Individualized Specialist Review and Telemedicine Consultations

Tampa Bay Hearing and Balance Center offers individualized records review and telemedicine consultation services that meet the needs of patients who need a 2nd or 3rd opinion, where Tampa, FL may be of significant distance, or where case complexity is such that the patient or their representative requires customized attention and records review prior to a visit. Read about case scenarios further down the page.

Our team of nationally recognized physicians have a combined 75 years of experience in the field of Otology, Neurotology, and Skull Base Surgery. We are passionate about advancing the management and treatment of complex ear disorders and use a combination of novel, leading edge, and traditional approaches to ear health. Our physicians are well known for their patient focused and compassionate approach to medicine and will provide you and your family with the expertise you need and deserve to live a happier and more active life.

Is this service for me?

Consider the following scenarios:

1. You have a complex case or would like a 2nd or 3rd opinion, with a significant number of medical records, and would like to introduce your physician to the case prior to your already scheduled visit. For some complex situations, especially with 5 or more diagnostic medical record reports to review, the Tampa Bay Hearing and Balance Center physician prefers to see these records ahead of time. When those are complex, using this pre-visit option is strongly preferred.
2. You have been diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma or other ear related tumor, distance to visit us in Tampa, FL is prohibitive. You are considering a trip to Tampa, FL but would like to have a preliminary understanding / education of your disease process and our treatment philosophy before committing to travel expenses.
3. You would like our physician to consult with your local treating physician.
4. You are established with our practice and have been evaluated by us in Florida, and the time for your follow-up visit is approaching and you would like a more convenient alternative to driving to Tampa to visit with your physician and renew medications and/or review updated lab and diagnostic testing results.
5. You are involved in litigation and you and/or your legal counsel would like an independent review of records, pending a possible evaluation in person.

Important to understand is that this specific service is NOT covered by any insurance company including Medicare and Medicaid, and that we can only provide preliminary information pending an in person visit with you. We are unable to complete your diagnosis and treatment options without seeing you in person but we can provide a synopsis to your local physician to consider in evaluating and managing your situation. Please always remember that seeing the patient in person in many cases provides aspects of understanding a patient that cannot be generated easily by records evaluation. Sometimes, a telephone conference or video-conference call can augment the evaluation experience.

Cost of Service

• This is a cash only service.
  • This specific service is NOT covered by any insurance company including Medicare and Medicaid.
  • If your circumstance requires a traditional insurance based visit, please know that in order to give your case the appropriate time it deserves we need to limit our review of records to 4 diagnostic reports during your first visit. Subsequent visits will be dedicated to additional records review.
  • If you want to review more than 4 diagnostic reports within a single visit, the records review service outlined here is required. Insurance does not cover the appropriate time involved in a single visit to review extensive records and we feel that it is important to give your case the appropriate time it deserves. We believe you will be more satisfied with our service if proper time is allocated for your extensive records review and complex issue.
• Cost for non-legal/litigation records review service:
  • The cost is $125 per 30 minutes of records review with a minimum of 30 minutes.
  • We require a non-refundable $75 deposit, that is applied towards the total, to get the process started. Our service is dedicated to those who want to have this service.
  • Payment for a pre-agreed upon estimate for service is expected prior to rendering service. If additional time is desired or required you will be billed for the remainder.
• Cost for legal/litigation records review:
  • The cost is $900 per hour with a minimum of 2 hours charge.
  • Payment for a pre-agreed upon estimate for service is expected prior to rendering service. If additional time is required you will be billed for the remainder.

What do I need to use the service?

Basic Requirements

• Your patient information form.
  Start Patient Information Form
• A signed Advanced Beneficiary Notification that acknowledges that this service is not and will not be covered by insurance.
• Gather and send us a COPY(not originals) of your medical records, and a COPY (not originals) of your MRI/CT Scan on CD/DVD or Film.
• Medical records can either be faxed, emailed, or mailed.
• Mail in your MRI/CT Scan on CD/DVD or Film.
• Send in a non-refundable $75 for preliminary record review service in order to get started.
• At the initial analysis, we will give you an estimate of the costs for records review which will include preparation of a preliminary synopsis, and the amount of time we expect to spend in a telephonic, email exchange, and/or video-conference if desired.
• If the estimate provided meets with your approval the balance is due prior to the service.
• A physician will review your records and depending on your choices a telephone/video appointment and/or email exchange will be set up with your physician.

Where do I send my medical records?

NOTE: Please only send us a COPY of your medical records and CD or Films of MRI/CT Scan. Keep your original medical records with you. If needed, we will return your medical records to you for a shipping and handling fee. If you decide not to use our service, we will keep a copy of the records on file for 2 months and then shred the documents. If 2 months has passed and you later decide you would like to use the service we would then need you to send the medical records again. If we complete a telephonic and/or video-conference call with you, we will keep a written synopsis for 7-10 years. We will not keep an audio-recording or a video-recording of the visit.

• Fax: 813-315-4329
• Email: recordsreview@tampabayhearing.com
• Mail:
  Tampa Bay Hearing & Balance Center ATTN: Records Review Service 5 Tampa General Cir STE 610 Harbourside Medical Tower Tampa, FL 33606-3659
• You will receive a confirmation email with further instructions once we have received your patient information form and records.

Minimum technical requirements are:

• An email address that you personally control. If you do not have an email address, we recommend Gmail or another service that has encryption built into the email service. Our email correspondence with you will be encrypted. You will receive an email notification that states “New ZixCorp secure email message from Entrusted Mail”. This comes from our office.
• A phone number or phone numbers and times of day when you will be available to discuss.
• Your medical chart should be prepared in advance by collaborating with our staff at the Tampa Bay Hearing and Balance Center
• You must register for a patient portal account with the help of our staff; the patient portal allows us to communicate with you in a secure manner which meets government privacy guidelines.

Advanced Requirements (OPTIONAL):

• If desired, in order to accommodate a video-conference meeting/shared computer screen style appointment, you will also need a computer or tablet with reliable high speed Internet. Most Internet service from cable companies or phone companies meet this requirement. While it is possible to use your smartphone for this style meeting, such is not optimal as the screen will be too small to see any drawings/images/presentations the physician may want to share with you.
• When a telephonic meeting is scheduled, you will receive via secure email the meeting login instructions and computer/tablet preparation instructions prior to your appointment. If this method is chosen you will still need a phone, and if technology glitches get in the way, the appointment will be completed by phone in lieu of video/shared computer screen. If you are too hearing impaired to use the phone, someone who can communicate with you may need to be present with you: this will be your responsibility to arrange at your expense. While current technology gives us exciting communication choices today, we are not a technical support IT company and we will not be able to solve any of your local technology problems.
• For an MRI/CT Scan review we prefer a CD/DVD, especially if you are wanting a video/shared computer screen meeting. If you send in films instead of a CD/DVD, we will review the images but may not have a way to show you the images on a computer screen. In some cases, we can photograph film to use in a conference call but that does add to expense.