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Please arrive 60 minutes in advance of your Thoracic Surgery appointment and register at the Ambulatory Services Registration area, which is located at the 45 Francis Street entrance to the Hospital. Do not schedule other appointments or make other commitments on the day of your appointment, as your visit in the Thoracic Surgery office will last for several hours. Please note that because this is a surgical practice, emergencies can arise that may require the surgeon to leave the Surgery office temporarily during your appointment. If this should occur, our office staff will notify you that there has been a 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, located at the 15 Francis Street entrance, 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). 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, so we can obtain the most accurate information possible.
Once the physician assistant has completed the 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 that you bring a family member with you 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 you will have, the risks and benefits of the surgery, and the recuperation process. Once surgery has been agreed upon you will meet with the surgical coordinators 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 located at The Dana Farber Cancer Institute. You will be given information about the program offered by the Thoracic Oncology Program and the phone number of their New Patient Coordinator. Our office will set up an initial appointment for you.
Comments about this website may be directed to: kzahner@partners.org
NOTICE: This email is not for medically related issues. Comments or concerns regarding patient-related care should be directed to the Thoracic Surgery Clinic at 617-732-6824.
©2010, 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