Office Information

Welcome to Cornerstone Medical Group, a combination of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine. Dr.’s Mullen, Neises, and Weeks are Family Practitioners; Drs. Blackwell, Jensen, Ta and Voegele are Internal Medicine. Mae Johnson is our Family Nurse Practitioner.

Hours:
Office visits are by appointment only. Our office and phone lines are open 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Mondays through Thursdays and 8:00 AM to 12:00 noon on Fridays. We will do our best to schedule an appointment for you at the first available, appropriate opening, including same day appointments when possible.

Contacting us:
We encourage you to call for routine problems during regular office hours. If you get voice mail when you call, please follow the instructions and leave your name (with spelling), date of birth, brief nature of your request or problem and a telephone number where you can be reached. Please remember that we are seeing patients and may not be able to respond immediately. WE WILL RETURN YOUR CALL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Please do not leave multiple messages for the same issue as this may cause a delay in our response time. All non-urgent calls after 4pm will be addressed the following business day. Please do not call requesting antibiotics unless you have been recently seen for that same problem. With antibiotic overuse and resistance, we feel it is good medical practice to see you before prescribing an antibiotic.

After hours calls:
For life-threatening emergencies, call 911. For other problems that cannot wait until the next business day, you may call Cornerstone’s answering service at our main number 706 226-3139 or 706 278-6359. The on-call provider is there to answer questions or provide advice for issues that cannot wait until regular office hours. They are not there to refill routine medications except in emergencies. The on-call person does not call in pain medication and it is seldom appropriate to call in antibiotics without an examination.

Prescription refills:
At your office visit, we make every effort to give you enough prescription refills to last until your next follow-up appointment. You can help us by making sure we have given you all of your prescriptions before you leave the office. If for some reason you need a refill prior to your appointment then we will try to take care of it within 24 hours of your request. DO NOT LET YOURSELF RUN OUT OF YOUR REGULAR MEDICATIONS. Please leave your full name, birthday and a pharmacy name and/or telephone number for your refill every time you call. Prior approvals from your insurance company for non-formulary medications may take up to one month. You may require laboratory work or a recheck office visit with the physician before your medication request can be filled, so be sure to leave yourself enough time for this. Check with your pharmacy to see when you will be able to pick up your prescription. Please bring all of your medications with you to every office visit so that we can verify that you are on the correct medications and dosages.

Hospital care:
Our group has an outpatient and a hospital team to better serve you. Four of us (Mae Johnson and Drs. Mullen, Ta and Weeks), devote our time to assisting with after hours phone calls and extended office hours. Drs. Blackwell, Jensen, Neises and Voegele provide our hospital care in addition to working in the office. Under this arrangement Dr. Blackwell will cover his and Mae Johnson’s patients, Dr. Voegele will cover his and Dr. Weeks’ patients, Dr. Jensen will cover his and Dr. Ta’s patients, and Dr. Neises will cover his and Dr. Mullen’s patients when they are admitted to the hospital. Dr. Neises and a local pediatric group provide care for hospitalized children.

Nursing home Care:
Dr. Mullen is our nursing home specialist, caring for over 150 nursing home patients and is the medical director at Peachtree Estates, Ridgewood and Wood Dale nursing homes.

Referrals:
In order to get a new referral to a specialist you must first be seen by your provider here for that problem. This is a requirement from insurance companies and most specialists. Depending on the specialty, turnaround time for referral appointments is approximately 1-4 weeks. Please plan accordingly.

Fees and payments:
We accept most major insurance coverage. Please contact the business office for any questions regarding acceptance of your insurance coverage. Payments and co-payments are due at the time of your visit. We accept cash, checks, and most major credit cards. Please have a valid copy of your current insurance card and photo identification available at every visit.

Business and insurance assistance:
To speak with one of our business or insurance specialists, please call 706 226-3139 extension 104.

Legal Disclosure:
Cornerstone Medical Group complies with federal and state laws regarding employment, privacy of information, and other applicable regulations.