refill on your medication:

• You may have your pharmacy contact us for your prescription refill
• You may go to our on-line prescription refill form.

Note: If you have not been seen within the last 12 months, you must schedule an office visit prior to any prescription refills.

MESSAGES FOR THE PHYSICIANS: Messages will given to the physician when they have completed office hours. Patients must inform the receptionist if their message is not routine and that they are in need of immediate attention from the physician. You may leave a message for your physician on our website.

INSURANCE BILLING: We will submit claims to all primary and secondary insurance carriers, including commercial carriers. The patient must present their valid insurance card upon registration for the appointment.

PAYMENT FOR MEDICAL SERVICES: Copayment, coinsurance and any previous balances are due at check in. Patients who anticipate difficulty in paying for medical services are encouraged to contact our billing department prior to the provision of medical services.

FEE SCHEDULES: Charges for specific services are available from our billing department upon your request.

TYPES OF PAYMENT: We accept cash, personal checks, Visa or MasterCard for any copayment, coinsurance or balance due amount. Payment is expected at the time of check in. We will bill any deductible amounts that may be due and payable by you.

SELF-PAY PATIENTS: Payment is expected in full at the time of service. If a patient requests and requires a payment plan, arrangements will be made prior to the time of service and finalized at the time of check in.

SERVICE CHARGE: Accounts not paid within 30 days of the billing date will be subject to a service charge of 1.5% per month of the unpaid balance.

MEDICAL RECORDS: Any information from the medical record must have the patients signed consent to release. It takes about 2 weeks to process any request for copying of records. The records are mailed to you or the physician you request. Copies of your medical records are not available for pick up. Standard Copying fees apply except when needed for continuing care.