|
What kind of training does Dr. Lee have? Dr. Lee earned a BS in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley, and an MD from the University of Southern California, both with honors. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and is board certified in internal medicine.
What exactly is internal medicine? The American College of Physicians likes to describe it as “primary care for adults”. The main difference nowadays between internal medicine and family practice is its focus on adults rather than patients of all ages, but traditionally, internal medicine was associated with more complicated disease processes.
What happens on the first visit? The most important thing we do is take care of any symptoms you are having at the time, or any issues that you are concerned about. To do this, Dr. Lee will ask about your past and present health, your habits, and the health of your family members, among other things. Then she will perform an appropriate physical exam and discuss specific treatment or recommendations. If there is time, she will discuss preventive care such as physicals and screening tests to keep you healthy as long as possible.
What exactly is a physical? Some people think that their annual physical is finished when they get their blood drawn; actually, a true physical is much more than that. At a typical physical, Dr. Lee will address current symptoms, review your medications, allergies, habits, family history, vaccines, and screening tests such as mammograms or colonoscopies, discuss your lab results, examine you from head to toe, discuss a plan for healthier living, and answer any questions you may have. This does take a fair amount of time, and some results, such as blood pressure or white blood count are affected by acute illness, so physicals are best done when you are feeling healthy. In fact, if you schedule a physical, but develop an acute or complicated issue before your visit, Dr. Lee will usually use that time to focus on the active issues and ask you to reschedule your physical for a later date. Please be aware that some insurance companies, including Medicare, do not cover physicals.
How far in advance do I need to call for appointments? If you are already an established patient and you have an urgent issue, we can usually squeeze you in the same day. For non-urgent needs, new and established patients, we can usually schedule an appointment within 1 to 7 days.
Does Dr. Lee accept walk-ins? Yes, but we do not normally recommend this. Walk-ins will been seen as time allows, which sometimes means a significant wait while she sees regularly scheduled patients.
Does Dr. Lee accept insurance? Yes, Dr. Lee is on Medicare and most PPOs. Her billing service will bill your insurance company, then bill you for your portion of the charges as determined by your insurance company. Most of the time, if you’ve met your deductible, this is simply the co-pay you have already given us on the day of the visit. Her list of insurance contracts is continually changing; for the most updated information, please contact her billing service at (408) 956-1592.
Will Dr. Lee take care of me while I am in the hospital or nursing home? No, Dr. Lee has decided to refer inpatient and nursing home care to hospitalists in order to minimize interruptions during patient visits at the office and last minute rescheduling of office visits due to hospital emergencies. Hospitalists are physicians who specialize in taking care of patients in hospitals or nursing homes; the ones Dr. Lee uses are all highly qualified. Dr. Lee can give them any information they need to take the best care of you while you are in the hospital, and the hospitalist can update Dr. Lee when you are discharged. Some patients are concerned about continuity of care, but there are two different ways to look at continuity of care. From our experience, most physicians who do follow patients in the hospital are in large call groups. This usually means someone other than your PCP will start your care in the hospital the first night, with your PCP taking over the next morning, only to have a third or fourth doctor cover the next night or weekend. Some occasional errors are possible with these “handoffs”. In contrast, the hospitalist who sees you the first day will be the same one in charge of your care during the entire stay, barring any unusual circumstances. This way, there is continuity of care within the hospitalization.
What do I do if I have an emergency at night or on the weekend? Please do not leave a voicemail; we may not check this until the next day. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911 or go to the nearest hospital. If you have an urgent issue that you think is not severe enough for the emergency room, but still requires treatment before the next business day, please go to an urgent care clinic. Most of these are open every day until 9pm. If you are uncertain whether you need to go to urgent care, you can call the office at (408) 270-3877 and listen to the instructions to page Dr. Lee. If your phone does not allow calls from blocked numbers, please turn off this feature temporarily; otherwise, Dr. Lee may not be able to get through to your phone. If she does not called you back within 15 minutes, it usually means there was a technical glitch; please try again. Please be aware that it is impossible for any physician to make an accurate diagnosis without examining you, and Dr. Lee cannot examine you over the phone. If there is any uncertainty whether you need to go to urgent care, she will play it safe and tell you to go so you can be evaluated in person. Here are a few urgent care clinics nearby: Nova Care 20289 Stevens Creek Blvd. Cupertino, CA 95014 (408) 996-8656
Camino Medical Group 201 Old San Francisco Road Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (408) 730-4300
If you have any suggestions for this list of frequently asked questions, please email us at admin@donnaleemd.com. |
|
Frequently asked questions |
|
Donna Lee, M.D. 3005 Silver Creek Road Suite 158 San Jose, CA 95121 408-270-3877 |
|
Donna Lee, M.D. Internal Medicine and Aesthetic Medicine |
