Office Hours

Our main clinic is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Convenient Care Hours

Carle Foundation Physicians – Mattoon/Charleston now offers evening and weekend Convenient Care hours.

Monday – Thursday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturdays, 9 a.m. – Noon

Office Holidays

Carle Foundation Physicians – Mattoon/Charleston provides employees the opportunity to celebrate major holidays. Most doctors’ offices will be closed on the following days:

• New Year’s Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Eve (often closes at noon)
• Christmas Day
• New Year’s Eve (often closes at noon)

Missed Appointments/Late Arrivals

• Please be sure to arrive approximately 10 minutes early for your appointment.
• If you are 10 minutes or more late for your appointment, it may be necessary for you to reschedule your appointment to a later time.
• Missed appointments not only prevent us from providing medical care and treatment, they also prevent us from productively scheduling unused physician time for the benefit of other patients.
• We do ask that you provide 24 hours notice when cancelling or rescheduling appointments. If this is not possible, please contact our office as soon as you know that you will not be able to make it to your appointment.

Medication Information

It is important you understand your medications and doses. Please bring all medications with you to your appointment. At every visit we will verify your current medications and confirm the doses with you. After your visit has ended, you may pick up a print out of your medications at the reception desk. If you have questions about your medications, please ask your physician or one of our staff members to assist you.

Medication Refills

• Please check with your pharmacy first. They may have additional refills for you.
• 48-hour notice is required for medication refills.
• When you call, please give the receptionist your name, your physician’s name, the name and dosage of the medication, and your preferred pharmacy.
• Be sure to leave a return phone number in case there are any questions.

Laboratory/X-Ray Results

• Most of your lab and X-ray results will come to you in the mail within seven to 10 business days.
• Occasionally you may receive a phone call from a nurse with further instructions.
• If you have not received your results within seven to 10 business days, please contact our office.

Contacting Your Physician

It is best to contact your physician during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., or when your problem is first noticed. A primary care physician works with a team of medical professionals (and with you) to ensure that you receive excellent care. Your physician will guide you to other services or physicians as needed.

Life-Threatening Emergencies

If you are experiencing any symptoms you believe to be life-threatening, call 911 immediately. You should not call your physician or anyone else first with these types of emergencies.
Call 911 or your local emergency service if you or someone else is experiencing any of the following:

• Severe difficulty breathing, or breathing that stops for more than 15 seconds.
• Chest pain, pressure or tightness with pain in the neck, shoulders, jaw, back or arms, which may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting, or cool, moist skin or shortness of breath.
• New, sudden onset of slurred speech.
• Serious injury with broken bones.
• Serious injuries involving the head, neck or spine.
• Severe burns involving face and/or hands, or burns that involve over 20 percent of the body.
• Major bleeding that will not stop.
• Signs of shock, including: extreme weakness, limpness, not moving, not responding, gray or blue colored skin.
• Loss of consciousness for more than one minute.
• Fever and rash with purple spots.
• Inability to swallow your own saliva.
• Deep puncture wound to the head, neck, chest or abdomen.
• Seizure lasting more than five minutes, or a seizure after a head injury.
• Suicidal thoughts with a plan and means to cause self-harm.
• Sudden onset of severe headache.
• Pregnancy and you feel like the baby is about to be born.
• Any other symptoms or problems that you feel threaten your life.

Call the Illinois Poison Control Center at (800) 222-1222 if:

• You or someone else has just swallowed something harmful.
• You have inhaled something that is making you feel ill.

Urgent Problems

Many urgent needs can be safely handled in your physician’s office or in a Convenient Care setting. During Convenient Care hours, walk-ins are welcome.

Appointment Scheduling

For more information about any of our physicians,  to learn whether a physician is accepting new patients, or to schedule an appointment with one of our providers, please call (217) 258-5900 from Mattoon or (217) 348-5900 from Charleston,  Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Convenient Care

While some medical problems may be emergencies, many can be managed at home. For concerns that are not life-threatening but cannot wait until your doctor’s office reopens, consider using Convenient Care.

Non-Emergency Medical Advice by Telephone

After consulting your home health resources, if you still have questions you may wish to speak with your physician’s nurse. The following advice will help you when you speak with a nurse over the telephone.

