Patient Resources
First Appointment – Materials to Bring
At your first appointment, please bring the following:
- Any pertinent medical records in relation to the purpose of your visit
- Please bring a copy of any CT scan or MRI on a disc if possible (We prefer to review the actual images in addition to the report.)
- Your health insurance card and driver’s license
- You may receive an email from us to complete new patient paperwork online prior to your appointment date. Otherwise, you may be asked to complete the information the day of your appointment by an iPad or paper form, your preference.
Office Forms
First Appointment – What to expect
When you first arrive, our office staff will greet you and check you in. Part of the check-in process is getting your medical history, which you may have already completed online prior to your appointment. If not, the staff will ask you to complete this information by way of an iPad or via paper form when you arrive for your appointment. This information will help us take better care of you by avoiding redundancies in future orders and requests, avoiding unnecessary costs and tests, and to comply by various regulations set by the federal government and private insurance companies.
During the check-in process, we will make a copy of your insurance card, accept any copayments and ask if we can take a picture of you to attach to your electronic medical record file. This picture is very helpful in terms of patient safety, as it helps us link you to your records. This is especially helpful when we speak with you on the phone, consulting with your other doctors, and immediately before procedures.
Our staff will escort you to an exam room to review your basic medical history, reason for visit and prior treatments. Our sinus specialists will greet you and begin the evaluation with a conversation about your medical history. He will perform a general ear, nose and throat examination. It is likely that they will recommend a more detailed examination, called endoscopy, which is described below.
Insurances We Accept (this link will take you to North Florida Surgeons website)
To schedule an appointment, please call (904) 595-7475 or fill out our secure online appointment request form.
For questions regarding test results, surgery scheduling, insurance or billing, please use the Athena patient portal by clicking the button below:
Nasal endoscopy or flexible fiberoptic laryngoscopy
As part of your evaluation, an endoscopic examination may be indicated as part of the visit. This is a common practice to evaluate the nose/sinuses or the throat/voice box, larynx. The exam is usually not painful and is well tolerated by all patients, and feels like a spaghetti in the nose. It often helps to identify the answer to underlying cause of complaints and helps in making immediate diagnoses.
To prepare for the examination, our staff will spray two medications into your nose. The decongestant oxymetazoline (Afrin), which opens the passage allowing more room for the scope to pass within the nose, and a topical anesthetic (lidocaine) to prevent discomfort or sneezing. Fortunately, this lasts for a few minutes.
