Appointments

Dr. Wells, our Nurse Practitioners, and our Midwives routinely see patients from 9:00 am to 11:45 and 2:00 pm to 3:45 pm Monday through Friday. It is necessary to schedule an appointment, as we do not take walk-in patients. If you have an emergency, please call our office and we will work you in as quickly as possible when medically indicated.

Regular Annual exams should be made 3 months in advance. If you have a specific gynecology problem that needs to be addressed please make a separate appointment from your annual appointment. Gynecologic appointments should be made 3 weeks in advance, with the exception of urgent problems that will be triaged and scheduled accordingly.

We recognize the value of your time, so we do our best to keep your appointment on schedule. However, unforeseen delays do arise due to emergencies and deliveries. Our staff will make every effort to notify you by telephone so that you may choose either to keep your appointment or to reschedule.

Prescriptions and Refills

Try to request new prescriptions at appointments when possible. Keep in mind that many pharmacies do not always carry prescription drugs on hand. Therefore, try to call your pharmacy a week prior to taking your last dose to give the pharmacy time to fax us the request and order your prescriptions.

Lab Work & Test Results

Results for most lab work take 1 to 3 days for the results for us to receive them. Feel free to ask one of our medical assistants how long your test will take to be completed. Then if the appropriate amount of time as passed and you have not heard from our office, please feel free to calls us to see if the test results have been received. We have found that labs sometimes do not send results in a timely fashion. Medical Assistants may relay normal results, but will not interpret non-standard or abnormal results. These will be reviewed with you by Dr. Wells or one of the Nurse Practitioners.

Pap Smear test results can take anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks to be received. At that time, your results are reviewed and a letter is generated and mailed to you. If there is a problem with your results, you will receive a phone call from our office.

Medical Records

We will always keep your medical records strictly confidential. Your prior, written authorization is required for the release of any information. A $50.00 records copy fee will apply and must be received with your written authorization prior to your records being sent.

A 10 day notice is required or an additional fee of $5.00 will apply for a RUSH request.

*Request for Release of Medical Records form can be found on the website under the Forms Tab.

Disability Income Information (SDI)

Instructions

California state law provides for disability income for qualified women beginning 4 weeks before their initial due date, regardless of when they actually deliver.  The diagnosis used for this standard disability is simply “Pregnancy”.  We use other diagnoses for other conditions if a woman must leave work earlier than the 4-week mark.  Disability payments will continue for 6 weeks following a vaginal delivery, and 8 weeks following a cesarean section.

State Disability Instructions:

• Visit http://www.edd.ca.gov/ for more information and tutorials if you need.
  1. Disability forms can be filled out either online (the easy way), or
  2. You can request the form to be sent to you to be filled out by you then sent to us for completion and we will send the form in for you.
• The SDI Online process can be started by first Registering.  Click on the link below:  https://dia.edd.ca.gov/DIA/Pages/Public/ExternalUser/NewAccountRegOptions.aspx?UserCultureInfo=en-US
• Once the registration is complete, you may log in and complete your claim by visiting the SDI Online Login page
• Complete all of the information that you are allowed to enter- you can “pre-enter” all of this before you are off work to get your claim started, but the website will not allow a future date to be entered so your claim cannot be submitted until the day after your last day of work.
• Submit your claim on the day following your last day of work, even if that day happens fall on a weekend or holiday. Call our office and provide us with your Receipt # (R#) AND the date of your last day of work.  The R# is found on the top of your form, and this should be emailed to you as well.  Delaying submission will only delay you from receiving Disability Income.  The first 7 days from date of submission are considered a “grace period” and you will not be paid during this time.  After the grace period ends, you will be entitled to 60% of your normal pay.

Work Sponsored Disability Forms:

Some patients receive a disability package directly from their employers that falls outside of the California SDI.  If this applies to you, we would ask that you consult with your company’s HR department to request forms to apply for disability.  Please request that they help you fill these forms out as completely as possible, then bring them to us to complete and submit.  We try not to complete these forms too early as pregnancy can sometimes be unpredictable as far as when a woman will deliver, and we will have to know the exact date of your last day of working to complete the forms.  We will try to submit these about a month or so before your last day of work.  Please provide us with an ACCURATE FAX # or ADDRESS and CONTACT PERSON so that we can send this to the correct location.  WE CANNOT EMAIL FORMS, only fax or regular mail!

Personal Family Medical Leave (FMLA) / Baby bonding:

Should you choose to stay home for longer than what is allowed for pregnancy related disability, the state will send you the paperwork if eligible when your SDI benefits are almost completed. All that is required is that you fill out all of the requested information and provide either your baby’s  SS# or a copy of the birth certificate, then mail it in.   You do not need any information from our office and there is nothing for us to do.  They will again continue to pay you for another 6 weeks at 60% on the same debit card.  If you have any questions about this, please contact http://www.edd.ca.gov/

For Spouse/Family Members paperwork (FMLA):

If a spouse/family member is taking time off work to take care of you (the “patient” with a true medical need) then YES our office will fill out forms for them. If they are taking time off work for “baby bonding”, then our office will not fill out the forms (no medical need). You or your spouse will need to fill them out and send in. To obtain FMLA forms from the state please visit the same website and request for the FMLA/Baby Bonding forms be mailed to you.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND WE REQUIRE A $30 PAYMENT WHEN ANY FORM REQUIRING COMPLETION IS DROPPED OFF. THERE WILL BE A 7-10 BUSINESS DAY TURNAROUND FOR THIS SERVICE.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR PAPER WORK EXPEDITED (24-48 HOUR TURNAROUND), THERE WILL BE A $40 PROCESSING FEE