Frequently Asked Questions

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Bring in medication lists or any medication changes. labs or recent reports, any home BP or glucose readings

We do not offer lab services at our office. You will be given a script for labs which you can take to the lab facility approved by your insurance. However, we are able to send urine tests from our office. 

We take the safety of our patients and staff very seriously. We prescreen all patients who have in-office appointments. We see patients who are sick via telemedicine visits only. We still require masks in our office and provide them for anyone who does not have a mask. 

At the end of very office visit, there will be a discussion of when the next set of labs and follow-up are due. Medication refills will be sent accordingly. Timely labs and follow-up exams are important to decide if medications are actually working. If you are late on your labs/follow-up, you will need to contact the office staff so a 30 day refill can be sent.

Dr. Thomas does not prescribe narcotics/opioids/opiates, muscle relaxants or other controlled medications. Dr. Thomas does prescribe certain antidepressants and antianxiety meds. You can call the office with the name of the medication you need refilled. to confirm if Dr. Thomas will refill it. However, Dr. Thomas does give referrals to Pain Management or Psychiatry as appropriate in order to address future refills of controlled medications  if needed.

Dr. Thomas does not prescribe antibiotics/antivirals like Paxlovid without seeing a patient for a telehealth visit. 

Please allot 3-4 weeks for a medical clearance. Inform the office as soon as you have a surgery date. Make sure the surgeon sends the preop facesheet to our office. Dr. Thomas will order labs and chest x-ray as appropriate depending on your medical history. An EKG can be done at our office unless there is prior cardiac history requiring a cardiac clearance as well. If Dr. Thomas feels there is not enough time to complete the medical clearance by the surgery date, we will recommend that you get a clearance with urgent care as they are able to do labs/imaging/EKG/preop exam quickly.  

For a true medical emergency, please call 911. For urgent matters for established patients, there is an answering service you can call. When you speak with the answering service and tell them you need to speak with the doctor urgently,  you will be directed to call another phone number to reach Dr. Thomas or staff directly. While Dr. Thomas and staff aim to return every phone call in a timely fashion, sometimes there are technological issues. If you are unable to reach Dr. Thomas, you should seek medical attention at an urgent care or ER as you deem most appropriate. 

At your visit, Dr. Thomas will recommend when the next lab and follow-up will be due based on your labs, vitals, exam and reports, . While there is always some flexibility, generally timely labs and follow-up are important. Patients who are taking prescription medications should expect labs and follow-up at least every 6 months.

Lab results are typically available within one to two business days. Imaging results can take up to a week. If you do not hear from us regarding your results after a week, you can call and confirm with us if we received the results or not. 

If you are taking days off of work and know that you will need paperwork from your doctor,  please schedule with our office for an appointment ASAP.  It is imperative that you are seen by the doctor so that your illness can be documented and you are provided an official note recommending that you refrain from work for a period of time.. Dr. Thomas cannot fill out paperwork if you were not seen while you were ill and off work. She will not fill our paperwork retroactively.  Please also note that you will need an appropriate medical reason that is within her scope of practice in order for Dr. Thomas to sign off on the paperwork.