Schedule An Appointment

CTD

There are two options available to begin the process of scheduling an appointment in the connective tissue clinic. These options are available for both new and follow-up patients.

Option 1: Call the clinic office at (410) 955-3071 to schedule an appointment. You will be asked to provide some preliminary information about the patient.

Patient's name
Patient's contact information
Whether this is a new visit or follow-up appointment
Reason the appointment is requested
Patient's health insurance information (this includes insurance name, plan type, ID number, group number, phone number, claims address, subscriber name, date of birth and employer)
Contact information for the patient's primary care physician and referring physician

Option 2: An on-line intake form is available. You can fill out this form and fax it to (410) 614-9246 or e-mail to CTDappt@jhmi.edu. Please include a copy of the front/back of the patient’s insurance card.

INTAKE FORM

Once all the demographic and insurance information is obtained by our office, a genetic counselor will call within 2 weeks to get a brief medical history, develop a plan to obtain medical records, and help to determine what other referral appointments may be necessary.

We will do our best to schedule your appointment as soon as possible with the most appropriate provider. On average, we have appointment availability within 4-5 months, but in some cases the wait may be longer. If these other specialty appointments are needed, we do our best to schedule all appointments with members of our referral team within a 1-3 day timeframe surrounding your genetics appointment. Of course, emergencies will be accommodated to the best of our ability.

1) Some advice on Insurance:

We request that patients are active in obtaining appropriate referrals for the genetics evaluation and any accompanying lab or radiological studies. If insurance referrals or preauthorizations are not faxed or mailed to our office in advance of the appointment, the appointment may have to be rescheduled. Below is some of the important information you may need when checking with your insurance about coverage of the appointment.

It can be difficult for patients with non-Maryland Medical Assistance or for those whom Johns Hopkins is considered “out of network” to obtain appropriate authorizations to be seen at Johns Hopkins. This process requires that the patient’s primary care physician obtain authorization from the state’s Medical Assistance or insurance company. Once obtained in writing, this information must be sent to our office at least 2 months in advance of the appointment. Our financial department will then determine whether a single-case agreement can be made between Johns Hopkins and your medical assistance/insurance. If there are specific questions regarding insurance procedures, including referral or authorization requirements, please feel free to contact our office manager, Antoinette Tubman at (410) 502-8014 or atubman@jhmi.edu.

2) Information that is helpful for your medical appointment

In order for us best to serve you, obtaining the following information is helpful.

ECHOCARDIOGRAMS: Many connective tissue disorders present with heart valve problems or aortic enlargement. Thus, the majority of individuals are scheduled to have an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) in conjunction with their appointment in our clinic. If you have recently had an echocardiogram or your insurance does not allow for this imaging at Johns Hopkins, we require that the most recent echocardiogram and report be sent to our office at least three weeks prior to your visit. These images will be reviewed by our attending physicians and there will be a minimal fee required for processing.

MEDICAL RECORDS: Copies of certain medical records that may assist us in the genetic evaluation may be requested. These include genetic testing results, specialty consultation reports and imaging results These records should be mailed to our office at the address below, faxed to our office at (410) 614-9246 (ATTN: Gretchen Oswald) or emailed to CTDinfo@jhmi.edu prior to the appointment. A medical release form is available to help you obtain records from your physicians.

MEDICAL RELEASE FORM (Adult)

MEDICAL RELEASE FORM (Pediatric)

OTHER IMAGING: If you need other appointments including vascular surgery or orthopedics, obtaining previous imaging (on disk) and report is often helpful to compare progression of disease.

Please send records by the following means (ATTN: Gretchen Oswald):

By Mail:   Johns Hopkins University
                600 North Wolfe Street
                Blalock 1008
                Baltimore, MD  21287

By Fax: (410) 614-9246

By E-mail: CTDinfo@jhmi.edu

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