Palomar Medical Group is an adult medical practice consisting of U.S. trained, board certified internists and medical sub-specialists.Our mission is to provide superior healthcare to the residents in San Diego's North County and surrounding areas.
In addition to general adult medical care, the physicians of PMG provide expertise in cardiology, kidney disorders, hypertension, cholesterol problems, restless leg syndrome, women's health, and geriatrics. We serve as physician leaders at Palomar Medical Center, medical directors of several skilled nursing facilities, dialysis units, and a hospice agency, and participate in a variety of civic activities and charities within the community.
PMG doctors will manage your problems and see you daily if you are hospitalized at Palomar Medical Center. Care-Needed-Today is available in the office on Mondays through Fridays. A physician is always available by phone 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Our 7 physicians and 2 nurse practitioners offer a variety of specialized skills which should allow us to meet almost all of your medical needs.
Palomar Medical Group is located across the street from Palomar Medical Center, and accepts patients with a wide variety of insurance plans. A laboratory draw station is on site, and we have the ability to do treadmill tests, bone density studies, and a variety of other diagnostic testing in our offices.
You are welcome to contact our office at (760) 745-1551 to schedule an appointment with one of our physicians, and can speak with our business office if you have questions about referrals or insurannce plans.
Phone System
Due to the large volume of calls that we receive, you may encounter voicemail when you call us. Please be patient and listen for directions. You will be given clear instructions about how to proceed. You may be asked to leave a message in order to schedule an appointment, ask a question to the doctor, or arrange for testing to be done. Please leave your name, date of birth, reason for the call, and phone number so we know how to reach you. The scheduler or doctor's assistant will usually call back promptly for non-urgent matters, and always within one business day. If your problem is more urgent, please press 1 (one) to speak immediately to a receptionist. Making multiple calls or leaving multiple messages is not helpful and will slow down our ability to respond. However, you should call again if you have not received a response within 24 hours.
Scheduling
New patients should arrive to the office at least 15 minutes before appointment time to complete paperwork. New patient visits will typically be scheduled for between 15-45 minutes, depending on the nature of the visit. Most follow-up visits will last between 15-30 minutes. Patients who need to be seen urgently may be scheduled to see our registered nurse practitioner or the physician on call. Please always call to cancel as early as possible if you discover that you cannot keep a scheduled appointment.
We discourage "walk-in" visits, and recomment that you always call first to expedite an appointment. If you must walk in for service, please provide a written note for the receptionist, who will give it to your medical assistant. On a busy day you may be required to wait, since the medical assistant may be providing medical care to patients who have scheduled appointments.
Referrals
Many health plans will require that you visit with your primary provider in order to have a specialist referral made. Once completed, you will be notified by mail about referral authorization within 7-14 days. If you do not receive notification within 14 days, please contact your doctor's medical assistant to find out what has happened. Remember that most referral authorizations are good for only 90 days, and so you should not delay in making your appointment. Depending on your insurance, follow-up visits with a specialist may also require authorization.
Pharmacy
New prescriptions and medication refills are best addressed during your physician visits in our office. You should never let yourself run out of medicines, and should always address this at least one week before running out. If you will be needing medication refills that cannot be taken care of during an office visit, please notify your pharmacy. It is faster and more efficient for us to work directly with them than for you to contact us as an intermediary. If you must contact us about medication refills, make certain to provide the medication name, dosage, frequency, and number of pills requested. As a courtesy we will try to have your medication refilled within 3 working days. Prescriptions will not be filled on holidays or over weekends. Narcotics and other controlled substances will not be refilled afterhours, weekends, or holidays. If you need to mail prescriptions away, allow for at least two weeks for the medication to arrive once you have placed the request. Do not wait until the last minute.
Lab and Radiology Results
Lab and radiology results will normally be reviewed with you by the doctor during office visits, and you will be contacted promptly about abnormal results that require action. However, due to the high volume of results we review each day, we may not be able to notify you of all "normal" results. You can obtain a copy of your labs by providing a self-addressed stamped envelope or contacting Medical Records at (760) 745-1551 ext 211. There will be a minimum $5.00 charge for copying and providing these results.
Form Completion
Forms for disability, jury duty, the DMV, surgical clearance and others can be dropped off at our office and will generally be completed within 72 hours. A fee for this service will be collected at the time of receipt.
Feedback
It is the intention of Palomar Medical Group to provide excellent patient care and customer service. We greatly appreciate feedback when you are satisfied with us or when you feel we have outperformed expectations. On the other had, we are also interested in hearing about meaningful complaints that you might have. If you have a complaint, please be specific, and provide a written summary regarding your dissatisfaction. We will make every effort to respond back in a timely fashion.