Patient Information

Medication Policy

The following guidelines are intended for your safety and meeting your medication needs in an efficient manner.

• Take medication(s) only as prescribed.
• Choose only one pharmacy for all of your medications.
• To protect your health: Notify our office of all medication changes by other physicians, as this can be a potentially dangerous situation.
• Lost, stolen, or misplaced medications are replaced only with a clinic visit.
• We do not prescribe long term medications. Patients requiring long term pain medication will be referred to a pain management specialist or back to your referring physician.

Refill(s)

•  Medication refills are only handled during regular office hours.
• Please allow three business days for us to process your refill request.
• Prescription refills received at 3:30 may not be processed until the next business day.
• Call your pharmacy directly for medication refills.
• Instruct pharmacy to fax all request to 214-823-3797.
• Early refills will not be honored for any reason.

MEDICATION REFILLS WILL NOT BE ADDRESSED AFTER HOURS OR ON THE WEEKEND.

Controlled Substance Medication(s)

Dr. Barnett understands that physical pain is interpreted differently among all of us and he is sensitive to the fact that many patients present with physically painful conditions. However, it is his duty as a physician to minimize harm to patients. Narcotic addiction is a national epidemic. Physicians have been placed on the front line of managing this epidemic and are held accountable. In order to protect patients and maintain his professional standing, Dr. Barnett has established this policy for prescribing narcotics.

• Narcotics will not be prescribed for chronic pain conditions; however, they can be prescribed for acute conditions at his discretion.
• If you are under the care of a pain management physician, Dr. Barnett expects you to disclose this information on your first visit. Failure to do so would violate your contract with your pain management physician.
• Narcotics will be prescribed post-operatively for a maximum of six weeks depending on the type of surgical procedure performed.
• Prescriptions for narcotics will be dispensed in accordance with the Texas Prescription Monitoring Program. They may not be “called in” to your pharmacy.
• Your prescription history will be reviewed prior to the prescribing of any narcotic medication, pursuant to the Texas Prescription Monitoring Program.
• If you are taking narcotics prescribed by a pain management physician, we will coordinate your post-operative pain medicine with that pain management physician.
• Long-term pain medication needs will require a referral to another physician, such as a pain management physician or primary care provider.
• Refills may take up to three days to process, so you must call your pharmacy well in advance. No refills will be authorized after hours or on weekends. NO EXCEPTIONS. On-call physicians are not authorized to refill narcotic pain medication. You may be asked to come to the office to be reevaluated prior to receiving a refill.
• Lost, damaged or stolen prescriptions will NOT be replaced.
• All medications are to be used as prescribed. Adjustments or increases in the amount of medication should not be done without discussion with the prescribing provider.
• Adverse reactions are to be reported to the physician’s office immediately.
• Combining narcotic pain medications may have unrecognized or unpredictable interactions with other pain medications.
• Operating heavy equipment or driving is not permitted when using narcotic pain medications.

This policy has been created to ensure the health and safety of our patients. We appreciate your cooperation.

Formulary Benefits Data Consent

Formulary Benefits Data are maintained for health insurance providers by organizations knowns as Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBM). PBM’s are third-party administrators of prescription drug programs whose primary responsibility are processing and paying prescriptions drug claims. They also develop and maintain formularies, which are list of dispensable drugs covered by a particular drug benefit plan. We may need access to your data as maintained by PBM’s to know what medications have been prescribed to you in the past, and to know which drugs are covered by your insurance plan. This consent will enable Texas Neurosurgery to:

• Determine the pharmacy benefits and drug copays for a patient’s health plan.
• Check whether a prescribed medication is covered (in formulary) under a patient’s plan.
• Display therapeutic alternatives with a preference rank (if available) within drug class for non-formulary medications.
• Determine if a patient’s health plan allows electronic prescribing to Mail Order pharmacies, and if so, e-prescribe to these pharmacies.

Financial Policy

Texas Neurosurgery, LLP requires payment in full for any amounts that are the patient’s responsibility at the time of services are rendered. This includes co-pays, co-insurance, and /or deductible amounts. Once your claim is processed by your insurance company, any additional amount owed will be billed to you. If the patient’s estimated amount due results in an overpaid claim, then a refund will be processed once all claims are settled and there are no additional amounts owed by the patient.

You are responsible for knowing the specific rules of your insurance carrier. If your insurance carrier requires a referral, it is your responsibility to obtain from your primary care physician prior to your scheduled appointment. If we do not have your referral the day prior to your appointment, then you will be contacted to reschedule your appointment. If you are seen by one of our physicians without a valid referral, then all charges will be responsibility of the patient.

Texas Neurosurgery, LLP does not accept Letters of Protection (LOP), and we do not file claims with automotive insurance companies.
Failure to provide your current insurance information prior to services being rendered may result in denial of your claim. We assist our patients with receiving reimbursement from your insurance company, however, please understand that you (the patient) have the final responsibility for your bill.

I hereby assign all medical and/or surgical benefits, to include major medical benefits to which I am entitled, including Medicare and other government sponsored programs, private insurance, and any other health plans to Texas Neurosurgery, LLP.

Payment
Texas Neurosurgery, LLP accepts cash, checks, and all major credit cards. We offer convenient, personalized payment plans that automatically draft out of patients’ accounts.

Physician Assistant Information Guide

Texas Neurosurgery, LLP is committed to providing the highest quality of healthcare. Our practice is centered on each patient who walks into our office. In order to assist you with your healthcare needs, our practice has dedicated physician assistants who work closely with the physicians so you can receive the best possible healthcare in an efficient and timely manner. The physicians and their physician assistants are here to provide you with a complete understanding of your condition and to offer you the best personalized care possible.

A Physician Assistant (PA) is a healthcare professional licensed to practice medicine with supervision by a licensed physician. A physician assistant is concerned with preventing, maintaining, and treating human illness and injury by providing a broad range of healthcare services that are traditionally performed by a physician.

Physician Assistants exercise autonomy in medical decision making as determined by their supervising physician. Physician Assistants are educated in the medical model designed to complement physician training.

Under the supervision of the physician, a physician assistant can diagnose, treat, and monitor common acute and chronic diseases as well as provide health maintenance care. “Supervision” does not require the constant physical presence of a supervising physician, by rather overseeing the activities and responsibility for the medical services provided.

Services provided by our physician assistant may include:

• Obtaining histories and performing physical exams
• Ordering diagnostic procedures
• Formulation of a working diagnosis
• Developing and implementing a treatment plan
• Monitoring the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions
• Assisting in surgery
• Counseling and education
• Writing prescriptions
• Making appropriate referrals

Disclosure of Physician’s Ownership Interest

Due to your physician’s concern over improving the quality of care and controlling the cost of medical procedures, he, along with other physicians have invested in hospitals, and/or other entities where you may be referred for care:

• Methodist Hospital for Surgery Addison, Texas
• Baylor Medical Center at Uptown Dallas, Texas
• North Texas IOM, PLLC Dallas, Texas

These investments provide your physician an opportunity to be actively involved in the quality control over your medical procedures and to ensure that your medical costs are reasonable. Your physician’s ownership interest in these entities does mean that your physician may benefit financially through these entities. Because of this, your physician hereby advises you that you have the right to choose to be treated at some other facility at which they provide services. Your physician will make arrangements for such an alternative should you so desire.