NEW PATIENT APPOINTMENTS
A clinical referral is required from your primary care physician or referring specialist. The purpose of this referral is to obtain your medical history for review and assessment and for continuity of care with your care team.
Contact your PCP for a full work up to see a specialist.
We need the following prior to scheduling an appointment with Dr. Counelis:
- Referral with diagnosis stating why need/request to be seen by neurosurgery.
- Chart notes from visit with PCP requesting referral.
- Referral authorization from insurance company.
- Recent diagnostics (recent MRI, CT, X-Ray within 6 months of referral) PCP will decide which is appropriate. We need the diagnostic report faxed to us for MD to review and decide if you need to see neurosurgery.
- Diagnostic disc- required for appointment, cannot see/treat without (we will request facility to mail us the disc once MD approves referral).
- Dr. Counelis can only treat one problem at a time. Refer for only one diagnosis, discuss with PCP which is most bothersome.
Dr. Counelis reviews all incoming referrals, if authorized we will call you for an appointment. If referral denied, we respond to the referring physician stating why.
New patient referrals take 2-4 weeks to process due to all requirements/protocols above.
SECOND OPINION REQUESTS
- Contact PCP for a second opinion referral/work up.
- Second opinion referral
- First opinion provider chart notes
- Recent diagnostics within 6 months we need the report faxed to us
Dr. Counelis will review the referral and a team member will get back to you with a response/appointment.
CONTRA COSTA HEALTH PLAN PATIENTS
Your referral comes from your primary care physician office/ care coordinator. Please contact your PCP to confirm they faxed us the following:
- Referral from referring physician with diagnosis (cannot be for pain, Dr. Counelis does not treat pain).
- Contra costa health plan authorized visits with referral number to insure currently active insurance.
- Recent diagnostics (within 6 months) PCP will decide which diagnostic is appropriate.
- Patient needs to contact facility imaging was obtained to mail us the disc, this will speed up the process. It’s important to stay proactive during the referral process, we almost always receive incomplete referrals from county.
- Please do not call the office requesting an appointment after receiving the authorization from your insurance. We cannot schedule if Dr. Counelis has not reviewed/approved referral and if we do not have all the above.
- After Dr. Counelis reviews, we will call you for an appointment. If denied, we will respond via fax to your care coordinator stating why.
FOR URGENT REFERRALS
We respond to all referrals as soon as Dr. Counelis reviews. Please understand this may take a few days to a week for response due to MD trauma call schedule.
- We monitor urgent referrals based on diagnosis and schedule accordingly.
- Tumor patients will always have priority- scheduled within a week.
FOR TRAUMA FOLLOW UP PATIENTS:
- If you had consult/surgery by Dr. Counelis during his trauma call week at John Muir hospital in Walnut Creek then the follow up instructions were sent by MD and a team member will get in touch with you shortly.
- If your insurance is out of network but you had emergent surgery you are covered under the 90 day post op period.
FOR ED HOSPITAL FOLLOW UP PATIENTS:
If you did not see Dr. Counelis, but were referred by discharging physician at any hospital then we need the following:
- Confirm your insurance is in network
- Referral from your primary care physician
- Referring hospital/physician chart notes
- Recent diagnostics within 6 months (mri ct X-ray) this is usually ordered/obtained at the ED. You can contact the facility, if not John Muir and have them fax us the report.
PRIVATE PAY PATIENTS
- Referral is still required from your primary care physician
- recent diagnostics within 6 months
If we do not accept your insurance coverage or if you don't have medical insurance, there are private pay options for consultations, office visits, and surgical procedures.
Out of pocket/ cash pay prices for out of network patients due at the time of visit:
New patient consult/Second opinion 60 minutes $624.00
New patient comprehensive 80 minutes $809.00
Established patient follow up 20-30 minutes $326.00
Established patient follow up 30-40 minutes $477.00
*Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate self-referrals or walk-in patients
