We have reserved at least 30 minutes of my time exclusively for your physical examination (or perhaps a full hour depending on your age).   No other patients have been scheduled during this time.   If you were to fail to appear for your appointment, you would leave me with that large block of empty time on my schedule with no opportunity to refill it (which would make me very unhappy).

   YOU MUST RECONFIRM your Physical Exam appointment THE DAY BEFORE THE EXAM.   If you do not call us by 5:00pm on the day before your exam, we will assume you have forgotten the exam; and WE WILL CANCEL YOUR APPOINTMENT.

     We almost always have people waiting for an opening in our schedule; so we must give your appointment time to someone else if we're not positive that you'll be here.   If you must cancel or reschedule (or even if you are running late), PLEASE CALL. We will be glad to work with you to arrange another time.

DON'T EAT

   Please don't eat or drink anything (except water or black coffee) after midnight. That way we can take care of any blood tests right away rather than having you come back another day.   If your exam is in the afternoon and you don't think you can fast that long, you may eat a light breakfast early in the morning; but then please don't eat anything more until after your exam.

 BE SURE TO COMPLETE YOUR "HOMEWORK" FORM

You should have received in the mail a "Patient History Worksheet" like the small form to the right.   Please take time right now to fill this out completely; so you won't be rushed at the last minute.    That way you'll have plenty of time to think about any details you want to mention or questions you need to ask at the time of your exam.         The more information you give me on this worksheet, the better I can do my job of taking care of your health.      If for any reason you don't have a copy of the worksheet, you can simply click on the small image.    That will open a full size copy in a new window which you can then print and fill out.

BE ON TIME - We're like Southwest Airlines

     Forget any prior experiences you may have had with doctors' offices... THIS OFFICE RUNS ON TIME.   That means that if you arrive on time you can always count on being seen promptly.

     Despite the fact that our schedule is full every day, we try very hard always to see our patients right on time.   In order to make that work, we must insist that our patients never arrive late for their appointments, not even "a few minutes" late.   Just as we ask you to be on time, I promise I will never allow the schedule to slip and make you late because some other patient before you couldn't get themselves organized to arrive here on time.   This firm policy is for your benefit.    If we were to begin "working in" patients who arrived late, our schedule would soon become meaningless; and that's not fair to later patients who arrange to arrive on time.

     Please try to arrive for your appointment a few minutes early if possible.   If you were to arrive a few minutes late for a Southwest Airlines flight, you would expect the plane to have left without you.   I operate the same way.   If you are even a few minutes late for your appointment here, it is likely that I will have moved on to the next patient; and we will have to reschedule you for another time.

DON'T BE A NO-SHOW

     My office never "over-books"; so I have "zero tolerance" for patients who "NO-SHOW".   If you fail to show up for your Physical Exam, you will leave me with a large open block of time in my schedule that we cannot possibly refill at the last minute.   If you no-show without calling WE WILL CHARGE YOUR ACCOUNT $25 which your insurance will not pay.   You will not be permitted to schedule another appointment in this office until that balance is paid.

     If a patient no-shows on me repeatedly, I usually ask him/her to find another doctor.

P.S. Please forgive this strongly worded message.   I know you would never be a "no-show", but you'd be surprised how many people aren't as conscientious as you are. The reason you can always count on being seen right on time in this office is because I insist that every one of my patients play by the same rules that you and I do.