Q. What kind of injuries/illnesses do the doctors treat?
A. A partial list of diseases treated:
- Aneurysms
- Vascular Malformations
- Intracranial Hemorrhage
- Brain Tumors
- Acoustic Neuromas
- Trigeminal Neuralgia
- Cervical and Lumbar Stenosis
For a more comprehensive list,
please click here.
Q. Do I need a referral to schedule an appointment?
A. If your insurance requires a referral or authorization to see a specialist, you will be required to have a referral from your Primary Care Provider. We must have this written referral prior to scheduling an appointment.
Q. Do you accept my insurance?
A. TBSI Neurosurgery participates with a large number of insurance plans; however, you will need to verify our participation with your plan before your appointment. If you are on a managed care plan, please confirm that we have received prior authorization for your visit. Unfortunately, we do not accept Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO, CHIP and Star Plus.
Please note: When calling your insurance company to verify our participation with your plan, they may ask for our tax id number. Our tax id number is 741282696.
Q. How long will it take to schedule an appointment after you receive a referral from my Primary Care Provider?
A. Our office will contact you within 3-5 days to schedule your appointment, once we receive the referral. You may also contact our office to schedule an appointment at 979-776-8896.
Q. What do I need to bring with me to my appointment?
A. As a new patient, you will be asked to bring the following to your first appointment:
- Completed New Patient Forms
- Insurance card
- Driver’s license
- All related MRI's, CT's/studies
- Any previous medical records, especially tests results
Q.
Why is my appointment scheduled with the Physician Assistant and not the Doctor?
A. The PA usually initiates the initial office visit to gather medical history from the patients. The PA will evaluate you and order any studies if they are needed and will then have you come back to see the doctor. This will also allow all patients to be seen in a timely manner.
Q. How do I obtain a copy of my medical records?
A. To obtain a copy of your medical records, we must have a signed Release of Records on file. You can locate this form in the Forms Section. Please note, our office has 14 business days to process the request. All patients first request for medical records is provided at no charge. Any additional requests, there will be a $25.00 processing fee.
Q. What do I need to do when I need a refill on my prescription?
A. Please contact your pharmacy and request a refill through them. The pharmacy will send our office a refill request. Please allow at least 24 hours to process the request. If a refill request is received on a Friday afternoon, it could possibly be Monday until a response is received.
Q. Who will complete my FMLA and short-term disability forms?
A. You may submit your FMLA and/or short-term disability forms to our office for the providers to complete. Once they are completed, they will be faxed/mailed back to the designated person. Please be aware, it takes a significant amount of time to complete the detailed forms so we are unable to do so during your office appointment.
Q. When will my MRI/CT and/or surgery be scheduled?
A. Please allow up to 5 days for our scheduling staff to contact you with the information for your scheduled tests and/or surgery.
Q. Will I have any fees that I will be required to pay upfront for my surgery?
A. If you have insurance, our office will not require any fees up front. However, you may be responsible to pay your deductible, etc. at the hospital. The hospital will contact you once your surgery is scheduled with that information.
If you are a self- pay patient, you will need to speak with our Surgery Schedulers to discuss payment for your surgery. It is our policy that we collect 50% of the surgery fees prior to your surgery, in addition to what the hospital may require up front.
Q. How long will I be off work? Will I return to work with restrictions?
A. You may be able to return to work within 2-4 weeks, depending on your procedure. Also depending on your procedure and your job, will determine if you will be fully released to go back to work or released to go back to work with restrictions. At your first follow up visit, you and your provider can discuss and plan your return to work.
Q. Who do I contact after hours if I have an emergency?
A. In a true emergency, please call 911 or go immediately to the Emergency Department of the nearest hospital, where the physician on duty will begin treatment and contact our physician on call if necessary.
If you have a problem and it is non-life threatening, you may call our office at 979-776-8896. Your call will be forwarded to our answering service to take your message and forward it to the on-call doctor.
Q. Do I have any other options other than surgery?
A. The primary goal of TBSI Neurosurgery is providing excellence in patient care. Many people are misinformed and believe that spine surgery is the ONLY way to achieve the ability to resume normal function and activities without pain. Although, in some cases, spine surgery is the best and most appropriate method of treatment, there are many nonsurgical care options available.
Options such as time, medication, relaxation techniques, deep breathing, body awareness, imagery, epidural steroid injections (ESI), and physical therapy all can help contribute to a better outcome for many conditions.