GET ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS
1. How can I make an appointment?
Please call our office at 847-818-7700 to make an appointment. Once a visit is sheduled, a patient might get an email or/and SMS as a reminder/s for the service/s. Reminders are for convinience only. Patients are responsible for canceling their appointments in accordance with our office policy, even if they do not receive reminders. If any urgent situations arise, please ensure to notify us as soon as possible.
2. Where are you located?
Our office is conveniently located at 135 North Arlington Heights Road, Suite 160, Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
3. What forms do I need to fill out?
Click here for a list of our forms. Our receptionist can let you know which forms you’ll need to print out and fill out for your first appointment. If you don’t have a printer, please come 15 minutes early to your appointment so you can fill out the paperwork in our office.
4. Do you accept my insurance?
As of March 01, 2022, the office accepts the following insurances:
Traditional Medicare + any Commercial insurance as a supplemental, BCBS PPO.
The patient is to provide the name of primary and secondary insurance in order
Every time insurance information changes, you have to email the front and back of your insurance card 2 business days in advance before any services to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
5. What if I don’t have insurance?
Your Personal Doctor will evaluate and treat your condition regardless of insurance. Payment for services is the patient’s responsibility. For patients without insurance, an upfront payment will be required before seeing the physician.
The medical service price list is here https://yourpersonaldoctor.com/index.php/patient-resources/forms-and-policies
6. What is health insurance? Will my insurance cover my services/procedures? Will I get a bill for my services/procedures?
Please read more about health insurance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_insurance
It is your responsibility to understand your insurance benefits. Your insurance company will send you an Explanation of Benefits explaining how your bill was paid and any amount you are responsible for. Deductibles, co-insurance, and co-payments may apply according to your insurance policy. By law, you are responsible for these amounts and any non-covered services listed in your policy.
7.How do I know if the medical service/medication is covered?
During the office visit, you get an order for tests and/or a prescription for medications. Orders/prescriptions have diagnoses. You should contact your insurance before service is rendered. The easiest way to find out if a service is covered is to contact your insurance company directly. They will be able to look up your plan and tell you what services are covered based on diagnoses, as well as any copays or deductibles that may apply. Medical Providers provide recommendations for services/medications regardless of coverage at 'the best effort'.
8. What are “in-network” and “out-of-network” providers?
In-network providers are providers who are contracted with your specific insurance plan. When providers are contracted with your plan, the benefits from the insurance company are much greater than if the provider is not contracted (out-of-network) with your plan. The patient's responsibility is to check with the insurance if the office and referral entities are in or out of the network before any services.
9. When will I receive a statement?
If you have health insurance, you may receive a statement and/or notification as an email/text message to pay your portion of the bill from Olga Zarkh, MD, Your Personal Doctor. Here are the steps to validate the statement/notification. Contact your insurance company for an explanation of benefits (EOB) where you see how insurance processes the claims. If the statement and EOB match up, please pay your portion. If there is a discrepancy between the EOB and the statement, please contact billing at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further work.
Notifications as an email and/or text are to be sent to email, mobile phones by a third party. its a patient responsibility to pay bill on time regardless of unforeseen circumstances such as 'junk' box, 'spam' box etc
10. What forms of payment can I use?
The preferable payment method is 'Zelle' from your bank to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. vs credit cards to save money on the bank transaction fee. Your Personal Doctor accepts cash, debit card, and credit card payments (MasterCard, Visa, AMEX, and Discover). You can pay by phone with a debit/credit card or quick pay to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can also pay your bill online.
11. How to get medical supplies or orders for tests?
The patient has to obtain a provider order during an office or virtual visit. Orders are to be a part of the provider note and be medically necessary. Some insurance companies require additional documentation, forms, specialist's orders, etc. Specialist's orders/notes are to be sent to our office directly from a doctor's office or by a patient.
12. How can I refill a prescription?
You should contact your pharmacy where the last prescription was obtained and ask for refills. We expect an electronic request from a pharmacy. The provider decides to get a prescription refilled or a patient needs a virtual or office visit. New prescription orders require a doctor's visit.
13. I have questions for to doctor or nurse practitioner
All questions are to be addressed only during virtual/office visits.
14. I need a doctor to fill out some forms or do the work outside of insurance coverage.
Review forms outside of the health care insurance coverage are out-of-pocket expenses. The price is here: https://yourpersonaldoctor.com/index.php/patient-resources/forms-and-policies
The price is per attempt. Work on the form does not guarantee approval or signature.
The forms are to be emailed to the office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to estimate the scope of work.
15. I have a prescription or test that is not covered or needs preauthorization.
Medical providers always prescribe medication based on medical necessity with an option for substitution (see a financial policy). Ask a pharmacist to fill a medication that meets your health and financial needs. Another option is to ask a pharmacist to provide a cost-effective solution based on your preferences and insurance and send us a medication change electronically by e-scripts (it could be a fee associated with a medication change). Please be aware that some preauthorization requests can not be done successfully because of insurance constraints. The Office will make a reasonable effort to make an Rx substitution (a fee could be applied).
