How could we response you
Q: I want to be a patient of Kwak Family Medicine, PC (KFM). What do I have to do?
A: Thank you, we’d love to have you join our practice. Please download the Registration Form from the Forms section, fill it out and bring it to your appointment. Please call your insurance carrier and ask them to assign KFM and Dr. Kwak as your primary care doctor and call our office number and schedule an appointment. If you can, obtaining your old medical record from your previous doctor and bringing them with you can be very helpful in getting to know you better.
Q: I’m on narcotic pain medicines or other scheduled substances. Will KFM take me as a new patient?
A: We’d love to have you as a patient but please do not expect Dr. Kwak to supply you with narcotic pain medications. Dr. Kwak believes that some patients suffer from genuine chronic pain and may require narcotics for relief from pain while other patients are addicted to them seeking to find pleasure or using them for non-medicinal purposes. Because these medications are dangerous substances if misused, he believes in using the services of pain management doctors or addiction specialist doctors to manage the narcotics.
Q: Is there a no-show or cancellation fee?
A: There isn’t any fee for cancellations that are made more than 24 hours before the appointment. However, for cancellations made less than 24 hours before the appointment or no-shows, there is a $30 service fee.
Q: Do you take walk-ins?
A: There are two kinds of appointments. Patients will be allowed to book appointments in advance to accommodate for their busy schedules. We also recognize that some illnesses occur without advance notice and require urgent evaluation. For this reason we make available same-day appointments each day so patients can be seen on the day they call. We’ll try our best to accommodate walk-in patients but every effort will be made to serve first the patients who have appointments.
Q: Does Dr. Kwak do home visits or nursing home visits? Does he see patients in the hospitals?
A: No, at present there is no plan for Dr. Kwak to do home visits or nursing home visits. Dr. Kwak does not do any inpatient (hospital) work and is strictly an outpatient physician. If one of Dr. Kwak’s patients becomes admitted to a local hospital, the patient should identify himself/herself as a patient of Kwak Family Medicine and they will be then assigned to a hospitalist doctor who will send the hospital records to our practice upon discharge. Most local hospitals in the area are well acquainted with Dr. Kwak.
Q: How long are the office visits generally?
A: Most office visits are 15 minutes long – these include same-day sick visits and follow-up visits for medical problems or medication management. New patients to the practice or physical exams for adults are generally 30 minutes long. Pediatric well visits are generally 15 minutes. Exceptions are possible depending on the circumstances.
Q: Will I wait long at Dr. Kwak’s office like the other doctors?
A: One of the most challenging aspects of today’s family medicine for busy family doctors like Dr. Kwak is being on time with patient appointments. Dr. Kwak is very time-sensitive and believes that busy patients should not wait an hour to see their doctor. There are several problems that challenge this ideal. Late patient-arrivals are a big cause. When a patient arrives to the office later than the appointment time, the doctor will fall behind his schedule for all subsequent patients. Because there is often paper work (forms, payments or insurance issues) that needs to be addressed before the visit, it is strongly recommended that patients arrive at the office 15 minutes in advance. Another big cause of doctor tardiness is the patient’s unrealistic expectations that “all of their medical issues be addressed at that particular visit.” Because some patients are on many medications and have many medical problems, addressing all their problems requires more than the typical 15 minute time slot for an average appointment. For this reason, Dr. Kwak believes in addressing one or two high-priority issues and then asking the patients to return at another time to address the other issues. This will help him stay on schedule so you and your fellow patients don’t have to wait for hours. Of course there is always the possibility that a 15 minute visit is not enough time to address the complexities of your problem. Dr. Kwak well understands this and will accommodate your special situation.
Q: Are there enough parking lots?
A: Yes, there are plenty of parking lots and there are handicap parking spots. KFM office is handicap accessible and the bathroom is also handicap friendly.
Q: Does KFM accept cash payment? What other forms of payment do you accept?
A: Yes, we accept cash as well as all major credit cards and checks. It is expected that your payment for the visit is completed at the time of your visit. It is our sincere desire not to have to use a collection agency to receive the payment for our services.
Q: If I refer a family or friend to your practice will there be a reward for me?
A: There won’t be any monetary reward for your referrals but your referrals are considered the highest compliments that our patients can give us. We will do our very best to serve your loved ones with the highest care.
Q: What will happen if I need to reach Dr. Kwak when the office is closed?
A: Out of respect for Dr. Kwak’s privacy, we ask that non-urgent medical issues such as prescription refill requests wait until the following office hours. But if you have a true medical need, you can reach Dr. Kwak by calling the office and following the directions to reach him.
Q: I’m too busy to come in to the office. Can he just “call in something” for me if I call?
A: During office hours, it is expected that the patients make an appointment to be seen. What a patient may think is a “simple” problem is often more complicated when a prescription medication is involved. Because diagnosing your problem accurately is of his utmost concern, Dr. Kwak asks for your consideration to reduce the misdiagnosis possibility by allowing him to examine you. Asking for “antibiotics” over the phone will not be honored. Telephone consultations for new problems will not be done except for after-hour emergency calls for established patients. Patients will be asked to make an appointment for their medication renewals if it has been over a year since their last visit, and possibly sooner if the medications belong to certain classes of drugs (such as diabetic, hypertensive or antidepressants) that require more frequent observations as per Dr. Kwak’s recommendations. It is in the plans for KFM to make available “internet consultations” for those established patients who are unable to come in to the office but must be seen, at a fee.
Q: Does Dr. Kwak treat psychiatric conditions?
A: Because of the growing number of patients who suffer from mood conditions and the shortage of mental healthcare providers, a significant portion of the patients with various mood disorders are managed by primary care physicians. Dr. Kwak has seen many patients with mood disorders and is capable of diagnosing those with this condition. Dr. Kwak does not treat certain psychiatric conditions such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia due to the seriousness of these disorders however, he will work closely with psychiatrists to help treat these conditions.