COVID-19 Appointment Information and Procedure Updates
Get the latest updates for all appointments and procedures at Johns Hopkins.
COVID-19 Appointment Information from the Division of Rheumatology
For New Patients
In order for your care to be matched to an appointment with an expert in the field of your diagnosis, it is necessary to have your records available to our physician reviewers prior to scheduling an appointment. Therefore, we ask that you have your referral and medical records faxed to 410-367-2371. It is important to include the following: a referral from your current physician, any clinical notes, imaging reports (including x-rays and MRIs), lab results, other tests results as applicable (such as pulmonary function tests echocardiograms, pathology reports, EMG/NCS results), New Patient Demographics Form.
Once the review process has been completed, you will be contacted by one of our intake coordinators to assist with scheduling your appointment. You may also call the scheduling office at 443-997-1552 at any time to inquire as to the status of your record review.
For International patients, please contact Johns Hopkins International for initial and return patient appointments.
Unfortunately, our physicians cannot speak with or give medical advice to patients that are not currently under our care.
On the day of your scheduled appointment, it is important to:
- Arrive at least 30 minutes before your appointment to allow time for registration
- Bring your insurance card
- Bring a photo I.D.
- Bring your co-payment
- Bring a copy of name and address of all persons/doctors who would like to get copies of your visit materials
- Bring the following medical records if not already sent:
- All medical records relevant to your diagnosis (including rheumatology records, discharge summaries)
- List of all current medications (include all over-the-counter medications)
- Recent laboratory results
- Any imaging results (i.e., x-rays, ultrasounds, etc.)
- Pulmonary function tests (bring all test results)
- Echocardiogram (bring all test results)
- High resolution CT scan of lung (bring written report and copy of actual scan on CD-ROM disc)
To be evaluated at the Myositis Center, you often do not need specialized testing. However, if already done, please provide:
- Recent laboratory results – especially results from blood tests for CPK and/or aldolase
- Any MRI films of your muscle (please bring original films and report).
- The original pathology slides and report from a muscle biopsy. It is particularly important that we have the actual muscle biopsy slides as this may be crucial for making the correct diagnosis.
Once you receive your appoint confirmation, plan to arrive 30 minutes ahead of time for registration and vital signs. Remember to bring a copy of your insurance card(s) to the appointment. New patients should plan on spending the entire day at the Center.
For Returning Patients
- Return appointments for the Myositis Center can be made by calling (410) 550-6962.
- Please arrive 15 minutes before your appointment.
- You may also be asked to complete some additional forms to allow us to bill your insurance, to review your health, and help us know how you have been doing since your last visit.
- Bring a copy of your insurance cards.
Rescheduling Appointments and Cancellations
We schedule our appointments weeks in advance and are usually unable to reschedule on short notice. If you must reschedule, call us at 410-550-6962 as soon as possible. This will allow us to schedule another patient who is waiting to be seen.
Late, Canceled and No Show Appointments
Late: The appointment time scheduled for you is time specifically allotted for your visit. If you are running late for an appointment, please call our scheduling office. Please note if you are more than 15 minutes late for your scheduled appointment time, we may not be able to accommodate your visit.
Canceled / No Show: If you are unable to keep your appointment we require a minimum of 24 hours’ notice. If you repeatedly do not provide our office with 24 hours’ notice, you may be subject to be discharged from our practice.
Rescheduling Appointments
Our clinic is very busy and unfortunately patients often have to wait several months for an appointment. If you need to reschedule your appointment, please call us at 443-997-1552 as soon as possible. This will allow us to schedule another patient who is waiting to be seen.
Office Hours
Our normal clinic hours are Monday – Friday 7:30am-5:00pm. Our normal phone hours are Monday – Friday 9:00 AM -4:00 PM.
Our Office is closed for the following Holidays:
- New Year’s Eve
- New Year’s Day
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- Memorial Day
- Independence Day (July 4th when it falls on a regular business day, the Friday before when it falls on Saturday, or the Monday after when it falls on Sunday)
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving Day
- Day after Thanksgiving
- Christmas Eve
- Christmas Day (December 25th when it falls on a regular business day, the Friday before when it falls on Saturday, or the Monday after when it falls on Sunday)
There may be other posted days that are closed due to divisional activities and/or professional development. That information will be provided on all divisional voicemails.
After-Hours, Weekends and Holidays Calls
- If you are experiencing a medical emergency after-hours, please call 911 or go to your nearest urgent care facility or emergency department.
- If your need is a medical management question that cannot wait until our next business day, we offer an On-Call Provider to help you. Our On-Call Provider may be paged by calling our answering service at 410-955-6070.
Inclement Weather and Unexpected Closings
- It is the policy of Johns Hopkins Medicine to reasonably maintain outpatient clinical operations; however, due to weather or other unexpected closings, such as an area-wide power outage or water main break, there may be times when it is necessary to close our office.
- Our closing notices will be provided for you via our voicemail recording and our staff will contact you if we are not able to keep your appointment, let you know what we are experiencing, and when we may be looking to reschedule your visit.
Insurance / Billing Information
We are participating with the following insurance payors:
- Aetna Health Plan
- Beech Street PPO
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- CareFirst BlueChoice HMO
- CIGNA
- Coventry Healthcare
- EHP
- First Health
- Great West/One Health PPO
- Humana Choicecare
- InforMed/CHP
- Kaiser
- MDIPA HMO
- Maryland Medical Assistance
- Medicare Part B*
- Multiplan PPO
- NCAS
- One Net PPO
- Optimum Choice HMO
- Priority Partners MCO
- Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
- Tricare Reserve Select
- Tricare Standard
- United Healthcare
- US Family Health Plan
*We do not participate with out-of-state Medicaid or Medicare Advantage/Replacement plans.
Copayments:
It is a good idea to check with your insurance to make sure you are covered for your visit and services with us. Please be prepared to pay your copay and any balance due at the time of your visit. We accept VISA, MASTERCARD, DISCOVER, AMERICAN EXPRESS, and CHECKS.
Non participating insurance/self-pay:
We realize that insurance may not always cover care at Johns Hopkins. With the exception of Medicare Advantage and Medicaid plans, patients may have the ability to pay out-of-pocket for non-covered services. Patients scheduled for new patient appointments are required to pay a $600 deposit at the time of service. Patients scheduled for return visits are required to pay a $289 deposit at the time of service.
Prescription Policies and Prescription Refills
In order for our office to provide you with timely refills, please request your medication refills at least one week in advance. Refill requests may be made via a myChart message to your provider, calling our office, or by receiving a fax from your pharmacy.
Forms Completion
The only documentation regarding your health or illness required by law (and included in the office visit charge) is an office visit note. Completing paperwork for schools, camps, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) claims, long-term care, life insurance, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, and other disability claims go beyond routine medical care and may require an update of your medical information or a special examination. In order to make this determination, please forward your form(s) to our office prior to your scheduled visit. For those forms that can be completed outside of a clinical visit, please allow a minimum of 5 business days for your completed form to be returned to you.
