Allergies After Hours: How We Can Help
Asthma and allergy issues happen at all times of the day (or night!), and don’t always coincide with our office hours. As an AAPRI patient, you know that we always strive to provide the best possible care, and this is why we have medical professionals on call after-hours. However, it’s important to know what our after-hours service can and can’t do, so you get what you need.
If you are having a medical emergency:
First of all, if you are having a medical emergency, always call 911 first!
To make sure you get the care you need, here are a few things you should know about what we can and can’t do for you when the office is closed:
What the AAPRI after-hours line CAN do:
- Give basic advice: The on-call doctor or nurse practitioner can give some advice, but since they’re not your regular physician, or they don’t have access to your records, it may be limited. That’s why it’s essential to stay up to date on your regular visits.
- Make a note in your chart of the problem: Then, during regular hours, your doctor can read your updated chart and have the latest info.
- Point you in the right direction: If you should come in for an office visit or if you need to go to the emergency room right away, we’ll let you know.
What the AAPRI after-hours line CANNOT do:
- Start a new prescription: Because of liability issues, AAPRI can’t call in a new prescription for you without seeing you first.
- Refill an old or expired prescription: Why? Because things change, and we need to see you for an appointment to make sure your health history is up to date before we can give you more medication.
- Give detailed advice or diagnoses: Our doctors and nurses are wonderful, but even they can’t come up with a diagnosis or new treatment plan just by talking over the phone!
Remember, these rules and regulations are in place for your safety and protection! And avoiding situations like the ones described is a great incentive for you to plan ahead: keep all your booked appointments, schedule one if it’s been awhile since you’ve seen us, and stay on top of medication refills well ahead of time.
Try the patient portal!
Our patient portal is a great resource for information, but did you know you can also use it to send us direct messages? Yes! If you ask a question or send us a message through the portal, we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Schedule an appointment
Remember, there’s no substitute for personalized treatment from our dedicated health care team. So if you’re having trouble with your asthma or allergies, we encourage you to call during regular hours to schedule an appointment so we can provide you with the best possible care. We’d love to see you!