1. Be informed.
   Know what is a life-threatening emergency. If the situation is life-threatening, call 911 or your local emergency service. Do not call your doctor, the nurse or anyone else.
2. Be understanding.
   You may be asked to leave a message for the nurse to call you back. Leave complete details indicating who you are, your concern and contact information. Urgent calls are given priority. Return of non-urgent calls may be delayed. It may take more time for you to receive a return call during peak phone day(s) and/or times.
3. Who should speak with the nurse?
   The nurse will want to talk directly with the patient, if possible. Even if you feel too ill to talk, the nurse will want to speak with you to get the most accurate information and safely assess your concerns.
4. Be ready to answer the following questions, if possible:

• When did the symptom(s) start? Are you still having them?
• Is the problem getting worse?
• If there is pain, where is it located?
• How severe is the pain now?
• What is your temperature? (Check it prior to calling.)
• Have you had this symptom(s) before?
• How was the problem treated in the past? What makes it better/worse?
• Are you taking any medications?
• Do you have any allergies?
• Do you have any serious health problems?
• Have you had a recent injury, surgery, infection or illness? Any past surgeries?
• Is your skin color pale? Flushed? Blue?
• What have you had to eat or drink in the last 24 hours?
• How have you been sleeping? Too much/too little?
• How are your bowel movements and urine output?

Patient Advisory Services

Even when your doctor’s office is closed, Patient Advisory Services is always available to help with health concerns. One call can put you in touch with a medical professional 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help you decide how quickly you should seek medical care before your doctor’s office opens. Call the Patient Advisory Services at (217) 383-3233. You can also be transferred after hours and on weekends by calling (217) 258-5900 and selecting option 2.

Be Prepared

Whether you’re arriving at an emergency department, Convenient Care or physician office, or talking with a nurse on the phone, please be prepared. Healthcare professionals meet your needs most effectively if given detailed information regarding your health concerns.
Tips to Preparedness

• Bring a current list of your serious health problems. Examples might be:
• Having had your spleen removed
• Diabetes
• Taking medications that suppress your immune system
• Diseases involving your heart, kidneys or liver
• Have an updated list of all medications you take. Please include the name of the medication, strength and how often you take it. Be sure to include any herbal or over-the-counter medicines taken either daily or occasionally. Also have a list of medications you have had reactions to in the past, including details of the reaction you experienced.
• Write a short description of your main concern, including specific information about your symptoms and why you are seeing the physician or why you are calling the nurse.
• Be prepared to write down any instructions given. Have a pencil and paper with you at the appointment or next to the phone for writing instructions.

Questions About Medications

The physician who prescribed your medication is your best contact regarding medication questions. However, when your physician is unavailable, your pharmacist can answer many questions, including:

• Questions about drug interactions.
• Special concerns while taking a medication, such as what foods to avoid, sun exposure, etc.
• What medications you should avoid due to past reactions.
• Over-the-counter medications that may help your condition.

Prescription Refills - Plan Ahead

Quite often patients calling for medication renewals are also due for a recommended follow-up appointment, so it is best to plan ahead and schedule an appointment before your medication runs out. Medication renewals can most effectively be addressed during this scheduled appointment. Remember to bring all medications, or a list of them, to your appointment. Let your physician know which prescriptions will expire before your next follow-up appointment. If you call your physician’s office for a renewal, please allow two business days to allow time for the physician to review your medical record.

Billing Questions

Thank you for choosing Carle Foundation Physicians for your medical needs. We value your confidence in us! We are committed to assisting you with any billing and insurance issues you might have.

It is very important for you to provide us with your insurance information, or any insurance changes, as soon as possible so that your charges can be processed quickly and accurately. You may do this at any check-in desk or by calling our billing office’s new patient counselor at (217) 258-5900. Typically, your charges will be processed and billed to your insurance company within 48 hours from the time of service.

Any applicable co-payments, co-insurance or deductible amounts are due at the time of service and may be paid at the check-in desks on each floor. A financial counselor is available to help answer financial questions related to your medical care, explain our Community Care Discount Program (charity care), assist with insurance issues or answer specific billing questions.

When seeing a provider at Carle Foundation Physicians– Mattoon/Charleston, you will receive a statement generated from our billing office in Dallas, Texas, but you can call for assistance from our main location in Urbana at (217) 326-0383. Additional billing information, including a list of accepted health plans, can be found online at mycarlebill.com.

Important Information About Laboratory, Radiology and Ancillary Services at Carle Foundation Hospital

Depending on the services you need, you may receive bills from different organizations. The procedure to gather your blood, known as venipuncture, will be billed through Carle Physician Group. Lab analysis will be billed through Carle Foundation Hospital. If physician review for pathology is required for the interpretation of the results, it will be billed through Carle Foundation Physician Services.

Contacting the Business Office

Carle Foundation Physicians – Mattoon/Charleston patients can receive assistance with billing and insurance issues in our business office. For questions about billing or insurance, call (217) 258-5900.

Carle Foundation Physicians – Mattoon/Charleston is a participating provider for many popular insurance plans, including Health Alliance Medical Plans and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. View a complete list of contracted providers.