Thank you for choosing Emerald Bay Center for Women's Health for your obstetric and gynecologic care. I am well aware that you could have gone elsewhere for your health care needs. I appreciate your confidence in choosing my practice. My staff and I will do our best to provide you with the highest quality medical care, delivered in the most compassionate manner. We promise to treat you with respect. We promise that your urgent questions will be answered promptly. For non-urgent issues like prescriptions refills, billing questions and lab results, we have implemented several software enhancements including LabCalls where you can call our special phone number and retrieve your lab results 24 hours per day, electronic medical records, voice mail and a secure e-mail system. Our office is open Monday - Thursday 8:30 am to 5:00 pm and on Fridays 8:30 am to 12:00 noon. For after-hours emergencies, please call (530) 542-4961 and the doctor on call (either from this practice or Tahoe Women's Care) will return your call.

I hate waiting and I know you do too, so we will do our best to ensure that you are seen within 15 minutes of your scheduled appointment. I do, however, deliver babies and cover the emergency room, which can lead to unavoidable delays. If I am running late for any reason, my staff will inform you promptly so you can decide if you'd like to wait or reschedule. For that reason, we ask that you give us a number where you can be reached during the day. If you are late, or your paperwork is not completed, we may need to reschedule your appointment so as not to inconvenience those women scheduled after you.

We accept many insurance plans and bill them for you. We send lab tests to Barton Hospital and to LabCorp, and pap smears to LabCorp; if your insurance requires the use of other facilities, you are responsible for letting us know this. We request that you are prepared to pay all co-pays at the time services are rendered -- after all, you don't go to the grocery store without your wallet! We are happy to arrange payment plans as well.

I want to give you the time and attention you need during your appointment. For that reason, I ask that you tell the receptionist if you have multiple concerns to address, so we can set the appropriate amount of time aside for you. And if you do need to reschedule your appointment, we appreciate 24 hours notice so we can offer your slot to someone on the waiting list.

Thank you again for choosing Emerald Bay Center for Women's Health. I look forward to meeting you and, I hope, building a lasting partnership in health.