Patients are seen by appointment Monday through Friday. If you are unable to keep a scheduled appointment, please call and let us know as soon as possible. A 24-hour notice is appreciated.

We will make every effort to honor your appointment time, however emergency situations occasionally arise and create delays. We appreciate your patience on these occasions.

Office Visit Reminders

• Bring all of your medicines (in the original containers)
• Bring your insurance cards
• Bring your copay or deductible at the time of the visit
• Bring current medical records including any recent diagnostic testing

It is the patient’s responsibility to be familiar with their policy benefits and to know if authorization or referral is required. Since most primary care offices and insurance carriers cannot process a referral in less than 7 days, please contact the primary care office well in advance of your appointment date here. Appointments will be rescheduled if required referrals are not received in the office by the time of your visit.

If you have a medical question, please feel free to call the office (727-544-1441) with non-emergency calls between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm when your records are readily available. Our nurses and staff are specially trained to answer your questions and pass information between you and your physician. We will make every attempt to return your call by the end of the day.

If you have an urgent medical need, you can call our office 24 hours a day. Our professional answering service will connect you with the physician on call for after-hours emergencies.

In the event of a life-threatening medical emergency, call emergency medical services at 911 immediately. DO NOT WAIT! Inform the emergency room staff that you are a patient of Bay Area Heart Center, and they will contact us.

If you need a refill of your medication, call your pharmacy and they will check with your physician regarding refill requirements. If you call the office for a refill, please have the phone number of your pharmacy ready so that we can expedite your request.

Routine prescriptions are filled within 24-48 hours of request by either the patient or pharmacy. Medications will not be refilled after hours, on weekends, or on holidays. Please plan ahead before you run out of your medication.

Bay Area Heart Center routinely reports the results of abnormal laboratory, ultrasound, and nuclear medicine services to our patients. If you do not hear from our office by phone or by mail within 14-21 days following your testing, please contact us regarding your results.

To request a copy of your medical records, call our office and ask to speak with the medical records department. To request records from your primary care doctor or another specialist, complete the request listed below.

We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information, provide you a description of our privacy practices, and to notify you following a breach of unsecured protected health information. We will abide by the terms of this notice.

Are you a new patient? For your convenience, we offer registration forms and information about what to bring to your first visit online through our patient portal.

Doctors at Bay Area Heart Center have hospital or surgery center affiliations with:

• St. Anthony’s Hospital
• Morton Plant Hospital
• Largo Medical Center
• Northside Hospital

Bay Area Heart Center is contracted with most insurance plans. For proper claims processing, we will require a current copy of your insurance card at the time of the visit, and your insurance benefits will be verified by our office staff.

Co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles, and self-pay payments are due at the time services are rendered. If you have any difficulty understanding your bill, we encourage you to contact our billing department at (727) 456-1111.

At Bay Area Heart Center we accept the following insurance plans; however, we do not accept all plan types from each provider.

• Aetna US Healthcare
• AvMed
• BCBS of Florida
• Care Plus
• Champ VA
• Cigna
• Coventry
• Evolutions
• Freedom Health
• GEHA
• GHI
• Humana
• Medicare
• Multiplan – Beech Street, PHCS, IHP
• Pinaellas County Health Services
• Preferred Care Partners
• Optimum Health
• Simply
• Tricare
• United
• USA Health Network
• Wellcare MCR
• WellMed

Please contact your insurance company or you may call our office at (727) 544-1441, ext 937 to find out if we accept your insurance plan.

For your convenience we accept cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.

If you have a question related to your bill or insurance, contact our billing specialists at (727) 544-1441, ext 936.