Patient Policies and Procedures

Prescriptions and Refills
Prescriptions and refills are issued during regular office hours only. During the evenings and weekends it is difficult for the on call physician to determine if a prescription or refill is indicated. This means that we will not routinely prescribe medications or provide refills during evenings or weekends. All prescription requests should be directed to your treating physician during our normal business hours.

Canceling or Rescheduling Appointments
If you are unable to make an appointment at one of our offices, please call as far in advance as possible so that we can use that time for other patients.

Emergencies
If a medical problem is such that you must be seen on an urgent basis, we will make every attempt to see you. If your problem cannot wait, we suggest that you go to the closest emergency room. One of our physicians is available 24 hours per day. Please advise the ER that you are one of our patients and they will consult us as needed.

Medical Records
All of your records are strictly confidential. No one will have access to either your medical records, diagnostic tests or x-rays without your approval and signed authorization. Please CLICK HERE to complete any requests pertaining to the transfer of records either to a provider or for a personal copy. Please provide us with a minimum of one week's notice so that we may comply with your request.

Insurance
Patients who are insured by an HMO or POS Plan are responsible for getting their referral authorization from their primary care physician (PCP). All co-pays required by your insurer must be paid at the time of service. If treatment or diagnostic testing is arranged, our staff will work with you to obtain pre-certification and/or prior authorization. It is ultimately your responsibility to know and understand your insurance benefits and to meet all insurance requirements for reimbursement.

Transparency in Coverage – Machine Readable Files
As part of the Transparency in Coverage Rule, you can view negotiated rates for all covered items with in-network providers. These files permit the public to access health plan payment information to help you understand pricing and costs for health care services. Learn more here.

New Patients

If you are a new patient or an existing patient with a new problem, we will need you to register with one of our offices. This will allow our staff to determine the nature of your problem and arrange an appointment with one of our specialists most suited to your condition.

Information needed prior to your appointment:

• Obtain any applicable diagnostic films and reports (ie. x-rays, MRI, CT scan, bone scans, discograms, EMG's) or confirm that we can obtain them electronically prior to your appointment. For the convenience of our patients, we have a special service arranged with the local hospitals (Access Sports Medicine, Androscoggin Valley Hospital, Catholic Medical Center, Concord Hospital, Elliot Hospital, Holy Family Hospital, Southern NH Medical Center and St. Joseph's Hospital). If we are given at least 48 hours notice, we can have any of your studies transmitted directly to our office from the above listed hospitals. If your studies were performed elsewhere you will need to bring a copy of the films or CD to your appointment.
  
  
• In addition, if you have been treated elsewhere for this problem it is important to have that information at the time of registration. We will also need any treatment notes forwarded to us prior to your first appointment. This will enable your doctor to give you the most complete and comprehensive evaluation.
  
  Please contact any providers that you have had relevant treatment with in advance, as it may take a few days for them to prepare the records to send over.
  


• Please arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment. This will provide adequate time to complete necessary paperwork and obtain new x-rays if indicated.
  
  
  

Out of Town Patients

If you are a new or existing patient coming from out of town we will work with you to make your trip as easy and comfortable as possible.

In some cases it makes the most sense to have your appointments at a certain time of the day in order to accommodate your travel arrangements. In that case please let us know and we will do our best to schedule your appointment time with your travel plans in mind.

For patients who will need to make hotel reservations, we have coordinated special pricing with some of the local hotels and offer a list of these hotels, along with local restaurants and shopping information. Click here for hotel info.

Please call (603)472-8888 or e-mail info@nhneurospine.com for any additional information.