Emergencies
The Park Medical physicians are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They rotate coverage on weekends, holidays, and vacations. The covering physician can be contacted by calling your physician's office number (see below).

In the event of an emergency, call 911 if you feel that your condition is life threatening. Then go immediately to the nearest hospital. Please notify our office promptly to facilitate appropriate arrangements.

If you believe your situation is urgent, but not life threatening, you should call your doctor's office at any time - day or night. If the phone is answered by our answering service, state that there is an emergency or urgent matter and your doctor will be contacted promptly.

Insurance

The physicians of Park Medical Associates participate with EHP (as Preferred Providers), Cigna and CareFirst. The Park Medical physicians do not participate with any other HMO, Medicare Advantage plan or commercial insurance company. Park Medical Laboratory is a Participating Provider with Medicare, EHP, Cigna and CareFirst (BlueCross BlueShield) for blood work, urine and stool evaluation. Specialized testing services sent to an outside reference lab will be billed separately by that testing facility.

Medicare “Non-Par” Status

The Physicians of Park Medical are credentialed through Medicare and are authorized to treat Medicare patients. However, they do not accept Medicare assignment. Our staff will submit all claims to Medicare. If your secondary insurance information is on file with Medicare, they will automatically send your claim to your secondary (Medi-Gap) insurance carrier. This is known as a crossover agreement.

Medicare will send payment directly to the patient, not to the provider. Your secondary insurance (if applicable) will send payment either to the patient or to the provider. You will receive a bill from Park Medical for the full amount. The Medicare and secondary insurance payments may not cover the full amount of the charge. We bill what are called Limiting Charges. A Limiting Charge is 115% of the Medicare allowable charge. In most cases, Medicare will pay the patient 80% of the allowable, and the secondary will pay 20% of the allowable, leaving a balance of 15% of the charge for which you will not be reimbursed. This can be thought of as similar to a co-pay or co-insurance. If you want to know for sure whether or not the secondary insurance carrier will reimburse the full amount up to the Limiting Charge, contact your secondary insurer. Please note: all lab blood work is covered in full by Medicare.

Billing
The staff at Park Medical will submit all charges to the insurance company or Medicare. If encountering financial difficulties, the patient should let the doctor or patient service coordinator know. We are pleased to discuss any questions you have concerning health insurance and payment plans. For billing questions, please call (410) 583-7102; the billing department fax number is 410-583-7103.

Laboratory & Examination Preparation
Park Medical Laboratory is conveniently located within our medical suite. The laboratory is CLIA and state-licensed and staffed by certified technologists under the direction of a board-certified clinical pathologist.

Park Medical Laboratory is a Participating Provider with Medicare and CareFirst for blood work and stool evaluation. Laboratory services are billed separately from physician services. Specialized testing services sent to an outside reference lab will be billed separately by that testing facility.

Laboratory hours are Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. except for the last Friday of the month when the lab opens at 8:30 a.m. If you anticipate needing blood tests for blood sugar (glucose), lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides), or electrolytes, fast for 12 hours, consuming nothing but black coffee, tea, water, and usual medications. However, if you are taking insulin, please check with your physician.

For questions about the laboratory, please call (410) 583-7133. The labaratory fax number is (410) 583-7176.

Prescription Refils
Where possible, have your pharmacy call your physician's office between 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday to refill prescriptions. If you are using a new pharmacy, or the prescription is new, call your physician's Patient Service Coordinator (secretary) during office hours.

24 Hour Pharmacies

To print a copy of the table of 24- hr. pharmacies, click here

Referrals
Referrals are provided for EHP and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Maryland Point Of Service (MPOS) insurance plans only.  To request a referral, please call (410) 583-7100 to speak to our REFERRAL COORDINATOR and leave your request with her.  If possible, please call at least a week in advance to request your referral.