INFORMATION FOR NEW PATIENTS
Please read carefully so that your experience at Pacific Pain Treatment Center (PPTC) is as pleasant as possible.
We want to fully understand your problems and concerns. To do this, we will complete with you a thorough history and physical examination on your first visit to PPTC. We will have reviewed in advance whenever possible the necessary reports to understand your pain. If your pain can be addressed with a simple procedure, we will talk to you about those options at that time. If your pain is more complicated, we may refer you for an evaluation with our team psychologist, Harvey Merriouns, Ph.D.
Dr. Merriouns will talk with you about your pain and explore how you are currently managing your symptoms as well as your personal relationships. He will also ask you to complete a simple questionnaire that will help guide our treatment plan. After this initial evaluation is complete, we will discuss your case at our confidential interdisciplinary team meeting. We will evaluate all of your treatment options before recommending an optimal plan to improve your comfort. So that you are fully involved, we schedule a follow up visit to discuss with you the proposed treatment plan.
You are an important decision maker throughout all parts of the process and it is our aim that you have the best information regarding your options. Because it is our goal to be both thorough and very personal to your unique condition, this process can take up to three weeks to complete. If any part of this concerns you, please call and speak to Richard or Liz at 415-567-1219, who can answer any questions you may have about the process.
If you would like to explore PPTC's abilty to reduce your pain and improve your quality of life, simply ask your doctor to make a refferal to our clinic. It is preferable that the doctor currently treating your pain problemn makes this refferal to us.
INFORMATION NEEDED IN ADVANCE : As a new patient, we will need you to please complete all new patient forms and return them before your PPTC appointment. Also include all pertinent medical information, including MRI, X-rays, blood tests, and a list of all medications. Take into consideration that doctors offices are often busy, and that you may need to call them in advance to request your relevant medical records. We recognize that this is time consuming, but we want the most complete understanding of your problem. In the end this all works toward finding the best plan of care for your individual needs
FORMS: For your convenience you may download and complete the new patient forms (PDF file), and either fax or mail them to us before your scheduled appointment. If you prefer we can mail the forms to you for your completion.
Pacific Pain Treatment Center is contracted with the following insurance plans:
Languages Spoken:
- Dr. Krames: English
- Staff: Russian, Tagalog
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