FAQ:
SECURE MESSAGING AND ONLINE VIRTUAL CONSULTATIONS

1. What is an Online Consultation?

An Online Consultation (OC) is a medical consultation, or answer to a medical question, provided to you by your physician using an online Secure Messaging service, for which your physician receives payment. The payment will come from you, if you elect to use this optional service.

2. What is Secure Messaging?

Secure Messaging is a service, provided by Dr. Roseff, that allows you to communicate with him electronically, in a secure and private manner.

3. What types of messages can I send using Secure Messaging?

There are two basic types of messages you can send with Secure Messaging:

¨ Administrative questions (appointment requests, prescription renewals and general questions)

¨ Online Consultation is for specific clinical issues related to your healthcare.

4. What are some of the uses of Online Consultation?

The Online Consultation service should be used for clinical but non-emergency questions you have for your physician that don’t require a face-to-face visit or a physical exam. Questions about medication, treatment or diagnostic alternatives can, at times, be better addressed through an Online Consultation where a physician has many patient education and reference materials at his/her fingertips and patients read and review the written answers to their questions. For example:

¨ I read there are different injectable fertility medications, such as Menopur, Repronex, Gonal-f, and Follistim.  What's the difference between these, and which one do you recommend for me? What are the risks and benefits of each of these alternatives?

¨ Given my family history of breast cancer, should I be on hormone replacement therapy? What are the reasons for and against?

¨ I just turned 40 and want a blood test to see if I'm perimenopausal.  What tests might you do?  When do I need to have them done?  Is a Clomid Challenge Test right for me?

5. What’s wrong with regular email for communicating with my physician?

Standard e-mail does not live up to state and federal laws for patient privacy nor does it conform to medical liability carrier guidelines. It is not encrypted nor password protected and often uses employer-sponsored e-mail networks thereby making the messages the property of the employer. You would not trade stocks, pay bills or even buy a book online using standard e-mail. Your communications with Dr. Roseff are too important and private to risk on standard e-mail. You will, however, receive notifications in your regular e-mail account when you have received a secure message from Dr. Roseff or his office. The message will contain a link that allows you to directly access your secure message from Dr. Roseff so you will not have to check more than one e-mail account to find all of your messages.

6. Is there anything that I should avoid using an Online Consultation for?

The Secure Messaging services, including Online Consultation, should not be used for emergency, urgent, high-sensitive or high-risk healthcare issues. Subjects of concern may include treatment for, or information regarding, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), mental health issues, substance abuse, etc. Specific topics to avoid should be worked out directly with Dr. Roseff and his staff.

7. What is the difference between an Online Consultation and a general message that I can send using the Secure Messaging service, and how do I use each?

The general message feature is to be used with Dr. Roseff’s staff, to address administrative issues such as health plan coverage and billing. You also may be able to request office appointments or prescription refills online. Online Consultation should be used for those clinical matters you would normally speak directly to Dr. Roseff about.

8. Is an Online Consultation communication directly with my physician? Is he the one that responds?

An Online Consultation comes from Dr. Roseff. He is the one who receives, writes and approves responses to OC requests.

9. How do I get permission from my physician to do Online Consultation with him?

If Dr. Roseff has not talked with you about OC or Secure Messaging, and you would like to use the service with him, you should bring it up in your next communication with the office. To facilitate this communication, you should go to Dr. Roseff's Web site (www.reproendo.com) and register as a patient. This will notify the practice that you are interested in using their online services.

10. Can I do an Online Consultation for someone other than myself, like my spouse/partner or my friend?

Yes for your spouse (if he is a registered patient at Dr. Roseff's office) and no for your friend. The form for completing an Online Consultation allows you to identify and communicate with the physician regarding a patient other than yourself, assuming that you are the patient’s partner, and have previously established this relationship with Dr. Roseff.  Since your friend is not a registered patient of Dr. Roseff, an online consultation could not be done.

11. Who sets the charge for an Online Consultation?

The charge for an OC is determined and set by Dr. Roseff's office.

12. Is there any way to do an Online Consultation without a credit card?

Not at this time. A valid credit card must be entered and approved in order to complete an Online Consultation.

