FAQ's

• If you think you are having a life-threatening emergency, call 911.
• If you have not yet been seen as a patient at Austin Surgeons and your condition is not life-threatening, call your primary care physician or proceed to an urgent care clinic or an emergency room for evaluation.
• If you are an established patient with Austin Surgeons and your condition is not life-threatening, call the office at . During normal business hours, our staff will assist you. For emergencies outside of normal business hours, our answering service will notify the doctor on call.

You can contact our office in the following ways:

Phone:

Email: info@austinsurgeons.net

Patient Portal (for established patients only)

We respond to messages left by voicemail, by email, or through the portal within one business day.

• Scheduling or canceling an appointment.
• General questions about your appointment (time, date, what to bring, what to expect).
• Questions about your insurance (co-pay, deductible, co-insurance, in-network vs. out-of-network, etc.).
• Assistance with the Patient Portal.

• Questions about upcoming appointments/procedures.
• Scheduling/rescheduling your surgery or procedure.
• General questions about the surgical facilities.
• Your financial responsibility and what your insurance plan will cover for your surgery.
• Details about your surgery cost estimate.
• Pre-operative instructions.
• General questions about your post-operative care.

• Questions about your account balance
• Questions regarding how your insurance covered your services.

Austin Surgeons will primarily contact you by phone. If you let us know your preferred method of contact, we will do our best to accommodate your request.

To make an appointment, call the office at or schedule online through our Patient Portal.

• When you make your first appointment, you will receive an email allowing you to set up access to your Patient Portal.
• Please log in to the portal and complete the Medical History and Patient Contact Information forms prior to your appointment.
• Click on the “Forms” tab to access these forms. If you are unable to complete the forms prior to your appointment, please arrive 20 minutes early so you can complete the forms in the waiting room.
• If you need help with the portal, please contact our office at , press option 3, and select your doctor.

Please bring the following documents to your first appointment:

• Driver’s License or a valid picture ID
• Insurance card(s)
• Medical History
• Patient Contact Information
• Authorization to Disclose Health Information (if instructed by office personnel)
• Referral letter/number (if required)
• Applicable imaging studies (x-ray, mammogram, ultrasound, CT, MRI) on a CD, if not done at ARA Diagnostic Imaging.
• Lab results
• Other test results pertaining to your diagnosis
• Relevant records from your referring doctor or emergency room visit

Please be sure to provide all insurance cards. Even if your insurance plan hasn’t changed, our staff must verify that we have the most current information on file to avoid billing problems.

You do not need to fast prior to your appointment unless you are being seen for a condition that might lead to emergency surgery, such as appendicitis. If you are unsure, please ask when you schedule your appointment.

• Please arrive 10 minutes prior to your appointment.
• If you have not completed your Medical History and Patient Contact Information forms, please arrive 20 minutes prior to your appointment.

• Your initial office appointment is for a consultation with your surgeon. During the consultation, your surgeon may make a recommendation for surgery, which will usually be scheduled for a later date.
• Most surgeries are performed at a hospital or an ambulatory surgery center.
• Some minor procedures can be done in the office.
• Only in certain situations will a procedure be done at the time of the initial visit.

We do not draw blood or take x-rays in our office. Labs and x-rays will be done at an outside facility such as Clinical Pathology Labs (CPL) or ARA Diagnostic Imaging.

The Patient Portal allows you to complete forms, schedule appointments, view results placed in the portal, and send and receive messages to Austin Surgeons staff. 

After you register as a new patient, you will receive an email link to access the portal.

If you are having difficulty accessing the portal, please contact our office for assistance by calling , and press option 3.

• Your surgeon’s medical assistant (MA) will schedule your surgery.
• Scheduling may occur during your initial appointment, or at a later time. The MA will contact you by phone or email with additional details.

Our surgeons perform surgeries in certain hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. The facility will be determined when your surgery is scheduled. Visit the Surgical Facilities page for more information.

• The timing of your surgery can vary. In general, non-urgent or “elective” surgeries may be scheduled one to four weeks after your initial consultation.
• If further testing is required, surgery will be scheduled after the testing is complete.
• If you have an urgent medical condition, surgery may be performed the same day or the next day.

• If your surgery is scheduled more than 90 days after your office visit, you will be asked to come in for a pre-op appointment.
• For patients with more complex medical problems, if your surgery is more than 30 days after your office visit, you will be asked to come in for a pre-op appointment.

Some insurance plans require authorization prior to surgery. Your Medical Assistant will request authorization if necessary.

• To cancel or reschedule surgery, please call our office at least 72 hours before the time of surgery.
• Cancelling within 72 hours of the time of your surgery may result in a cancellation fee.

• We stay up to date & follow CDC guidelines for healthcare professionals.
• Staff and patients are required to wear masks in patient care areas.
• We conduct patient visits via telemedicine when appropriate.
• We maintain policies and practices for infection control.
• We frequently disinfect patient care and high traffic areas.
• We screen for COVID-19 symptoms and temperature at check-in.

If you are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, we ask that you reschedule your appointment.

• You will pay for copays, deductibles, and coinsurances according to your insurance policy until you have reached your Out-of-Pocket maximum.
• You will pay the estimated patient responsibility for your surgery, which is based on our contracted rates with your insurance carrier. This is only for your surgeon’s fee and does not include other providers involved in your surgery.

You may also receive bills from the facility (hospital or surgery center), anesthesiologist, lab, radiology, surgical assistant, or others.

The burden of increasing collection efforts has made it necessary to collect the estimated patient responsibility prior to services being performed.

In most cases you can provide your payment receipt from Austin Surgeons to the facility, and they will take that information into consideration when calculating your facility cost.

Any over-payment will be refunded once the claim has been processed by your insurance company. A refund check will be mailed to you. f you think a refund is due, feel free to call our billing department to discuss your account.

You will be responsible for copays, coinsurance, and deductibles as required by your insurance company. This is only for your surgeon’s fee and does not include other providers involved in your surgery.

You may also receive bills from the facility (hospital or surgery center), anesthesiologist, lab, radiology, surgical assistant, or others.

Payment for office visits and procedures is due at the time of service. Payment for surgery is due once it has been scheduled.

A payment plan may be available in some circumstances.

Your payment is determined by your insurance policy.

Payment is determined using self-pay rates and depends on the services rendered.