Office Policies

Office Hours & Appointments

Office hours are by appointment only. The office is open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm and Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. We ask that you arrive 10 minutes prior to your appointment time. If you are unable to keep your appointment, kindly give 24 hours notice to avoid a missed-appointment charge. This allows us the opportunity to offer an appointment to another patient. If you arrive 10 minutes after our appointment time, you may be asked to reschedule.

While waiting in the reception area, it may appear that some patients are being seen out of turn. Each provider has their own schedule which varies due to the variety of services scheduled.

Telephone Calls

Our staff has been trained to handle many of your questions and concerns, but any questions our staff can’t answer are always referred to the provider. So, when you call, please explain your message in detail to the receptionist, and we’ll return your call as soon as possible.

Should an emergency occur outside our regular office hours, your call will be routed to our answering service who will contact the doctor on call.

Prescription Refills

It is important that you call our office at least five days before you need your refill, so you will not be without necessary medications. During regular office hours, our staff can renew certain prescriptions with your provider’s approval. Should you require the renewal of a prescription and we have not examined you in the last 4-6 months, the medical assistant may ask you to make a follow-up appointment, depending on your condition. We want to be sure that you are using the best and most effective therapy available and need to monitor for potential side effects of the medication. This especially pertains to chronic medical problems such as acne, eczema, and psoriasis. PLEASE NOTE: If you have not been professionally examined in our office within one year, no prescriptions will be renewed without a return appointment.

Fees & Payments

Our charges are standard fees relating to the type of procedure or examination performed. Our office participates with several insurance plans. We will bill these insurances directly. You will be responsible for any services that are not covered by your plan and any amounts that are applied to your deductible or coinsurance.  All co-payments are due at the time of service.

If our office does not have a contract with your insurance company, as a courtesy we will submit your bill to your insurance company if you provide us with the necessary information to do so. However, the responsibility for the payment rests with you, regardless of your insurance coverage or status of your insurance claim. Payment in full is expected at the time of the service unless other arrangements are made in advance. This helps keep our billing costs to a minimum and we, in turn, can pass these savings onto you by keeping our fees down.

Our practice accepts cash, check, Visa, Mastercard and Discover.  You may contact our office at 717-652-5063 with any questions or concerns.

Insurance Plans

Our office participates with various insurance plans. If you are covered by an HMO or other managed care insurance, a prior authorization or referral may be necessary before you see a specialist. Please present your authorization/referral form to our office either before or at the time of your appointment. If you obtain a referral for a specific condition, the dermatologist is only authorized to treat you for that condition. If you develop a different problem, you must then obtain a new referral.

Please remember that you are responsible for obtaining all necessary referrals. If you come to our office without the proper referral, we will ask you to sign a waiver stating that you are responsible for the bill, in which case payment will be expected at the time of service.

If we do not participate in your insurance plan, payment will be collected at the time of service, and we will submit a claim to your insurance plan as a courtesy to you.

For our patients who do not carry medical insurance, we ask that you provide full payment at the time services are rendered. This may be done by personal check, credit card or cash. All elective cosmetic procedures require a deposit when scheduled with the balance payable at the time of service.

Pathology & Lab Results

When any surgery is performed, a specimen is sent to a certified laboratory to be analyzed. If your insurance dictates where pathology and labs should be sent, please make the office aware.  This results in a separate charge from other services incurred in our office. Any insurance information or questions you may have regarding charges or payments should be discussed with the laboratory.

Generally, pathology and laboratory results are not available until ten days after the test has been performed, at which time your provider will review the results. You may call our office if you have not heard from us in two weeks.