Thank you for choosing Orthopaedic Surgery Services at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas located in the new Outpatient Building on Inwood Rd.  Directions to our office are available at the link - Directions to the Outpatient Building

This web page is intended to help answer some of the questions you may have about your health care and to provide information about Orthopaedic Services.  Our goal is to make your appointment as pleasant as possible.  If there is anything you need, please ask us — we are here to help.

Our Orthopaedic outpatient facility is designed to provide convenient, comprehensive care for referral patients with musculoskeletal disorders. The UT Southwestern Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is composed of a team of orthopaedic surgeons, each of whom has a sub-specialty interest.

Orthopaedic Faculty

Confidentiality

Any information about your current or past medical history, diagnosis, treatment, or prognosis is confidential information as protected by state statute.  

Copies of reports from the Medical records chart can be obtained by contacting the Medical Records Department at (214) 645-3030. A signed release is required from the patient to obtain medical records. Medical records will not be released directly from the Orthopaedic Surgery Department.

Office hours

The Orthopaedic Surgery Outpatient Clinic (1st Fl Outpatient Building) and the Spine Center (7th Fl Outpatient Building) is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m with the exception of some ajor holidays.  After office hours, patient calls are answered by an answering service.  The answering service will contact the doctor-on-call and give her or him your telephone number.  The doctor-on-call will phone you back and help you with your medical problem.

Medical emergencies

If the patient is experiencing a life-threatening emergency, for example chest pain or loss of consciousness:
 
CALL 911 OR GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM

Contacting the Orthopaedic Clinic - (214) 645-3300

Contacting the Spine Center - (214) 645-3360

To help direct your telephone calls to the appropriate areas within the clinic, we have implemented an automated telephone distribution system.  Whenever you are phoning the clinic, feel free to shortcut our recorded message by pressing the number below that corresponds with your need:

1. Appointment scheduling
2. Prescription refill requests
3. Nursing, medical questions, or urgent medical assistance
4. Billing, insurance, or HMO referrals, copies of medical records
5. Workers compensation information

Appointments

Each of the physicians on our team is a sub-specialist, who is trained to provide you with the best care available anywhere.  It may be necessary to refer you to another physician within the department whose specialty better meets your needs.

We make every effort to see patients in a timely manner; however, delays may occur. Please help us keep on schedule by arriving on time.  If you need to make information changes such as insurance, address, or phone number, please arrive 15 minutes early.

For your convenience, reminder calls are made several days prior to your visit.  Please notify the office as soon as there is a telephone number change so that we can update your record.

If it is necessary to cancel an appointment, please let the clinic know at least 24 hours in advance, if possible.  This is important for the courtesy of other patients who may be in need of urgent care.

To enhance your care and to complete a comprehensive medical history, some of the physicians require questionnaires to be completed prior to your initial visit.  If the forms have been mailed to you, please complete them at home and bring them to your next visit.

Please bring previous x-rays and x-ray reports, medical records, the name and address of your referring physician, names of current medications, and all insurance identifications to your appointment.  If your previous diagnostic reports are not available at this visit, it may be necessitate another appointment.

Prescriptions and refills

Prescriptions will be written for you at your visit and will be written in conjunction with your next expected appointment date.  If you need a prescription refill, please contact your pharmacy and have them fax a refill request to (214) 645-3323 (except for the Spine Center, whose fax number is (214) 645-3366).  If you feel you need a new prescription, one the doctor has not ordered for you before, please call (214) 645-3300.  Leave a message for the nurse specifying why you need a new prescription. Please allow 1 business day for a new prescription or refill to permit time for consultation with the appropriate physician.

Nurse calls

[For your safety, if you have a Medical Emergency, Please call 911.]

If you need to contact the Orthopaedic Surgery Clinic, please call (214) 645-3300.  For the Spine Center office, please call (214) 645-3360.  A staff member will take your call and send a message to the appropriate nurse who will return your call within 4 hours.  Please leave a valid phone number for call back.

Please Note: Calls received after 1: 00 PM may not be returned until the next business day.

X-rays, specialized tests, and surgery

X-rays may be taken during your office visit on the 1st Floor of the Outpatient building.  If you require more detailed studies (i.e., CT scan, MRI, etc.), they will be pre-certified with your insurance company and then scheduled by the scheduling personnel.  Once insurance authorizations have been obtained, you will be contacted and given the dates of the tests. Most outpatient diagnostic and surgical procedures require pre-certification and this process can take up to a week to be completed.

Inpatient surgery scheduling is made for you by our office through University Hospital St. Paul or Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Insurance

Many of our patients are enrolled in managed care plans (i.e., HMO's or PPO's), which require a primary care physician (PCP).  These insurance plans require referrals from the PCP to specialists.  Without the written referral, the specialist cannot see the patient.  Insurance companies will not back-date referrals for the patient's convenience.  It is the patient's responsibility to obtain the necessary referrals to be seen by the specialist.  Referrals are usually written for a specified number of visits.  It is also the patient's responsibility to keep in mind the number of visits authorized and to request further authorization as your visits expire.  Currently Accepted Insurance Plans

If you will be covered by Worker's Compensation, it is important to alert the scheduling staff.  Worker's Compensation insurance has to be authorized prior to the visit, just as with managed care.

Payments and fees

Normally, payment is due at the time of service.  This includes co-payments, co-insurance, deductibles, and balances not covered by insurance.  In an effort to expedite the exit process, we ask that you pay your co-pay amount prior to seeing the doctor.  This will reduce the congestion at the check-out area and allow a smooth exit.  We accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.

Billing

Billing is handled off-site.  For any questions regarding billing processes, please call (214) 645-0600.

Guest and patient services

We want to ensure that your visit to our campus is as convenient and comfortable as possible. Arrangements for wheelchairs or other special assistance can be made by calling a UT Southwestern Patient Ambassador at (214) 645-3395.

For those who live out of town, several hotels located near campus provide discounted rates for patients and their family members and complimentary transportation to and from campus.

Parking

Valet parking is provided to all patients for a fee of $5.00. Please remember to have your parking ticket validated before you leave the clinic.  Self-parking is also available across the street from the Outpatient Clinical Building (Self-Park W1) for $3.00.  Parking at the Outpatient Building

Direct access numbers

last edited: June 16, 2008