Frequently Asked Questions

Call the Manhattan office at (212) 991-9991 or the Forest Hills office at (718) 360-9550 during business hours, or request an appointment online at any time and we will call to confirm. Tell us the reason for the visit in a sentence so we can book the right physician and the right amount of time. Same-week appointments are usually available at both offices.

Often, yes. We keep room in the schedule for same-day and walk-in visits at both offices and fill it as calls come in. Phoning first, even the same morning, gives you the best chance of a specific time. Urgent urologic and gynecologic problems, such as a suspected kidney stone, urinary retention or heavy bleeding, are prioritized; call and describe the symptom.

Most major insurance plans, but participation varies by physician and by location, and networks change from year to year. Rather than publish a list that would go out of date, we verify each patient's coverage individually when they book. Give the front desk your plan name and member ID and we will confirm whether the physician you want to see participates. Self-pay is available. See our insurance page.

Yes. Video and phone visits are available for New York State residents for follow-ups, medication management, results review, the virtual UTI/STI clinic and triage of new problems. Procedures and most new-problem exams need to be in person, and your clinician will tell you plainly when that applies. Details are on the telehealth page.

Not from us; you can book directly with any of our specialties. Some insurance plans, particularly HMO-type plans, require a referral from your primary care physician before a specialist visit is covered. Check your plan or ask our front desk when you call. If our internal medicine physician is your primary care doctor, the referral is handled inside the group.

Ask the front desk for a records release form, or download it from the patient information page, and tell us where the records should go. To send us records from another practice, bring them to your visit or have that practice fax or send them to the office where you are being seen. Both offices share one medical record, so records sent to either are available at both.

The fastest route is to ask your pharmacy to send a refill request to us electronically; most do this automatically. You can also call the office and leave the medication name, dose and pharmacy. Allow two business days. If a refill is due and you have not been seen in a long time, your physician may ask for a visit first, because some medications need monitoring. Controlled substances have additional requirements.

Many lab results from our on-site lab come back quickly and are reviewed during your visit. For results that take longer, including outside pathology and imaging reads, we call you, or we schedule a results-review visit, which can often be done by telehealth. If you have not heard about a result within the timeframe your physician gave you, call the office rather than assuming no news is good news.

The Manhattan office at 800 Second Avenue, between 42nd and 43rd Streets, is a short walk from Grand Central (4, 5, 6, 7 and S trains) and the 42nd Street crosstown buses, near the United Nations. Commercial parking garages are in the surrounding blocks; street parking is scarce, so most patients find transit easier. We are on the 9th floor, Suite C.

The Forest Hills office at 69-15 Yellowstone Boulevard, Suite 1 & 4, is a short walk from the 67th Avenue and Forest Hills–71st Avenue stations on the E, F, M and R lines. Queens bus routes run along nearby Queens Boulevard. Street parking in the neighborhood is metered or time-limited on many blocks, so allow a few extra minutes if you drive.

Dr. Tamara Guichard, gynecology, is fluent in French, Creole and American Sign Language and speaks medical Spanish. Dr. Yulya Timashpolsky, internal medicine, trained in Moscow and sees patients in Russian. If you or a family member need another language, tell us when you book and we will arrange interpretation for your visit so that nothing is lost in the conversation.

Yes, for the right procedures. Our Manhattan office has an accredited office-based surgery center, and cases needing deeper sedation are done with a separate anesthesiologist managing the anesthesia. Vasectomy, cystoscopy, hysteroscopy, prostate procedures, vein treatment and embolization are routinely done there. You avoid a hospital facility fee and go home the same day. When a case belongs in a hospital, we say so and arrange it.

Yes, and we welcome it. Bring the records, imaging and any pathology from the practice that made the original recommendation so that our physician can review the actual findings rather than a summary. Our philosophy is least-invasive-first, so a second opinion often centers on whether a simpler option was overlooked, or on confirming that the recommended procedure is the right one.

Yes. Both offices share one medical record, so you can be seen at whichever is more convenient on a given day. Our urology, gynecology, internal medicine and vascular teams see patients at both locations. Individual physicians divide their time between the two, so call to confirm a specific physician's schedule if you want to see a particular doctor.

We ask for 24 hours' notice to cancel or reschedule as a courtesy to other patients waiting to be seen. Call the office where your appointment is booked as soon as you know. If something unavoidable happens on the day, call anyway; we would rather move your appointment than have you go without care.