frequently asked questions

Your appointment time will depend on why you are being seen and what additional interventions, if any, are required, such as lab work or IV fluids.  Please allow extra time in case of unexpected situations.

Your appointment is with our whole team, not just one person.  This takes some extra time, but we think it’s worthwhile because we get to know you.  Therefore, if your appointment is at 1:00 p.m., that does not mean you will see the doctor at 1:00 p.m. and be out of here by 1:15.  That means you will check in by 1:00 p.m., the nurse or medical assistant will prepare you for the doctor’s or nurse practitioner’s portion of the encounter, the doctor or nurse practitioner or both will see you, additional actions will be identified and organized accordingly (Do we need to draw blood for lab tests? Do we need to administer vaccines? Etc.), and finally you’ll be released with a plan for follow-up.

Generally speaking, the physician and/or nurse practitioner portion of the visit lasts an hour for new patients on a specialty service and about 20 minutes for routine follow-up visits, but this could be more or less depending on the situation.  We try to move our walk-in patients through faster if they are uncomplicated, as we know you have places to be and things to do, but ultimately it just depends on what the patient needs.

If you have given your email address to the front desk personnel, we can invite you to our online portal, accessible on our website.  Through this portal, you can access your test results.  If you haven’t seen an invitation in your inbox, please contact our front desk to let them know.

If you are more than 15 minutes late to your appointment, you may be asked to reschedule.

If you must cancel or reschedule an appointment, please give us as much advance notice as possible.  For cancellations under 24 hours, you may be charged a fee.

If you are scheduled for chemotherapy or similar critical infusions/treatments, and you fail to arrive on time, we will call you three times in the hour.  If we don’t hear back from you in that time frame, we will send the police to your house to perform a well check and bring you in for your treatment.

If you have a scheduled infusion in our clinic and fail to appear, and if we must throw away the medication as a result, we may bill you for the cost of the wasted medication.  Some medications can be restocked, but others are not shelf stable and must be wasted if not used within a certain time frame.  Insurance will not reimburse us for a treatment that we did not actually administer, just because the patient failed to arrive.  Please be aware that some of these medications can cost thousands of dollars per dose.

Starting October 16, 2023, all patients will be asked to pay their copay before services are rendered.  If additional fees are assessed, usually related to your insurance plan, you will receive a bill in the mail.  You can pay by calling our main clinic line at 316-330-9700 and ask to speak with the billing department or by mailing a check.

All minors should be accompanied by an adult who has legal authority to make medical decisions.  No matter how inconvenient it is, we cannot evaluate and treat a child without the proper consent and legal authority.  You can authorize someone to make medical decisions on your behalf and to bring your child to see us by giving them power of attorney for medical decision making or even by sending a note, signed by the legal guardian, stating that the accompanying adult has your permission to bring the child to the office visit and participate in medical decisions.

For patients who will be in our clinic for longer periods: for example, an infusion that may last several hours; a legal guardian must remain with the child throughout their visit here.

Please bring all medical records, if not sent in advance - especially a copy of any genetic tests, complete blood counts (CBC), or other laboratory results.  Please also bring your photo ID, your insurance card, and a method of payment.

We understand that these things happen.  It has happened to us too.  If you have forgotten your card, we can also accept a copy of the card, such as a photograph, an email with your card information, or similar documentation. 

Sometimes we are able to look you up in the insurance system, depending on your insurance company.  If you are unable to produce proof of insurance and wish to be seen anyway, you will be asked to pay the self-pay rate before services are rendered.  If you can later give us your insurance information, and if we are able to bill accordingly (there are some restrictions about how we can bill insurance after the fact), then we will send you a refund based on your insurance plan.

We accept all insurance plans in the state of Kansas, including Medicaid.  If you have a plan from another state, you can call our main clinic line at 316-330-9700 and ask to speak with the billing department.  They can discuss the situation with you and let you know if we are included.

Our clinic is open Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with personnel available to answer your questions until 5:00 p.m. 

After 5:00 p.m. on weekdays and anytime on the weekends, you may call the main clinic number at 316-330-9700 and listen to all the menu options.  If applicable, choose English or Spanish.  For non-urgent issues (option 1), you may leave a voicemail, which will be returned on the next business day.  For urgent issues (option 2), you may page the doctor through the clinic line, which is managed by an answering service after hours.  A physician is on call 24/7 for urgent issues only.

Dr. Stauffer speaks English, some French, and some Italian.  Dr. Cohn is fluent in English and Hebrew.  Our medical assistant Alejandra is fluent in English and Spanish.  We also have teleinterpreters available for a wide range of languages.  We value our patients with diverse backgrounds!

We are not aware of a formal bloodless program in Kansas, however, we are familiar with the components, methods, and importance of a bloodless program for this faith group and operate by those principles whenever needed.

Directed blood donations, while well-intentioned, are not allowed.  There are several reasons for this.  However, we do need blood donations!  Please consider donating blood to our local American Red Cross.

For more information:

https://www.redcross.org/local/kansas/about-us/locations/south-central-southeast-kansas.html?CID=organic_gmb_listings

Every year, we lose some of our beautiful patients because of a lack of volunteers in the stem cell registry.  These are children who need a stem cell transplant but may not be able to find a compatible donor in time.  Children of color and especially mixed ethnicity are least likely to find a good match in the time frame needed because the vast majority of stem cell registrants are of limited, homogenous ethnicity, which tend to have a different set of genetic markers on their stem cells, triggering rejection or severe disease.  We desperately need registrants from all backgrounds and especially from diverse backgrounds!  Due to the complex matching process in stem cell transplants, your chance of actually being called upon to donate stem cells is only about 1 in 200, yet we still have difficulty finding good matches.  Please consider signing up for the stem cell registry; it’s quick, painless, and easy!  Best of all, you may save someone’s life.

https://bethematch.org/support-the-cause/donate-blood-stem-cells/how-to-join-the-donor-registry/

We do not recommend private banking of the umbilical cord, but you should consider donating it for public use, unless you are specifically planning a birth for a sibling transplant, organized in conjunction with a stem cell transplant center.  There are presently no situations where we would choose to use your own banked cord to treat your own disease.  It is possible that someday in the future, scientists may develop a use for this, but that is not a reality today.  However, we do use donated cord stem cells in stem cell transplants for other people.  Donating your cord blood does not cost you anything, does not hurt your baby, and may save someone’s life.  Please note cord blood donation can only be performed at certain hospitals.  Ask your local hospital if they participate in this program.