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Preparing For Your Visit

At Benefit Medical Group, we want your visit to be as easy and comfortable as possible. To help you prepare for your visit, we have provided the following resources. If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact your physician’s office.

Before Your Outpatient Procedure

At least one day before your outpatient procedure, complete your preoperative (pre-op) consultation. At this time, we can address your questions or concerns, and review instructions previously discussed with you. Often, you’ll be able to do this by phone. If we need to meet with you in person, plan for your appointment to last from 30 minutes to one hour.

We value your time and want to make scheduling your pre-op consultation as convenient as possible. Schedule your appointment by calling our patient coordinators at 319.221.1667 Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Before Your Inpatient Stay

A patient may be called prior to an appointment to pre-register on the phone. To save even more time you can preregister online. If you are pre-registered, you do not need to go through the registration process on the day of your visit, but you still need to check in.

Review your insurance coverage and make sure you understand the payments you are responsible for, generally your copay and/or deductible. If you need assistance, call your insurance provider before your admission.

What to Bring

To help you prepare for your hospital visit, we’ve prepared the following basic lists of items to bring with you.

For Admission:

  • Insurance cards
  • A list of all medications you currently take
  • Photo identification (driver’s license or passport)
  • Social Security number
  • Living will and other advance directives, if you have them
  • HMO/PPO referral forms, if required
  • Medical records, X-ray films or previous test results, if your physician has requested them
  • ritten letter of authorization from your insurance carrier, if you’re covered by worker’s compensation
  • A check or credit card for deductibles, copayments or deposits

For Your Stay:

  • Personal toiletries, such as shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrush
  • Bathrobe and slippers or socks
  • A list with names, doses and schedules of all medications you take on a routine basis; do not bring any of these medications with you to the hospital unless your doctor asks you to do so
  • Glasses, dentures, hearing aids or any other assistive device you may need
  • Clothes to wear when you go home

Leave all valuable items such as cash, jewelry and electronics at home.

Preparing for Your Procedure:

  • Check with your insurance carrier about coverage of your procedure
  • Gather information about what to expect before, during and after your specific procedure in our online Health Library
  • Learn more about preparing for surgery at Benefit Medical Group