Our focus is on YOU We want you to understand what we are all about, to understand our philosophy of care, to have access to our policies and to know what your responsibilities are in caring for and participating in your own health.  We want to be partners in your health. This section of our web site is devoted to keeping you informed.

General Information What We are Our Mission Our Staff Our Patients Our Hours Emergency and after-hours care Patient Rights and Responsibilities Protecting your Privacy (HIPAA) Advance Directives Appointments General Appointment information Preparing for your first appointment Lab Appointments Missed Appointments Blood Pressure checks The Telephone How and when to phone the doctor Requests for refills Financial Information Cost of care Our financial policy Your insurance

Your care in our office Making the Most of your office visit Preventive Care A word about Antibiotics Vaccines Frequently asked questions About your health Explanations of common services Pap Smears Colposcopy Endocervical Biopsy Joint Injections Vasectomy Medical Acupuncture Common Lab Tests (under construction) Directory of Information about Common Conditions and Diagnoses For Our Patients with Diabetes For Our Patients with High Blood Pressure For Our Patients with elevated Lipids (cholesterol) Forms you can use Print out a "New Patient Form" Print a new patient medical history form--female  (.pdf) Print a new patient medical history form---male (.pdf) Print a form to jot down notes for your upcoming visit * To view the files that are in PDF format, you will need to get the free Adobe Acrobat Reader Software.

General Information

WHAT We Are:

Community Health Care is a primary care medical practice group, with ten sites serving over 50,000 patients in Summit and Stark counties in Northern Ohio. Our health care providers include board-certified Family Physicians, board-certified Pediatric Physicians, and board-certified Adult Nurse Practitioners and Family Nurse Practitioners.

Our MISSION Always Is, and Always Will Be:

• To provide our patients with the highest quality of innovative, comprehensive health care and health care services
• To provide medical care that is... compassionate, supportive, personal, convenient, and cost-effective;
• To encourage effective educational programs or our physicians, staff, patients, and the whole community;
• To carefully recruit the finest staff possible, giving maximum support and encouragement to all personnel to foster growth and pride in the organization; and
• To continually improve the efficiency and quality of all operations and resources of the practice, so as to generate a profit as a result of our combined efforts.

Our STAFF

Our physicians are all either board-certified in Family Practice or board-certified in Pediatrics. Our provider staff also includes board certified Adult Nurse Practitioners and board-certified Family Nurse Practitioners. Keeping people healthy, and allowing them to live more active, productive, and fulfilled lives, is our goal.  Anything less is just not acceptable.

Within our office, a team of dedicated and skilled personnel work closely with the physician or nurse practitioner. Their job is to assist the patient in a variety of ways, from answering the insurance or financial questions, to connecting you with the doctor or nurse practitioner in the event of an emergency. Our practice centers around communication with the doctor, both for patients within the office and for those calling in by telephone.

Our PATIENTS

You and your family are considered our most important asset. We truly want you to like us, to feel comfortable coming to see us, and to know that you are receiving quality health care. We invite you to be an active participant in your health care. As a "family practice," we sincerely work to specialize in YOU! We especially like kids and try to first "be a friend" to them. We want your kids to want to come to see us!

Each of our offices is welcoming new patients. However, we are not accepting new patients in some insurance plans. Please call our offices for information.

(UNDER CONSTRUCTION) Explore what some of our patients have to say about us. Your family is an especially important entity to us. If you are an existing patient and would like to forward your comments to us for consideration for posting on our web site, please email us.

HOURS of Operation

Our office hours vary from office to office, but all of our offices are open during weekdays and at LEAST one evening per week. Please call your office to find out the hours of operation. Emergency cases will worked into the schedule when necessary - please ask to speak with a nurse when calling. If you are worked into the schedule, please be patient, as you may have a wait, as we work also with our regularly scheduled patients. Although we welcome same day appointments, we also recognize the value of your time and will do our best to preserve scheduled appointments.

EMERGENCY / After-hours care

Urgent calls are handled through our office during regular office hours and after hours.

If you are in need of our services outside of office hours you may call our offices and listen to the instructions on the recording. If you are leaving a message, be sure to leave details...your name, the patient's name, an explanation of the problem and a definite telephone number where the doctor can return the call. There are often many things the doctor can do for you over the phone that can help you avoid unnecessary and costly emergency room visits.

If you are having a life-threatening emergency, please go to the nearest emergency room and either call us later or have someone from your family call us about it later.

Please be aware that your insurance coverage may require you to call us FIRST before going to the emergency room, unless the situation is life-threatening. If the situation is NOT life threatening, your insurance may refuse to pay your emergency room bill unless you have contacted the doctor first.

Our doctors, just like you, take time off for rest, relaxation, vacations, and for educational seminars. Please be assured there will always be a doctor available to assist you. The doctor who contacts you after hours may not be your usual or "favorite" doctor. Please understand that your personal doctor cannot be on call after hours 365 days a year...one of the doctors in our group will be giving you a call to assist you with your situation.

Appointments

General APPOINTMENT Information

Schedule appointments as far in advance as possible. In order to provide the care you need, please provide as much information regarding the nature of your visit at the time of scheduling. This information will have an impact on the amount of time your visit will be scheduled for and with whom.

If you have orders from another healthcare provider to schedule an appointment within a specific timeframe, it is critical that you call to make the appointment as early as possible so that we can fill your request. If you call without much notice we may have difficulty fitting your request into our schedules as they are typically full.

