Our Practice

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Lockport

46 Davison Court

Lockport, NY 14094

716-438-2973

Ellicottville

6133 Route 219, Suite 101 

Ellicottville, NY 14731

At your First Appointment:

Photo ID (government issued)

All Insurance Cards

A valid referral

Co-Pay

Completed patient information sheets

(available on web site)

Any x-rays, CTs, MRIs (actual films, DVDs

and reports)

Exact information about injury date

A list of medications

At All Follow-up Visits:

Photo ID

Insurance cards

Co-Pays

Updated referrals

Any additional studies (actual films/

Discs/DVDs and reports

Updated patient information sheets every

Six months

A list of current medications

Buffalo Spine Surgery provides services to patients with a wide spectrum of spine problems. Such care is best delivered by a team approach carefully coordinated by Dr. Cappuccino.  You will not be able to see the doctor at every visit. Physicians Assistants (PAs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are an integral part of this multi-disciplinary team. 

As a patient, you can anticipate seeing Dr. Cappuccino for the following visits:

• At one of your first appointments at the office
• At appointments that will cover vital information related to anticipated surgery or diagnostic studies
• Within ten weeks of your surgery for a post-operative check. 

Most other appointments will be handled by our PAs and NPs under careful review by the doctor.  

Visits with the doctor will not be scheduled for the sole purposes of determining disability, or at the recommendation of lawyers, unless otherwise medically necessary. 

Our office will take a full and comprehensive history in order to maintain a complete chart. Please bring a list of your medications to every visit. Photos will be taken for identity purposes, and we may also take photos to document areas of medical concern. Please address all concerns with the PA/NP prior to the doctor coming into the exam room. We will not address any concerns other than those listed at the time the appointment was made. Additional appointments may be necessary to address additional concerns. 

All data on the patient intake sheets, especially injury, insurance and identifying information must be accurate. Falsifying any of this constitutes fraud and result in dismissal from the practice

Time spent at the office for a visit will rarely be less than an hour. Please plan accordingly. 

We do our best to accommodate every patient in a timely fashion as scheduled. Please understand that the very nature of a medical practice makes it vulnerable to delays due to emergencies. We ask for your understanding if you need to be rescheduled, or if there is a delay in your scheduled appointment. As much as we try to avoid this, it is inevitable at times, and for this, we apologize in advance. 

We try our best to confirm all appointments, however this is done as a courtesy, and you are responsible for keeping or canceling your appointments

Any patient more than 30 minutes late for an appointment will be rescheduled. Patients who “no-show” for more than 2 appointments will be discharged from the practice. 

Co-pays, referrals and current billing information are required prior to seeing a health care provider at each visit. It is your responsibility to provide them, and without them, your appointment will be rescheduled to a time when you have them

We are unable to provide free visits, and legally we cannot write off deductibles or copays - this is considered insurance fraud and is illegal,

Copies of records can be downloaded from the patient portal.

There will be a charge to complete disability forms, and for copies of any images or records.

WORKER'S COMP and NO FAULT

In order to submit claims for you, you must provide us with information  as outlined in our new patient forms. We will need your carrier name,  address, and phone number, date of accident/injury, exact circumstances,  and your claim number. If you do not have this information available  you must either assume full responsibility for payment, or reschedule  the appointment. In the event the insurance declines or terminates your  benefits, or you use up your allowance, you will be responsible for full  payment for services rendered

MEDICARE

We accept Medicare, however, we cannot accept assignment on Medicare. You are  responsible for full payment for services rendered. We will submit your  claims for you. Please be aware that Medicare only covers 80% of your  total bill.

OTHER INSURANCES: We participate with the major local private insurance carriers in Western New York.

Patients on disability at the time of their initial evaluation will need to have further forms completed by the provider who put them on disability initially.

Only short-term disability (peri-operative) will be covered by this office

The professional at Buffalo Spine Surgery will prescribe narcotics in the immediate post-operative period only (no more than 6 weeks after surgery). 

Requests for prescriptions must be made between 8:00 and 3:00pm  Monday through Thursday by calling our office, not your pharmacy. 

Prescriptions will be sent to your pharmacy within 3 days. Please try to anticipate the need for refills when your medication is running low

Lost or stolen scripts or medications will not be re-issued

Chronic  pain requiring more protracted courses of narcotics is best-managed by a  specialist trained to deal with chronic pain. We will coordinate a  visit to a pain management specialist for you.

Narcotics will not (under any circumstances) be reordered during weekend or night on call hours.

Patients may also request refills through the patient portal

This office will issue handicap-parking stickers only for post-operative periods of up to 3 months, and only when medically appropriate. Usually this is not necessary since resuming healthy, low stress activity such as walking is an integral part of your rehabilitation and recovery from surgery.

As a medical office, appointments are scheduled on the basis of real medical need. Attorneys or disability mandated office visits do not constitute medical necessity. PAs and NPs are available to see patients for periodic check-ups as required for such reasons. Physicians are unable to see patients unless MEDICALLY necessary. 

Prescriptions for durable good (hot tubs, mattresses, electric wheelchairs, larks, etc) will not be handled by this office. Only absolutely medically necessary goods will be ordered by our health care providers, and then only to accommodate post-surgical and rehabilitation needs..

After hours care is available for acute and urgent problems. Our team of PAs, NPs, and doctors will be available on a rotating basis to answer after-hour calls. A physician is always available as necessary for emergencies.

Calls will not be returned to numbers that have caller ID and anonymous call blocking. It is you responsibility to disable these features if you would like a return call. 

Medication refills WILL NOT be done after hours or on weekends.. 

The on call health care provider must be able to speak with the patient himself/herself and not to an intermediary.