FIRST APPOINTMENT CHECKLIST:

  • X-rays
  • Completed patient information
  • Your insurance cards
  • Referral from your primary care physician, if applicable
  • A list of any medications you are taking, include vitamins and supplements
  • Bone scans, if applicable, please see below
  • MRI scans, if applicable, please see below
  • Recent laboratory blood work, if applicable, please see below
  • Operative records, if applicable, please see below 

X-RAYS, BONE SCANS, CAT SCANS, MRI’S

  • If you are bringing X-ray films to your appointment, please make certain to bring all of the films you have.
  • They all have value to your physician; older films are used for comparison.
  • If you do not have up-to-date films, X-rays will be taken on the day.
  • If you are bringing bone scans, CAT scans, or MRI films please bring a copy of the written report as well.

If you are coming for an evaluation of a painful shoulder, shoulder replacement, please bring the following additional items:

LABS

  • Please bring any recent (no older than three to four months) laboratory blood work related to your joint replacement such as an Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) and C – reactive protein (CRP).
  • If you have had your total hip or knee aspirated (“tapped”) please bring the laboratory results from this procedure.

OPERATIVE RECORDS

1. The “operative report” from your last surgery on your hip or knee. This is a report dictated by the surgeon which tells what was done during the operation and importantly what implants or “parts” were put in or taken out during the surgery.

2. The “part stickers” from the implants or hardware that were put in during your last surgery. These are labels from the box of the implant that are placed in the patient’s chart or operative record during the operation. These are necessary if the operative report does not specify the type of implants used.

For revision surgery, your doctor needs this information to order replacement parts which will match up with the implant that you currently have in place. For conversion surgery (converting previous surgery, such as fixation of a hip fracture, to a total joint replacement), this information allows us to have the necessary tools available to remove the hardware in place.

Due to health care privacy laws, your written permission is necessary in order for you to obtain this information for us. The best places to obtain this information are either from:x

1. The hospital (Medical Records Department) where the surgery was performed (they should have both the operative report and the part stickers),

Or

2. The office of the surgeon who performed the surgery (they will usually just have the operative report).