Welcome to the private psychiatric practice of Christopher J. Petro, M.D. Our goal is to provide you timely, respectful, quality psychiatric care in a pleasant, relaxing practice environment. What follows is some information and guidelines about our office and Dr. Petro’s practice.
LOCATION
During the covid pandemic emergency, we lost our lease at our former location (2828 E. Fort Lowell Rd. in Tucson). Since all appointments were already being conducted virtually at that time, we have continued appointments only by telemedicine. We anticipate having a new physical office location and in-person appointments by the fall of 2023.
APPOINTMENTS
Appointments are made with the doctor, usually at the end your scheduled appointment. If you are unable to keep your appointment, please inform us one workday in advance to avoid a missed appointment or late cancellation charge. For example, a 2:00 PM Monday appointment must be cancelled by 2:00 PM the prior Friday to not incur a late cancellation charge. You may leave a voicemail message about a canceling, making or changing an appointment at the office phone number, (520) 327-4300.
EMERGENCIES
If you have an immediate life and death emergency, call 911 or go promptly to an Emergency Room or Urgent Care Center for assistance. You may also call the Community Wide Crisis line at (520) 622-6000 or (800) 796-6762. Dr. Petro will return calls as soon as possible. Please be sure our office has your current home, cell and work phone numbers.
AFTER HOURS, WEEKENDS, HOLIDAYS
When Dr. Petro is away or on vacation, you may leave a message at the office phone number. Your call will be returned as soon as practical or possible. If your concern is urgent or an emergency, follow the procedure for emergencies noted above.
PRESCRIPTION AND REFILLS
Dr. Petro’s routine practice is to write prescriptions to cover your medication needs at least until your next appointment. There should be no need for additional refills if you keep scheduled appointments or reschedule promptly. If an exception occurs, please call your pharmacy to request a refill at least two working days before you will run out. They will contact the office for approval of a refill if necessary. Dr. Petro will provide refills for active patients with scheduled follow-up appointments only. Persons not seen in over three months are not considered active or current patients of Dr. Petro’s.
New medications or medication changes generally require appointments for full and adequate consideration, explanation and discussion. Schedule II controlled medication prescriptions can never have refills by Federal law. Instead, a new prescription for the next fill will be transmitted to your pharmacy, usually during an appointment. If Dr. Petro is away or on vacation he will make every effort in advance to ensure you have enough medication to last until he returns. If you run out of your medications before Dr. Petro’s return and there are no pre-authorized refills on your prescription, renewal prescriptions will generally only be available from an Emergency Room, an Urgent Care Center or from your primary care physician should they agree to prescribe them.
DOCTOR-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP
The doctor-patient relationship is a professional, cooperative partnership in which both parties have responsibilities to work toward agreed-upon goals. Dr. Petro becomes your psychiatrist (doctor) when a mutual agreement is made to work together after the initial evaluation is completed. Because of the nature of psychiatric treatment, you must be seen at least every three months to be considered a current and active patient.
RECORDS
There is there is a charge of 25 cents per page for copying, faxing, scanning, emailing or mailing records plus a $25 service charge and postage or shipping charges. A signed release of information from you is also required in advance.
EMAIL OR TEXT MESSAGES
Dr. Petro does not use or respond to email or text messages intended for psychiatric treatment purposes because of privacy concerns, reliability problems with electronic communications and practical time limitations. We ask you to call the office with any concerns or needs you may have. To lessen the chance of any communication errors, all urgent or emergency matters must be handled by phone.
PAYMENT
Payment in full is due at the time of service. Checks, credit cards or cash are accepted forms payments. Note that the office is not set up to make change for cash payments.
RETURNED CHECKS OR DENIED PAYMENTS
There is a $75 charge for each occurrence of a returned (insufficient funds) check, retroactively withdrawn, denied or reversed payment.
INSURANCE
Your health insurance policy is a contract between your insurer and you. We have no relationship with your insurer and we do not file claims with health insurance companies. On request, we can provide a superbill for you to use in connection with seeking reimbursement from your insurance company. Regardless of possible reimbursement, you are responsible for paying for all fees and charges at the time of service, including those for services not covered by your insurance plan—such as pharmacy interventions, telephone consultations, letters or reports. For additional information about your financial responsibility please refer to the Patient Financial Responsibility Agreement.
MISSED APPOINTMENTS
There is a charge for appointments missed, canceled, or changed with less than one workday’s advance notice. For example, a 2:00 PM Monday appointment must be cancelled by 2:00 PM the prior Friday to not incur a late cancellation charge. Remember your appointment is a block of time reserved only for you. Please notify us promptly if you cannot keep your appointment so the time can be opened for someone else.
REPORTS, EXTENDED CALLS, LETTERS
Due to the additional time and costs incurred, there will be a charge made for extended or complex phone calls, letters, reports, medication prior authorizations, form completion and so forth. There will also be additional charges for calls made on your behalf to other clinicians, pharmacies, insurance companies, agencies or others at your request.
SOLE PROPRIETOR
Dr. Petro practices as a solo medical doctor whose practice is fully independent of all organizations or agencies where he may provide psychiatric consultation or services. It is also completely separate and independent from that of others who share the office space.
HIPAA LAW
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law which improves patient privacy and protects privacy in internet transactions for billing and records. Because Dr. Petro does not do such electronic transactions or billing, signing HIPAA forms and notices is not required. Dr. Petro’s practice meets or exceeds HIPAA privacy standards.
QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions about any of this information, please don’t hesitate to ask!
Christopher J. Petro, MD 