Patients are seen by appointment, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Appointments can be scheduled at the end of your visit, or you can call one of our offices between 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday thorough Friday.

When you make an appointment, you will be asked about the nature of your visit-- certain conditions require more time for evaluation than others. Our office staff tries its utmost not to keep patients waiting. However, the specialty of orthopaedics involves emergency situations and delays do occasionally occur. When possible, patients will be contacted and rescheduled.

Our staff takes calls Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In order to avoid unnecessary delays for scheduled patients, we avoid interrupting the physicians during their appointments. Leave a message with the your doctor or a nurse practitioner will get back to you as soon as possible. If you are calling about a problem that you feel needs same-day attension, please alert the receptionist with a short description of the problem.

If you call after office hours or on weekend or holiday, your call will be taken by our service. The doctor on call will be paged and will respond as soon as possible. We appreciate your calling with routine questions during office hours.

Please try to remember to ask for refills for prescriptions when you are here for your office visit. If you need a refill before your next visit, please call the office during office hours, preferably a week before your medicine runs out. Refills will not be issued after regular hours or on weekends. When you call, please have the name and number of your pharmacy ready for our staff.

Our Executive Director,
Jim Barrett

We have a room available for review of selected literature on various orthopaedic and surgical conditions. Also available are videotapes regarding the most common procedures, such as arthrospopic surgery, total hip and total knee arthroplasty.

If you have an urgent problem during the day, call the office and explain to the secretary that you have an emergency. You will be connected to one of the nurse practitioners or physicians, who will determine whether you need to come to the office or go to the hospital emergency room.

If you need to talk with someone after 4:30 p.m. or on a weekend or holiday, call the office. You will reach our answering service operator, who will take your message and have a doctor call you back as soon as possible. If you believe a fracture is involved, please go to the emergency room immediately.

Our fees are set according to the time or skill required for a particular activity. They are comparable to fees charged by other orthopaedic surgeons in the community. Generally, there is a somewhat higher charge for the initial visit (new problem) than for routine follow-up visits.

We request that payments be made at the time of service. If your are unable to pay a large bill at the time of treatment, we will try to work out a payment schedule that you can afford. If are having financial difficulties, please discuss this with us directly. We believe that no one should go without medical care so we will try to work out something.

We admit our patients to Crouse Irving Memorial Hospital and University Hospital. Both of these hospitals are teaching institutions, so medical students, residents and Fellows participate in your care. Outpatient procedures are performed at Crouse's Madison Irving Surgery Center and Harrison Outpatient Surgery

Your medical records are strictly confidential. Information about your condition, treatment, or diagnosis might be requested by family, friends, attorneys or insurance companies. We will only release the records with your written consent or a court order. X-rays can be released for review upon your written request, but must be promtly returned to our office.

Please keep our office informed of any change in your name, address, employer, telephone number or health insurance coverage.

Privacy Policy

We participate in:

Advantage Health Care AETNA/ US Healthcare American Postal Workers APWU Anthem Health (One Health) Blue Point Blue Shield of CNY Blue Shield of Rochester Blue Shield of Utica Watertown Blue Shield of Western NY CIGNA CNA GHI Guardian Health Now HMOBLUE Independent Health Magnacare Medicare MVP NO FAULT OnPoint POMCO RMSCO United Healthcare Univera Workers' Compensation

and will submit bills directly to these insurers.

If we do not participate with your insurance company, we will provide you with an itemized statement for you to submit. If you are a member of a non-participating insurance, you will still receive a monthly statement until the balance is paid in full. Your insurance may make a partial payment on a claim or pay nothing. For example, very few policies procide coverage for office visits, for example. The patient is responsible for any balance due.

Whenever possible, insurance forms for hospital or surgical bennefits should be received by our office prior to surgery, along with an assignment of benefits. They may be a charge for special forms or reports requested by insurance companies or attorneys.

If you have any questions about your insurance or how to submit a claim, contact the Crouse Irving Memorial Hospital Form Aid Office at (315) 470-7276 for free, confidential assistance. This service may also be used for questions about billing and/or insurance that may have nothing to do with hospital services.

We have our own X-ray room and staff X-ray technician, JoAnne Galvin, at our downtown office.