13. Will my health plan or my employer reimburse me for an Online Consultation?

Some health plans and some employers are paying for online consultations. Most do not. You should contact your health plan or employer to determine/confirm whether an Online Consultation is a covered service. You may, however, be reimbursed for an Online Consultation from a Medical Flexible Spending Account if your employer offers this benefit.

14. How is Online Consultation cost effective for me?

When you add up all the costs of a visit to your physician (2 hours or more lost from work/other activities, gas, parking and other out-of-pocket travel expenses, etc), the cost of an office visit would far exceed the cost of an Online Consultation.

15. How secure is the Online Consultation messaging service?

The Online Consultation service provides authentication, encryption and other security and privacy measures, making the service compliant with the government’s proposed HIPAA guidelines and the medical liability carrier guidelines that address the handling and security of patient information.

16. How secure is the handling of my credit card information?

A critical concern for electronic payment and commerce is the secure transmission of data. To protect consumer data during transmission, national leading companies in Internet security are used to protect your credit card data.

17. What should I do if I don’t hear back from Dr. Roseff in the designated period of time on an Online Consultation?

Any time you have a concern regarding online communication with Dr. Roseff or his office you should call or contact us as you would have done prior to using online communications.

18. Can I communicate back and forth with Dr. Roseff in an Online Consultation until all of my questions are answered?

Yes. The OC service is designed for you to submit a question to the doctor and for Dr. Roseff to provide you with a response. It is important for you to provide as much information as possible to him, to protect you, as well as Dr. Roseff, from potential to miscommunication. If you or Dr. Roseff has a clarification question related to an Online Consultation, he may reply to you and may not charge you for this additional information. However, Dr. Roseff determines whether a fee is appropriate with each Online Consultation.

19. How do I submit additional information that I forgot to include after I have sent an Online Consultation?

It is important to be thorough in your communication with Dr. Roseff. If you feel that your additional information is important before or after you have received the doctor's response, you can open a new consultation. As indicated above, Dr. Roseff has the ability to generate a "no-charge" after reviewing a consultation request.

20. What if I think I should not be charged after I receive my physician’s reply?

If you are not satisfied with your physician’s reply to your medical question(s), and you have been charged for the consultation, you should discuss this directly with Dr. Roseff's office.

21. What do I do when I have submitted an Online Consultation and then change my mind before I receive my physician’s response?

You should call Dr. Roseff’s office and advise them that you wish to recall the Online Consultation. Assuming that Dr. Roseff has not yet responded, they may "no-charge" you.

22. What happens if I am in the midst of an Online Consultation and I lose my Internet connection? Am I charged?

Until the doctor receives and accepts your Online Consultation, you will not be charged. You will be notified at your regular e-mail address each time a request for Online Consultation has been successfully submitted on the Online Consultation (usually via RelayHealth).

23. Will the Online Consultations I have with my physician be stored by RelayHealth or another secure hosting service?

RelayHealth is a communications service provider— utility like the phone company — and as such will not store copies of the Online Consultation communications you have with Dr. Roseff. We may use RelayHealth as the secure messaging service, and they may store encrypted information for a period of time of their secure web servers.  However, it is your responsibility to ensure that you maintain copies of your Online Consultations. Dr. Roseff will do the same when applicable, and your Online Consultations may become part of your medical record.

24. Do I have to print all of the Online Consultations I have with Dr. Roseff?

It is recommended that you maintain copies of all of your medical records. Your OC communications with Dr. Roseff should become part of your medical record. If you need copies of your Online Consultations and for some reason you do not have them, you should contact Dr. Roseff’s office.

25. How do I change my personal e-mail notification address for Online Consultation?

At any time, you can change your e-mail notification address by going to Dr. Roseff’s Web site, logging in with your User ID and password, and then clicking on "Update My Profile". All of the information that you submitted to Dr. Roseff during online registration when you first registered on the Web site can also be changed via this "Update My Profile" link.

26. How do I get year-end accounting and receipts for all my Online Consultations?

RelayHealth provides a "print receipt" function for you so that you can keep Online Consultation receipts that do not have the actual physician-patient messages on them. You are responsible to keep copies of your Online Consultation receipts throughout the year if you need them.

If you have other questions regarding these services not addressed herein, please contact our office at 561-333-8232.

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