Scheduling Appointment

Consultation clinics are presently scheduled for every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. The focus of our practice is the diagnosis and definitive treatment of major spinal deformities, tumors, injuries and other major spine disorders. We perform second opinions when surgery is recommended. However, we do not perform disability evaluations or examinations after minor injuries for insurance claims or litigation purposes.  We prefer physician referrals, but will accept patient-initiated consultations. To refer a patient or schedule an appointment, contact us.

Insurance Plans & Payment

We accept Blue Shield, most commercial insurance plans, Medicare A & B and many HMO plans. Please call our offices to confirm your insurance information.  Patients without acceptable coverage are asked to pay a reasonable fee at the time of the consultation. Patients covered under Workman’s Compensation must have full claim information and prior authorization from the workman’s compensation carrier.

Initial Consultation Procedure

Please bring a letter or recent notes from the referring physician. Also, please obtain and bring any relevant X-ray, MRI, myelogram, or CT films. If you belong to an HMO, it is essential that you bring prior authorization for spine x-rays. Failure to do this will often make a second consultation necessary simply to get the correct x-rays.

When you arrive at Mercy Medical Center, park in the Pleasant Street garage across from the hospital.  A covered bridge connects the parking garage to the hospital. Inside the main lobby, walk left into the POB (Professional Office Building), which is part of the main hospital.  Inside the main lobby, walk straight down to the far southern end. Our office is located just before the Wineberg building tunnel.

When you check into the outpatient area, the nurse or clinical coordinator will assist you with registration. She will then give you a spine questionnaire.  Please fill it out to summarize your current spine problem & general health.  The spine surgeon will review your questionnaire, doctor’s referral letter, or notes and key x-rays.  If it appears that you will need new x-rays, he will order them so x-rays can be obtained and processed before your examination.  Since many of our patients are from out of town, the surgeon will try to accomplish as much as possible during each consultation to save unnecessary repeat visits.

The surgeon’s goal during the initial consultation is to determine the cause of your problem and outline treatment alternatives.  Sometimes an additional set of x-rays is needed during a consultation to confirm physical exam findings or explore a possible treatment alternative.  The initial consultation, including record review, history, physical exam, film analysis, and patient counseling generally takes one hour.

Cases that are more complicated may require additional studies or diagnostic procedures after which the patient returns for a second consultation.  Once the surgeon understands the source of a patient’s problems, he studies alternative treatments and, in collaboration with patient, selects the alternative that best accomplishes the patient’s objectives with the least amount of surgery and risk.  The surgeon then spends as much time as necessary to educate the patient about the condition and treatment program selected, including its probability of success, risks, and expected results.