Thank you for choosing Greater Carolinas Women's Center. As you will see, our experienced staff is dedicated to providing complete ob1gyn services in a caring, relaxed atmosphere. This brochure should help you become more familiar with our practice. However, always feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Greater Carolinas Women's Center offers complete and comprehensive obstetric and gynecologic care. From adolescence through adulthood, our caring physicians, certified nurse-midwives, and nurse practitioner provide a range of services to meet the needs of women at every stage of life. You can rely on us for:

• ROUTINE AND HIGH RISK OBSTETRICS
• GYNECOLOGICAL SURGERY
• LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY
• LASER SURGERY
• ROUTINE GYNECOLOGY
• BREAST EAMS
• ROUTINE EXAMINATIONS
• BIRTH CONTROL

Our training and expertise also allow us to provide treatment for:

• INFERTILITY
• MENOPAUSAL CARE
• BLADDER CONTROL PROBLEMS
• BONE DENSITY TESTING

APPOINTMENTS
On your first visit, you should plan to complete our electronic medical record information before you arrive. This will provide the physicians with your most current information. It's also important to keep us updated if you have changes to your address, phone number or insurance information. Due to the nature of our services, patient emergencies may cause our medical providers to be delayed in their appointment schedule. However, our physicians and staff will make every effort to minimize excessive waiting, because we know that your time is valuable too.

To schedule an appointment, please call our office between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. If you must cancel your appointment, please let us know at least 24 hours in advance. This will allow us to make your appointment time available to another patient.

PAYMENT POLICIES
In order to continue providing cost effective care, we request payment for all services at the time they are rendered. You will be given a receipt at the end of each visit, which contains information your insurance company will need to process your claim. Please remember, payment of medical services is your obligation and the agreement with your insurance company to pay medical costs is a contract between you and that company. You are responsible for any IF deductible, co-payment or other balance not paid by your insurance company. A deposit is required in advance of any scheduled surgery to cover costs that will not be paid by your insurance company. Any overpayment will be refund- ed directly to you. We realize insurance and payment issues can often be confusing and welcome any questions you may have.

PRESCRIPTIONS
We accept requests for prescriptions and refills each weekday between 8:30 am and 3:00 pm. Unfortunately, prescriptions cannot be filled in the evening or during the weekend because we must have access to your medical chart before medication can be prescribed. When you call for a refill, please have the prescription name, pharmacy name and pharmacy phone number ready. Some prescription refills may require an office visit.

EMERGENCIES & HOSPITALIZATION
In the event of an emergency, please call our office and explain the nature of your problem. If your emergency occurs before or after business hours, call our office to contact the on-call healthcare providers. If you cannot wait for someone to return your call, go to the emergency room of the hospital your insurance plan designates and tell the staff to contact the Greater Carolinas Women's Center physician or midwife on-call. Greater Carolinas Women's Center maintains active staff privileges at several Charlotte area hospitals. Our office will gladly make all pre-admission arrangements if hospitalization is required. Please let us know if your insurance company requires prior approval or pre- certification for hospitalization.