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Please arrive 60 minutes ahead of your Thoracic Surgery appointment and register at Ambulatory Services Registration at 45 Francis Street. Do not make additional obligations that day as your visit in the Thoracic office will last for several hours. Please note that as a surgical practice, emergencies can arise that may may take the surgeon out of the office during your appointment time. If this should occur, our office staff will notify you of the delay.
At Ambulatory Services Registration you will receive a Brigham and Women's Hospital Blue Card with your BWH medical ID number. You will also verify your personal demographic and insurance information with the Ambulatory Services Registration staff. Do not make any co-payments at this desk.
You will then proceed to the Thoracic Surgery Clinical Offices where you will check in at the front desk. The front desk staff will request your hospital blue card, your insurance cards, any co-payment necessary, insurance referral, your completed forms and radiology films. They will give you some additional forms to review while you register in the clinic.
Our certified medical assistant staff will then take a complete set of vital signs and perform a series of Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) on you. Once this is complete, a physician assistant will review your medical history and interview you. We encourage you to have a family member present during the interview. This helps us get the most accurate information possible.
Once the physician assistant has completed your medical history the information will be presented to the surgeon. After the surgeon has reviewed your history and radiology studies he/she will discuss your condition with you. Once again, we recommend bringing a family member into the meeting with your surgeon. If the surgeon believes you are eligible, you may be offered the chance to participate in one of our clinical research trials.
If surgery has been deemed appropriate, the surgeon will discuss the type of surgery, the risks and benefits of the surgery, and the recuperation process. Once surgery has been agreed upon you will meet with the surgical coordinators in order to schedule your surgery and pre-operative testing. The surgical coordinator will give you verbal and detailed written information about your surgery.
If surgery is not an option at this time, you may be referred to the Thoracic Oncology Program (TOP) located at The Dana Farber Cancer Institute. You will be given information about the program offered at TOP and the phone number of the TOP New Patient Coordinator. Our office will set up an initial appointment for you.
Comments to: KKee@partners.org
©2007, Division of Thoracic Surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital. All rights reserved.
Division of Thoracic Surgery
Brigham and Women's Hospital
75 Francis Street
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: (617) 732-6824