Appointments & AdviceRegular HoursIf you are going to be late for an appointment or if you have to cancel, please call to notify us. In order to have a wide choice of dates and times, it may be necessary to call a few months in advance for routine physical exams. If you call for a same-day appointment, you will have the opportunity to talk to our triage nurse first to help you decide whether your problem can, perhaps, be handled over the p hone or whether you need to be seen by our medical staff at the office or the hospital. We discourage patients from walking into the office without an appointment because it is not fair to all of the people who have called and have scheduled time to be seen. Therefore, please call first for an appointment. Nights & WeekendsThere is an Internist and Pediatrician on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We do not schedule routine appointment on nights or weekends. Please call the regular telephone number (978-263-1131 or 978-263-0680) and the weekend staff or answering service will take your telephone number, identifying information and a message. The physician on-call will call you back. Please turn off your caller ID function when awaiting a return call. If for some reason you have trouble reaching us in an emergency, you may call the Emerson Hospital Emergency Room (978-287-3690) and they will help you. Telephone AdviceNurses are available Monday through Friday to answer your medical questions during the routine office hours of 8am- 5pm. The hours between 8am and 10am tend to be very busy; so, if your call is not urgent, you may have more success reaching us later. If you are acutely ill and are in need of medical assistance, do not delay. Call the office as soon as possible and state your problem briefly and clearly. It is not wise to wait until the end of the working day to seek medical assistance. We can usually organize your care much more efficiently early in the day rather than late in the day because we have lab, x-ray and specialists immediately available to us. |