For your first appointment at our offices, please bring:  

• Your insurance card(s) and/or Medicare card.
• All your medicines, both prescription and over-the-counter, as well as the vitamins and nutritional supplements you take.
• The name, phone number, and address of a family member or close friend to notify in case of an emergency.
• Your Living Will or Durable Power of Attorney, if you have one.
• A list of allergies to any medications or foods. 
• A list of hospitalizations or previous surgeries and recent vaccinations. 
• The names and addresses of your previous doctor and other physicians you see. 
• A list of any questions you may have for your new physician.

“NO-SHOW" Missed Appointments

Missed appointments increase the wait all patients experience in getting appointments. We understand that patients may occasionally forget an appointment. Repeated "no-show" appointments may cause you to be dismissed from ALL the offices of Community Health Care. 

CANCELING an Appointment

Please let us know as soon as possible if you will be unable to be at an appointment. We request a minimum of 24 hour notice. We understand that last minute things occur; however it is unfair to other patients who are waiting as much as 3 months for appointments to have available appointment times wasted.

LAB Appointments

All lab appointments must be scheduled. The offices of Community Health Care usually provide early morning lab appointments. We do request that these be scheduled by our patients that are employed and have a difficult time getting in after 9:00 a.m. If you have been asked to come in fasting, you CAN have black coffee, plain tea, or water before you come...so please, drink up, and do not come in dehydrated!

BLOOD PRESSURE Checks

Blood pressure checks are offered for free daily, without an appointment. Please be prepared to wait at least 10 minutes after your arrival before your blood pressure is taken. You must be "at rest" at 10 minutes prior to the reading in order for the reading to be accurate. Also, a friendly reminder that our patients with appointments are serviced before walk-ins for blood pressure checks. We appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.

The Telephone (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

How and when to PHONE the Doctor  
Everyone at one time or another has a need to call the doctor. This handy brochure, which you can print out, will give you all the basic information you should know when you call the doctor. Please pay attention to it! If you follow all the included points, it will make your contact with the doctor and his staff the most informative and productive it can be.
 

Prescription  REFILL Requests

If you need a refill for a prescription, you can call our office. Please call us when you have a week's supply (or more) left. We will attempt to fulfill all refill requests within 24 - 48 hours. If you are requesting a refill for high blood pressure, diabetes or a thyroid condition and are not up to date in your labs and/or appointments, we may only refill your prescription for a short period, if at all. This is for your health and safety. We also do not routinely call antibiotics in over the phone. Your cooperation is appreciated.

Financial Information

COST of Care

At the offices of Community Health Care, we do our very best to keep our charges as reasonable as possible. If you are having difficulty paying your bills with us, please talk to your office manager or our billing department about making payment arrangements. Patients who repeatedly have balances from us sent to the Collection Agency may be dismissed from ALL our practices. Please know that we expect you to pay what you owe, apart from your insurance company, in a timely fashion and we will hold you responsible for such!

Our FINANCIAL POLICY

We are committed to providing you with the best possible care. We are anxious to help you receive your maximum allowable benefits if you have medical insurance. In order to do this, we need your assistance and your understanding of our FINANCIAL POLICY. We will also be asking you to periodically update your information

Payment for services is DUE AT THE TIME SERVICES ARE RENDERED, unless payment arrangements have been approved in advance by our office manager. We accept CASH, CHECKS, MASTERCARD, VISA, and DISCOVER. Returned checks will be subject to a $30.00 NSF FEE. Non-payment of returned checks may result in your termination as a patient of Community Health Care, Inc.

If there is a divorce involved, please remember that our policy requires that regardless of which parent is responsible for bills, PAYMENT IS DUE AT THE TIME OF SERVICE. The person that brings the child to the office for the appointment is expected to make payment. As you should be able to understand, we will not get involved with divorce disputes. Please feel free to discuss this with our office manager if you have any questions.

Auto accident claims will either be paid at the time of service or be billed through your medical insurance coverage.

We will submit your insurance forms for you with a current signature on file permitting us to do so. Please remember that Your insurance is a contract between YOU, YOUR EMPLOYER, and the INSURANCE COMPANY. We are not a party to that contract. Not ALL services are a covered benefit in all contracts. Some insurance companies arbitrarily select certain services that they will NOT cover.

We must emphasize that as a provider of medical services, our relationship is with YOU, not your insurance company. While the filing of patient insurance forms is a courtesy that we extend to our patients, all charges are YOUR responsibility from the date the service is rendered.

We are not providers for Workers' Comp care, and do not do any type of Workers' Comp paperwork or billing.

We realize that temporary financial problems may affect timely payment of your account. If such problems DO arise. We encourage you to contact us promptly for assistance in the management of your account.

Because we are able to offer a variety of professional services, we are included in a great many insurance plans. Please feel free to call our offices to find out if we are participating providers in your insurance plan. We accept patients who are covered by indemnity insurance, as well as members of preferred provider organizations (PPO's) and health maintenance organizations (HMO's). We are not providers for Workers' Compensation cases, and cannot see you for work injury-related care. We are participants in the Medicare program and accept assignment on all Medicare claims. Cash and credit cards are also accepted for your convenience. We will require you to show your insurance card at every visit, and to update us promptly when your insurance information or coverage changes.

Your care in our office (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

A word about ANTIBIOTICS

Viruses cause most colds, coughs, and sore throats. If you have a cold, cough, or sore throat, taking antibiotics will usually not help you. Taking antibiotics for these kinds of illness also increases your chance of being infected with resistant bacteria that cannot be killed by antibiotics. If your illness gets worse or lasts a long time, tell your doctor so further treatment can be given.