Office Info

Important information on appointments, emergencies, Saturday Clinic, lab and nurse/clinical visits, and billing questions.

Appointments

IMPORTANT! Due to the COVID-19 situation, our office hours have changed. The Health Park office is open 8am-5pm, while the East Paris office is open 7:30am-5:30pm. Lab hours remain the same but please check our Facebook page for the latest information.

Now offering telemedicine: See your doctor online! Our doctors are now offering virtual video visits called TeleHealth via BlueJeans. You can download instructions here (pdf).

Patients are seen by doctors on a scheduled basis, with a number of open appointments for urgent care. Our Nurse Practitioners have open access and are available to see you if an urgent need arises. Because of the volume of urgent problems that arise, non-urgent and routine examinations often are scheduled several weeks in advance. Please plan ahead if you want to schedule a particular date. Our East Paris office hours are 7:30 AM – 5:30 PM Monday through Friday. Our HealthPark location is open from 7:30 AM – 5:00 PM Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with hours on Wednesday from 7:30 AM to 7:00 PM.

Our East Paris lab is open for walk-ins Monday-Friday 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Appointments can be scheduled for 7:30AM and 7:45AM. Our HealthPark Lab is open for walk-ins from Monday-Thursday 8:00AM-3:45PM, and Friday from 8-11:30AM.

If you are unable to keep your appointment or are going to be late, please call us as soon as possible. This courtesy enables us better to serve all our patients. We may charge for missed appointments at our discretion, unless canceled at least 24 hours in advance. The rate is $25.00 for a missed office visit and $50.00 for a missed physical. Please help us to serve you better by keeping your appointments. We respect your busy schedules, so we try to be punctual with patient appointments. However, emergencies do occur. Please feel free to check with our staff to see if we are experiencing any delays due to emergencies. In such an event, we will offer you the opportunity to reschedule your appointment at the earliest available time.

Ways to request an appointment

Call 616-459-3158 or fax 616-988-0071, or use our patient portal.

Emergencies

Our office provides for physician availability 24 hours a day, every day of the year. However, after office hours, the physicians are not routinely at the office, hospital or emergency facility and are, therefore, to be called for EMERGENCIES only. Emergency availability is provided as a medical necessity in addition to normal work hours.

AT ALL TIMES, CALL (616) 459-3158. The answering service takes your call and pages your phone number to the doctor available. A call will be returned to you as soon as possible. In the event of a severe medical emergency, seek immediate attention at an emergency facility. Non-emergent calls after hours may result in a charge.

Saturday Clinic – Adult Patients only

In an effort to provide extended hours and be available for urgent care needs on Saturdays, we are open to our established adult patients 9am-1pm at our East Paris location only. Always remember to call our main number 616-459-3158, as we have a physician on call 24 hours 7 days a week. Unless it is a life threatening emergency, call us first as there is more out of pocket expense to you when visiting an urgent care center or emergency room.

Nurse/Clinical Visits

Blood pressure checks, flu shots, allergy and other injections that can be provided by the clinical staff Monday – Friday 8:20 AM – 12:20 PM and 1:20 PM – 4:20 PM. Call 616-459-3158 to schedule your appointment before you come to the office.

Fees and Billing

Our billing department takes billing and insurance calls from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

We prefer not to send bills because the cost of paperwork and postage can affect the fees we charge. You may receive money from the insurance companies for non-assignment charges and therefore, we request your payment at the time of service. We accept cash, check, Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express for payments.

It is your responsibility to know what services your insurance plan and policy covers, i.e. which laboratories, procedures, treatments, immunizations, radiologists and doctors your insurance will accept. Be sure to arrive 10 minutes prior to your appointment to allow time to complete necessary forms.

IMPORTANT FINANCIAL NOTICE: This office charges a fee of $25.00 for all checks returned for insufficient funds.

Medicare:

All the physicians in our office are participating with Medicare and will accept Medicare’s APPROVED amount as payment in full for COVERED benefits. You will be responsible for the 20% co-pay, deductible or uncovered benefits not reimbursed by Medicare. If you have supplemental insurance, please be sure the business office has the proper information for billing.

Medicare Advantage Plans:

GVMS participates with the following Medicare Advantage Plans, as well as most Fee For Services plans that say PFFS. There are many other Medicare Advantage plans some of which we do participate with and some we do not. If you are looking at changing insurance plans, please call the business office to verify that your physician participates with that plan.

Medicare Plus Blue PPO
Priority Health Medicare
Blue Care Network Medicare

Medicaid:

We see Medicaid patients by pre-authorized referral for our established patients and you must have proof of coverage for each visit. Since Medicaid is usually secondary insurance, if you have other coverage, please be sure to inform the business office so they may bill accordingly. All co-pays are payable at the time of the visit.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (traditional):

We are participating with BCBSM and will accept their payment for approved amounts of covered benefits. You will be responsible for any amounts not covered, but approved by BCBSM.

HMO’s/PPO’s:

If you are a member of an HMO or PPO, please inform us when making your appointment to make sure the physician participates with your program. If your visit is a referral, make sure it is pre-authorized by your primary physician. All co-pays are payable at the time of the visit. If you would like to become a patient of GVMS but are not certain if we participate with your plan, contact your insurer or feel free to call and check with us.

Other Insurance:

When you pay for your office services following your appointment, you will receive an itemized statement with the necessary information for you to obtain reimbursement from your insurance company if it is a covered benefit.

Past Due Accounts:

If there are extenuating circumstances, and you need to make special arrangements with us for payment of your account, please discuss this with us. If your account is past due and there is not a valid reason for payment delay, appropriate action will be taken.

Laboratory

Grand Valley Medical Specialists has two laboratories which can process most testing ordered by our physicians.

Some insurance companies have contracts with independent laboratories and do not, therefore, pay for testing done in our office lab. Please check with your carrier before having laboratory work done in our office.