|
|
|
Telephone Consultations
Telephone consultations are available at Smith Ridge for clients who are unable to travel to our offices but would like to take advantage of our medical approach and treatment recommendations. If your dog or cat is ill, we obviously cannot diagnose by phone. But if you have already received a
firm diagnosis and are able to provide us with copies of relevant test results, we can, after reviewing the records and speaking with you, inform you about natural treatment options that have worked with animals having similar conditions.
Telephone consultations are billed in 10-minute increments. If you are consulting with us regarding a seriously ill animal, or any animal with a chronic condition that has not responded to other therapies, plan on a 60-minute consultation. You will be billed for
all time that the doctor spends on your case. This includes time for case review of medical records
prior to the telephone consultation (usually just 10 minutes), the telephone consultation itself, and any follow-up telephone calls that may be necessary.
To set-up a telephone consultation:
- Call our Client Service Desk and schedule an appointment time.
- We will then email, fax or mail the following forms to you: Client Registration, Informed Consent, Credit Card Pre-Authorization.
- Please mail or fax the above forms back to our offices
- At the same time, mail or fax all relevant medical records. These would include recent test results/reports from blood work, biopsies, imaging (X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan, MRI), etc. Please try to limit fax transmissions to a maximum of 10 pages. Test results are REQUIRED as we cannot and will not diagnose by telephone.
After your telephone consultation, you will receive a written form indicating the type of treatments we recommend, including dosage and administration instructions. The doctor's comments will also be included. If our doctor feels that prescription medication is also necessary for treatment, you will need to work with your local veterinarian, as we cannot prescribe prescription medication for
telephone consultation cases.
|
