Patient Guidelines

Welcome! We are delighted that you have chosen us for your endocrine care. To ensure a positive and effective experience, we want to provide you with some information about what you can expect from our practice and what we expect from you. We consider that we are a team working together to improve your health. Please take a moment to review the following:

Appointment Scheduling

• To schedule an appointment, please contact our office during regular business hours at 617-831-7300. To ensure that your condition is one that is managed by our providers, we do not accept self-referrals (even if you have a PPO plan).
• We strive to accommodate your scheduling preferences and offer appointments at the earliest convenience. We do offer both in person and virtual appointments. For virtual appointments, you must be physically in the state of MA at the time of your visit.

Patient Visits

• Pre-visit labs: pre-visit labs are most often not needed. If blood tests are needed ahead of your visit, your provider will have communicated this with you at your previous visit.
• For New Patient Visits, we request that you share any relevant medical records or test results that have been completed OUTSIDE the MGB system ahead of your visit. This includes notes from a previous endocrinologist, primary care notes, lab results, and imaging that is pertinent to the condition for which you are being seen.
• For Follow up Visits: please ask outside providers and institutions to share pertinent notes, lab results and imaging reports as they occur ie. Bone density scans, eye doctor exams, etc.
• Please arrive at least 15 minutes before your scheduled visit time. Please allow additional time for parking and getting to the office.
• If you are being treated for diabetes, it’s essential that you share data from any monitoring device you use.  
• Be sure to bring any monitoring device that you use (I.e. glucose monitor) with you to your appointment in case there are issues getting your data ahead of the visit.
• Ahead of your visit, please go into patient gateway and confirm that your medication list is correct

Respectful interactions 

• We understand your time is valuable and we will make every effort to stay on schedule and minimize your waiting time.
• We appreciate your promptness for appointments. We recommend that you arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment time and 20 minutes prior if you have a device that requires us to download data. Be sure to allow time for parking and walking to the office suite.
• If you are running late for your appointment, please call the clinic as soon as possible as we may be able to switch from an in-person to a virtual visit.
• No show policy: repeatedly not showing up for visits may result in dismissal from the practice.
• We will make every effort to make sure you feel welcomed and well-taken care of. We ask that you treat all members of our team with dignity and respect.
• We do have an after hours endocrinologist on call for urgent medical questions. However, if you have a non-urgent question (need to inquire about the status of a prior authorization or request a letter) please do so through patient gateway or wait until the clinic is open during regular office hours

Prescription Refills

• If you need a prescription refill, please contact your pharmacy, and they will reach out to us if necessary.
• There are frequent back orders for medications – don't wait until the last minute to request refills from the pharmacy
• Allow 48 hours for prescription refills. Urgent requests will be handled promptly.
• If you need to reach us for questions or concerns regarding your prescription, you can ask via patient gateway or call the office and select the option for the refill line. • Our refill policy requires that you have a future appointment scheduled.
• If you have not been seen in over a year and there are no future appointments scheduled, refill requests will be forwarded to your primary care provider. You may contact your PCP directly as well.
• If a prior authorization is needed and appropriate, please be aware it can take up to 2 weeks to complete
• Even if you have an appointment scheduled, if you have not been seen in 2 years, you will need to have the prescription refilled by your PCP until you are seen once again in our clinic. 5.

Communication between visits

• We highly recommend that you sign up and utilize the patient gateway. This allows you to see your appointments, see lab results, and communicate with your provider between visits if ever needed.
• Please allow 2 weeks for communication from your provider regarding lab results. Rest assured that concerning labs will be addressed quickly.
• Please be aware that billing codes for Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) training and/or interpretation may be submitted to your insurance at the time of office visits and/or if CGM reviews occur between visits. For many insurances, these services are completely covered. However, you may wish to contact your insurance company to confirm coverage for CPT codes 95249 and 95251.

Patient Feedback

• Your feedback is valuable to us. If you have any concerns, compliments, or suggestions, please let us know. We are committed to providing the best possible care.