COVID-19 Appointment Information from the Division of Rheumatology
COVID-19 Appointment Information and Procedure Updates
Get the latest updates for all appointments and procedures at Johns Hopkins.
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).
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:
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- 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)
Please forward the results of previous medical evaluations. In particular, the following information is required:
- Referral letter from your physician
- Summary letter from your doctor and/or hospital discharge summaries
- Recent laboratory results
- Biopsy slides or reports
- Results of radiology studies
This “information gathering” is an important component of your visit. It allows the Vasculitis Center’s physicians to examine and review relevant information before your scheduled visit. This preparation greatly speeds the development of an effective plan for medical care. If time permits, we will send you a questionnaire to fill out before your appointment.
International Patients
For International patients, please contact Johns Hopkins International for initial and return appointments.
For Returning Patients
You will need to plan for a one day visit to the Center as a return patient.
- Return appointments for the Vasculitis Center can be made by calling 443-997-1552.
- 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 let us know how you have been doing since your last visit.
- Bring a copy of your insurance cards.
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.
Directions to The Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center
Please view the following link to see the driving directions and maps to The Johns Hopkins Vasculits Center and Bayview Medical Center. Once on the campus of the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, please park in the mid-campus parking lot, indicated on the campus map. The mid-campus parking lot is directly across the street from the Johns Hopkins Asthma and Allergy Center, which houses the Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center. We are located in Room 1B.1.