We have logically created 3 categories for Rx preauthorization:
a. High chance of getting preauthorization approved (preauthorization must be sent to our EMR by insurance or pharmacy, all required information must be available in the EMR, free of charge for patients).
b. Low chance ( 50% or less) of getting preauthorization approved (physical/virtual visit with Nurse Practioner needed, fee applied).
c. Little chance of getting preauthorization approved (10% or less). (physical/virtual visit with Nurse Practioner needed, fee applied, only applicable if the patient requests the service)
Medication approval is up to an insurance
Advance tests such as CT/MRI preauthorization process:
2 categories for test preauthorization:
a. High chance of getting preauthorization approved (preauthorization must be done electronically at the insurance company website / the office has to receive credentials from an insurance company to log in on, all required information/questionaries must be available in the EMR, free of charge for patients).
b. Low chance of getting test approval electronically or need advanced skills to increase the chance of approval (physical/virtual visit with NP Nurse Practitioner needed, fee applied).
Approval is up to an insurance company.
16. What is a doctor's visit?
A doctor's visit is a meeting between a patient with a health provider to get health advice or a treatment plan for a symptom or condition. The visit has a start and end time.
Visit time includes all activities (both face-to-face and non-face-to-face) related to the encounter performed by the physician or QHP on the date of the encounter. This includes activities such as reviewing external notes/tests/etc.
The Patient should ask a doctor at the beginning of the appointment if it's about a follow-up or wellness exam and request a Doctor's note at the end of the appointment.
17. I changed my insurance. What's the next step?
A patient should send a new insurance card (front and back) 2 business days before any services at the office to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
18. What if I get a statement that is a year old?
The Illinois statute of Limitations is 5 years for oral contracts and 10 years for written agreements.
19. Changes. What should I know?
In many cases, the patients make changes (such as but not limited to canceling appointments, seeing other doctors, getting additional tests, altering medications etc) as such please consider changes in relationship with a plan of care.
20. How to make an urgent appointment?
Please call us at 8478187700 ext 2 during normal business hours. The medical assistant will collect information to share with Dr to decide the next step. Call the doctor's cell during off hours. Telemedicine with a Nurse practitioner is available within 24/48 hours on Monday-Saturday excluding holidays.(fees can apply)
21. Can I have an info regarding the payments made?
Yes, you can. If the patient made a payment or payments please contact the office by an email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The office personal send you the payments details by an email.
If a payment/payments made to the billing software Tebra, please contact the billing by an email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The billing department will send you a leger where you can see all payments to the office made by insurance companies and the patient.
Sepatation of payments duties are based on the securities reasons and acces to payment/billing applications
Limitation: 6 years of payments made in the office (cash, checks, credit cards, paypal, Zelle)
One year, if the payments made to the billing software (Tebra)
The patient responsibility is to check an EOB (explanation of benefits) from an insurance company to match the current statement before making a payment to the office.
There are errors dealing with patients flow, insurances, payments etc, due to the complicity of the process. The office is to apologize in advance if any errors happen. The error statistics is less than < 0.1% based on the amount of claims we sent. If errors happened on the office site, with the filing period limitation, it might be recoverable.
22. How do OPT-IN and OPT-OUT for SMS?
During the registration process, you are to be asked to OPT-IN or OPT-OUT for SMS ( see https://yourpersonaldoctor.com/images/doctor/forms/Registration_form_Medical_2021.pdf). We use SMS for reminders, bill payments dues, or medical urgent matters. For any reason, you would like to OPT-OUT for SMS, please send us an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to OPT-OUT for SMS. Email content: First and last name, date of birth, cell phone number, please OPT-OUT from SMS.
If you don’t see your question answered here, please call us. We’re here to help! Call 847-818-7700.
Interested in learning more about our
HEALTH, WELLNESS, and BEAUTY CARE?
Call us for a free consultation, 847-818-7700, or schedule an appointment with your personal advisor today.
Privacy Policy
The Privacy Policy lets you know how we collect and use your information.
Olga Zarkh MD is committed to safeguarding the privacy of our users. We assure you that we do not share your personal information with third parties. This privacy policy outlines how we collect, use, and protect the information you provide to us.
Information Collection:
We collect only the information necessary to provide and improve our services. This may include name, email address, etc. We do not sell, rent, or share this information with any third parties for their marketing purposes.
How We Use Your Information:
The information collected is used solely for communicating with the intended party. We do not share your information with external parties for marketing or any other purposes.
Your Choices:
You have the right to access, correct, or delete your information. If you have any concerns or questions about your data, please contact us at 8478187700.
Policy Changes:
We may update our privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be communicated to you, and your continued use of our services implies your acceptance of the updated policy. By using our services, you agree to the terms outlined in this privacy policy.
