FAQs

The best time to take care of prescription refills is during your office visit. During your visit, your physician can verify the medicines you are taking and make changes if necessary. If you need your routine medications refilled between office visits, you should call your pharmacy with this request. The pharmacist will then contact us for a refill approval.

You may also contact your local CIS office anytime to request a refill. Please note that, if you are a Louisiana patient, you may receive a return phone call from the CIS Call Center; the Call Center is located in Lafayette, LA and the return phone call will likely come from a phone number beginning with a (337) area code.

Call any CIS location and request your physician of choice, or let us know which location is nearest your home. We will schedule an appointment time that is convenient for you. Once an appointment is scheduled, the receptionist will obtain your insurance information over the phone in order to verify your coverage.

If time allows, we will send you a packet of new patient information by mail. Please fill out the forms in this packet and bring them with you to your initial visit to speed up the check-in process. Please arrive 15 minutes before your appointment time in order to complete all paperwork, and always bring your most current insurance card(s). This paperwork is also available online for you to print and complete at home.

Please notify our office 24 hours in advance if you need to cancel. Failure to do so may result in a $25 cancellation fee.

CIS is on the preferred provider list of many major insurance companies. Before scheduling an appointment, please verify that CIS is in your insurance network, and ask what services are covered under the terms of your individual plan.

Most CIS offices are open Monday through Friday, except on certain holidays. Offices are generally open from 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Hours and appointment schedules at some locations may vary slightly. Contact the CIS location that you visit for more specific information. During normal business hours, phone calls and messages are addressed in a timely manner. All calls will be returned as soon as possible.

A CIS physician or nurse practitioner is available to respond to your emergency medical needs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you need to speak with someone after hours, call our office and the physician or nurse practitioner on call will respond to your needs.

Payment of all copays, estimated coinsurance and deductible amounts are required at your visit. Copays will be collected at check-in for your convenience. Always bring your current insurance card(s) and notify the receptionist if any personal or insurance information has changed since your last visit.

Please dress comfortably. For women, we advise against wearing a dress in the case that we need to perform a test, such as an ultrasound or EKG.

CIS makes every effort for each patient to see their own physician in clinic. If your physician is not available, you may choose to see any of our other health care professionals for prompt care. If you are in the hospital, you can expect to see any one of our physicians depending on the physician schedule that day. CIS believes that cardiovascular medicine is a team effort, so our cardiologists, nurse practitioners, nurses, and many others work together to bring you the best of care.

Depending upon medical findings and any symptoms that you are experiencing, some diagnostic tests may be ordered, including blood work. Most of the testing is done in our CIS clinics. At times, tests may be performed at an outside facility or hospital.

Yes. You will still follow up with your family physician for common illnesses, such as colds, arthritis, etc. In some cases, your family physician may have referred you to CIS for cardiovascular testing only. In this case, your family physician will discuss results and follow your care through his/her office. Some cardiovascular conditions require that you follow up with CIS on a continual basis.

CIS will make every effort to verify your coverage prior to your scheduled appointment, yet CIS cannot guarantee coverage of services by your insurance company. As a courtesy, CIS will file your insurance claims for you and will communicate with your insurance company to resolve payment issues. However, in some circumstances you may be required to communicate with your insurance carrier to resolve these issues.