About Us

Allergists Pittsburgh

Certified Asthma Educators

(Left to Right) Back Row: Angie Wolf, RN, AE-C, Carly Kelly PA-C, AE-C, Lisa Marlowe, N, AE-C, Maureen Duke, PA-C, AE-C
Front Row: Debbie Geisler RN, AE-C, Beth Zahand, RN, AE-C

At Allergy & Clinical Immunology, we place a great emphasis on educating our patients and their families. Our expert physicians and physician assistants are unique in their commitment to ensuring patients have a strong knowledge base and clear understanding of their conditions. Our trained nursing staff provides extensive teaching regarding asthma and allergies.Our goal is to provide the highest possible quality of care to patients with allergic diseases, asthma, and immune deficiency disorders. We work hard to form a partnership with our patients and their families to help them achieve the goal of a happy symptom-free life, fully participating in school, work and recreational activities.

One of the cornerstones of this dedication is our group of certified asthma educators. An asthma educator is an expert in teaching, educating, and counseling individuals with asthma and their families in the knowledge and skills necessary to minimize the impact of asthma on their quality of life. Certified asthma educators are required to pass a national board exam and continue ongoing asthma education to maintain certification.

Emergencies

Allergy Emergencies Pittsburgh
We continue to offer emergency coverage when our office is closed. At these times, we ask that calls be limited to true emergencies.

If an emergency arises after office hours, you will receive recorded information on emergency procedures by calling our daytime telephone number, or you may call our answering service directly.
412-571-5934

Appointments

Allergy Appointments Pittsburgh
If you are unable to keep an appointment, please cancel at least 24 hours in advance, to avoid a $30 cancellation fee. A new patient appointment takes approximately two to three hours. Follow-up appointments should be scheduled with the physician who was seen for the initial evaluation. We suggest you schedule a follow-up appointment three months in advance in order to find a convenient appointment time.

Insurance

Allergist Accepted Insurances
Please bring your insurance information and the necessary forms with you at the time of your visit. We do ask that payment of benefits be assigned to our office if you choose to have us file your claim. Also, please be aware that many plans now have HIGH DEDUCTIBLES  ($1,500 – $4,000) which means that the patient is responsible for total payment of their charges until the deductible is met.  Our physicians participate in most of the Managed Care Organizations and many of the traditional commercial insurance plans. It is best to check with your insurance to see if we participate with your particular plan. Please remember that some HMO and POS plans require pre-authorization (referrals) before we can render any services. If you do not have a referral, you will be asked to sign a waiver, and you will be responsible for the entire charge.  For information about your individual coverage, please contact your insurance carrier directly.

Payment

Payment Options
It is our policy to request payment of co-pays and non-covered services at the time of your visit.  The initial visit charges include allergy testing and other procedures, charges may vary from $65 – $800.  While we are happy to file applicable charges to your insurance, some plans have high deductible amounts and patients are responsible for payment of charges until the deductible is met.  Please have a current insurance card with you at the time of your appointment. Prompt payment minimizes our billing costs and benefits our patients by enabling us to maintain lower fees.  If there is an unusual financial situation which makes it difficult to meet your medical expenses, please discuss this with our Billing Department.

Allergy Injections

Allergy Injections Pittsburgh
Allergy injections are administered in this office Monday through Saturday as well as three evenings. A schedule of injection times is available at the reception desk. Appointments are not necessary for allergy shots, however, we must stress that injections are not given outside of the scheduled hours. A physician is always present in the office during injection hours. Please check the routine schedule. All patients must wait in our offices a minimum of thirty minutes following an injection and must have the injection site examined by a nurse before leaving.

Prescription Refills

Allergy Medication Pittsburgh
Requests for refills should be made between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. We ask that evening and weekend calls be limited to emergency matters only. If a patient has not been seen for an office visit in over a year, a refill may be called in at the doctor’s discretion and you will be asked to schedule an appointment. Depending on the length of time since your last office visit, you may be informed that we cannot prescribe any medication until you have been seen. It is in your best interest to schedule regular follow-up appointments to keep your records current. Please have your pharmacy name telephone number, medication and dosage available when you call.

PLEASE DO NOT HAVE YOUR PHARMACIST CALL OUR OFFICE FOR REFILLS

Lab Results

Lab Results
Please call for laboratory results on a day that your doctor is in the office. Any abnormal laboratory results requiring immediate attention will be handled by the physician in the office on that day. When leaving your message with the receptionist please inform us of the type of test and when and where it was performed. You chart will be reviewed and you will receive a return call regarding the results.

Nurse Specialist

Allergy Nurse Specialist
When you call our office regarding a medical problem, the receptionist will inform the nurse specialist, who will then call you for more exact details to give to the doctor in the office. The nurse will then call you back with the doctor’s recommendations. We do expect you to be available to receive a return call and ask that you make every effort to keep your phone line free so that we can reach you. We try to call back as quickly as possible, but emergencies must always be addressed before routine questions.