Office Information

A physician is always available by calling (717) 233-6791. After regular office hours you will be connected to our answering service. They will be in contact with us and a physician will return your call within 20 minutes. If your call is not returned, please try again. Always remember to leave your telephone number. If the problem is life-threatening, dial 911 for transportation to the nearest emergency room.

We see all patients on an appointment basis. The reason for your visit will determine how soon you need to be seen and how much time to allow for your visit. Please schedule a physical/preventative care visit at least two months in advance. If you are unable to keep an appointment, please notify us 24 hours prior to your appointment. Our after-hours office answering system allows you to leave an appointment cancellation message when our office is closed.

Appointment Hours:

Monday - Friday:  7:30am - 4:30pm

Watkin, Freshman & Nipple Associates would like to clarify the utilization of our office in emergency situations. While we understand your primary care provider (PCP) may know you best, there are some symptoms that can change rapidly and could represent potentially life-threatening emergencies.

In many of these situations, timing is critical. You may require immediate attention to prevent progressive damage to vital organs. The emergency department of the nearest hospital is where this care is best provided.

These symptoms/situations may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Chest pain – possible symptom of a heart attack. Other symptoms of a heart attack may include chest pressure, like an elephant standing on your chest, pain down one or both arms, pain radiating up the neck, sweating, nausea.
• "Significant" shortness of breath or trouble breathing – possible sign of a problem with your heart or your lungs.
• Severe abdominal pain – may require "stat" blood work, special diagnostic tests, or evaluation by a surgeon.
• Loss of movement or sensation in an arm or leg: difficult speaking – possible signs of a stroke.
• Severe bleeding/hemorrhage – requires immediate care to control the bleeding; surgery may be required.
• Allergic reaction/Anaphylaxis – swelling of the mouth, tongue or throat, difficulty swallowing, trouble breathing or feeling faint
• Certain traumatic injuries if concern about fracture or serious laceration which may require specialty care.

If you are uncertain of how to manage a particular situation, please do not hesitate to call our office. However, do not delay accessing emergency services while awaiting recommendations or a return call from our office.

Most importantly, if a life-threatening emergency arises, please go immediately to the nearest emergency department or call 911.

• Aetna/US Healthcare - Aetna Golden Choice
• Blue Shield (Premier Blue, Blue Chip, POS) FreedomBlue
• Capital Blue Cross/KHPC (all products including Medicare PPO)
• ChoiceCAre/Humana
• Cigna
• First Health (part of HealthAmerica effective 2/1/08)
• Geisinger Health Plan
• Great-West
• HealthAmerica (Health Assurance CCPPO, Health Assurance PPO, Hershey Managed Care/Health Style) Advantra Freedom - Medicare Advantage plan ** Medicare Advantra product
• Intergroup
• Medicare/Medicare Advantage PFFS Plans
• PHCS (Private Healthcare Systems)
• Prime Health Services
• PrimeSource Health Network
• Railroad Medicare
• Teamsters (Administered by HealthAmerica)
• Tricare/HealthNet Federal Services
• United Health Care/Oxford Health Plan - Not PAR with Empire UHC
• ++ Optional
  
  **Please refer to your individual insurance plan for Diagnostic & Lab Study coverage.
  
  NOTE:  Insurances subject to change without notice.

At Your Office Visit:
We want our patients to take the correct medication and the correct dose. To ensure this we strongly suggest you keep a written record of your medications and bring it with you to every visit.

• Name of the medication
• Strength/dose of the medication
• Frequency of taking the medication
• Quantity – do you need a supply for one month (30-40 days), 90 day supply, 100 pills or some other need – for example, 14 until mail order arrives?
• Number of refills requested. For most routine medications our goal will be to be given a year supply of the medication to avoid having to handle refill requests more often. We will not refill medications for patients who have not been keeping regular appointments (at least one visit per year for the problem)
• Name and phone number of your pharmacy. Shopping at one pharmacy is safer; many pharmacies run a drug interaction program at every refill – this is only as good as the list of drugs is complete (this includes herbs and over-the-counter medications).

Give the list of medications for which you need refills to the nurse as you enter the exam room.

We want you to obtain all refills at your regular office visit. This is most efficient for you and for us.

Check all your bottles for refills needed BEFORE your next regularly scheduled office visit (you know how often your physician usually sees you; make sure you will have refills to last that long). If you are unsure, you can bring your bottles of medications and check at each office visit.

It is our strict policy NEVER to refill controlled substances (narcotics, etc) after-hours or on weekends. Plan ahead! Your regular provider will refill all controlled substances.

In order to process each patient referral, we must have at least three working days notice. This will ensure there is adequate time for your physician to review your chart and the referral department to prepare your referral. It is the policy of both your insurance company and this office that paper referrals be hand carried to the specialist. Advance notification and timely pick-up of your referral form will maximize the efficiency of the referral process.

Please remember that most insurance companies require us to authorize all CT and MRI studies. Please ensure these authorizations have been obtained by the office who ordered your diagnostic study.

The referral desk is happy to answer any questions or assist you in any way between the hours of 9:00am and 4:00pm Monday, Wednesday & Friday.

Our receptionists have been trained to ask the nature of your problem when you call. They will discuss your questions with one of the providers and relay the answers and instructions to you. Unless there is an emergency, our staff will not interrupt the providers while they are seeing patients.

ROUTINE calls for non-urgent scheduling, prescription refills, billing department, and referral department should be made between 9:00am -4:30pm Monday through Friday. *Please be aware Monday morning is a high-volume call day. If it is appropriate to call later in the week, please do so.

WEEKEND phone calls should be of an URGENT/EMERGENCY nature which cannot wait until Monday morning.