office policies
This section tells you how we run our practice. We make every effort to meet the needs of our patients, but have policies we must follow to have an efficient, accommodating medical practice.
Services
Dr. Brady enjoys providing general medical and surgical dermatology services to patients of all ages. He does not do cosmetic dermatology procedures like Botox, skin fillers, laser, or liposuction. He can recommend many outstanding practitioners who do provide these services. He feels he can provide unbiased advice, free of conflict of interest, to his patients about cosmetic dermatology, plastic surgery, and cosmetic products because he tries to keep current on new procedures and products. He does not sell cosmetic products out of his office.
We see patients of all ages. Appointments between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. are available Monday through Thursday. Special procedures are usually scheduled for Friday.
Our services are in great demand. We have spaces for emergency/urgent appointments in our daily schedule, but they fill up quickly. Because of this, we try to maintain a cancellation list to accommodate patients with urgent needs. This requires the help of all of our patients. If you find the need to reschedule/cancel your appointment, please give us at least 24 hours notice so that we can help another patient with an urgent need. Some day, you may be the beneficiary of this same thoughtfulness.
New patients must call to confirm their appointments, or the appointment will be given to a patient off of our cancellation list. New patients who fail to keep an appointment will not be given another appointment.
Cancellation/Missed Appointments
Some medical practices charge their patients for missed appointments, or for cancellation or rescheduling of appointments with less than 24 hours notice. We find this distasteful. However, repetition of this behavior is reason for dismissal from our practice.
Please anticipate that traffic is a major factor in your commute to our office. Valet parking is available at the hospital front entrance if needed. Please try to arrive early if you need to update your personal and medical information from the last time you saw us.
All patients, new and returning, are requested to download and fill out registration and medical materials prior to their visit. This allows you to provide us with accurate information in the comfort of your home.
Medication/Prescription Refills
Please bring a list of your current medication (including alternative, herbal, and dietary supplements) to every visit. With the specialization of medicine, and most of us seeing many doctors, a major concern for us is medication interactions. We have the capability to check for medication interaction, thus reducing the risk of side effects from the medication we recommend.
Should you need a refill of your medication, please request one from your pharmacy. Most prescriptions written by Dr. Brady have refills. Your pharmacy keeps track of these. They will usually contact us via fax to seek authorization. Requests are usually addressed within 24 hours - often the same day. If your medications require prior authorization from your insurance company, more time must be allowed. Please do not wait until the last minute to request a refill.
If you are overdue for follow up, you may be asked to schedule an appointment for an examination to make adjustments to your medication or to try something new.
Use of email to address our patients' health concerns has major security issues, and we rarely use it. We request that you contact our office by telephone regarding all health and business matters.
We consider it a priority to address patient telephone calls, and try to respond to all calls by the end of the day. Because of our busy schedule, we sometimes cannot return patient calls until after normal office hours. Please be sure to give us at least one phone number where you can be reached, preferably your cell phone number.
Lab Tests and Pathology Reports
We feel that it is important to make our patients aware of all lab test and pathology results, even when they are normal. Because of privacy issues, we cannot leave results on answering machines. Please be sure that we have a good telephone number where we can reach you. If you have not heard from us within 10 days regarding the results of your lab tests or biopsies, please call our office.
We do not participate with all insurance plans because some plans place a low value on physician's services. Dr. Brady does not have a high-volume practice - only a high quality one. If we do not participate with your insurance plan, we will still submit your claim electronically for services, and provide you with an itemized summary containing standard codes for reimbursement of the services rendered if your policy allows out-of-network care. If biopsies are performed, we also try to use labs that participate with your insurance plan.
Most surgical procedures like biopsies, liquid nitrogen cryosurgery, and electrocautery can be done during a regular office visit. Elective surgical procedures, and removal of benign skin lesions for cosmetic purposes, require an office visit for evaluation so that an appropriate amount of time may be scheduled with another appointment. Patients presenting with surgical emergencies like inflamed cysts are usually asked to return after regular office hours, so that the office schedule is not disrupted for other patients.
Dr. Brady feels that skin cancer screening is an important service to offer all of his patients, even if they "just came in for poison ivy." He has seen several teenage patients with skin cancer, including melanoma, during his medical career. All health insurance plans, including Medicare, acknowledge that the average person cannot recognize skin cancer or other potentially dangerous skin lesions, so they cover evaluation of lesions of concern by a dermatologist. However, they have Benign Skin Lesion Removal policies and commonly use the term "medical necessity" to deny coverage for removal of benign skin lesions. There must be a clear health risk or concern about skin cancer for removal to be covered, not just because they "bother" the patient because of their appearance or location. These lesions include moles, skin tags, age spots, Seborrheic Keratoses, whiteheads, broken blood vessels, blood moles, fatty tumors, and cysts.
We cannot include cosmetic procedures with services that are billed to Medicare or health insurance plans. If time allows us to deal with them during a regular office visit, you will be required to sign a cosmetic waiver for the services, and asked to pay for them separately at the time of your visit. Patients desiring removal of a large number of benign lesions will be scheduled for an elective surgery appointment.