Appointments
Please arrive a few minutes early for your appointment
to facilitate registration. Also, please bring all medications,
in their original prescription container, with you to your
appointment.
Every effort is made to keep scheduled appointment times.
Occasionally, however, a hospital emergency might cause a
delay. If this happens, we will inform you and offer you an
alternate appointment if necessary.
As part of our total commitment to your health care, our
physicians work on a rotating after-hours, weekend and holiday
schedule. In case of an after-hours emergency, you may call
the office and the on-call physician will address your needs.
Your First Appointment
Cardiology patients will receive a new patient questionnaire
in the mail, which we request that you complete and bring
with you to your first appointment (Click
to download the new patient questionnaire now). The questionnaire
requests your demographic and insurance information as well
as medical history.
For your first appointment, please bring the following:
- Completed questionnaire
- Current insurance cards
- Medications you are taking.
Diagnostic Services
We provide a full complement of diagnostic services in
our offices, including exercise stress testing, anticoagulant
(Coumadin) clinic, echocardiography, nuclear cardiology, heart
catheterizations, and vascular studies.
Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants
In addition to our physicians, we have a full staff of
nurse practitioners and physician assistants—medical
professionals with advanced training. Your physician may be
assisted in the management of your cardiac diagnostic and
treatment programs by one of these medical professionals.
Research
Cardiology Consultants is committed to research for the
prevention of heart disease. Physicians stay on the cutting
edge of their specialty by participating in a wide variety
of research projects, including new drug studies as well as
other studies such as new pacemakers and surgical techniques.
Participation by patients in these studies is voluntary. The
sponsoring agency compensates Cardiology Consultants to perform
these studies.
Appointment Reminders
Patients will receive an automated reminder via phone.
This pre-recorded voice will remind you of the details of
your appointment in advance.
To Schedule an Appointment
To schedule an appointment, please call the office where
you wish to be seen.
Sacred Heart Hospital Office: (850) 857-1700
Out-of-town Patients: (800) 243-2783
Baptist Hospital Office and Nine Mile Road Office: (850) 444-1717
Out-of-town Patients: (888) 443-2783
Gulf Breeze Office: (850) 932-1775
Out-of-town Patients: (888) 443-2783
Missed Appointments
Missed appointments are one of the biggest contributors
to the inefficient operation of any medical office. Patients
who miss their appointments unproductively consume the scarce
resource of the physician’s time while other patients
must wait for appointments. In respect for your fellow patients,
please notify the office at least 24 hours in advance if you
will not be able to keep your appointment. Failure to keep
an appointment without 24-hour notice may result in a service
charge.
Walk-in Patients
As a courtesy to your fellow patients, you must have an
appointment to see your physician. If you are experiencing
symptoms, please call the office and ask to speak with a nurse
prior to going to an Emergency Room. However, if your situation
is acute, call 911 or go to the nearest Emergency Room.
Most walk-in services are billable to your insurance and
you may incur a charge for these services. Any co-payments
or co-insurance will be due from you at the time of the service.
Administrative Services
If you have forms that need to be completed by your doctor,
please allow 7 to 10 days for completion.
Prescription Refills
We recommend that you call your pharmacist for your refills
a week in advance. Your pharmacist will coordinate your refill
request with our office. For written prescriptions, please
call the office. Please allow 48 hours for refills or written
prescriptions to be picked up.
Lab and Test Results
Though most diagnostic centers have results available
to your physician within 24 to 48 hours, your physician must
review the results before the information can be released
to you. We will have the results available to you within 7
to 10 business days of when the test was performed. In most
cases, the physician will request that a nurse or medical
assistant give you your results.
Obtaining Results Through Automated Results Retrieval
System (Televox)
Patients seen in our Sacred Heart office may obtain their
results through the Televox system. To use this system, call
857-1767. An automated voice will prompt you to enter your
PIN number, which you receive at the time of your test. If
your test results are in the system, you will receive your
results immediately. If your results are not in the system
yet, it will either not provide any results or state that
you have entered an invalid number. The results are loaded
in the system within 7 to 10 business days of when the test
was performed. If this amount of time has passed and your
results are not in the system, please call the main number,
857-1700, and a nurse or medical assistant will be able to
assist you.
Social Work
In an effort to meet your needs, we have professional
social workers to provide assistance and information in the
following areas:
- Prescription assistance program
- Individual and family counseling
- Social Security disability, Supplemental Income, Medicaid
and Medicare Programs
- Living wills, health care surrogates and durable power
of attorney.
- Community resources
In Case of Emergency
Call 911 or go immediately to the closest emergency room.
The hospital will contact our physician on call. The symptoms
of a heart attack vary, but the usual warning signs are:
- Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in
the center of the chest for two minutes or more.
- Pain spreading to the shoulders, neck, jaw, arms or back.
- Dizziness, fainting, sweating, nausea and/or shortness
of breath.
