Office Visits

We believe that a doctor needs to be available when you are sick. We will see you today (or tomorrow at the latest) for any illness.

Some of the Office Services we perform:

• Comprehensive Physicals including PAP smears
• Routine monitoring of chronic illnesses like problems with your heart or lungs, cholesterol, diabetes, thyroid, stomach, bllod pressure, and arthritis.
• Illness Visits
• Workers' Compensation Visits for Selected Businesses
• Pre-Employment Evaluations
• DOT Physicals
• Minor Office Surgery
• Skin cancer treatment
• Preventative medicine
• Appropriate Vaccinations
• Bone Density testing for osteoporosis
• Stress Tests/Cardiac Treadmills
• Holter monitoring
• Event Recorders
• Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring
• Phlebotomy (drawing blood) and complete laboratory services through Spectrum Laboratory Network
• Electrocardiograms

Preventative Medicine and Vaccines

We feel very strongly that prevention of disease is much more important than waiting until the disease develops. We encourage regular visits to catch illness before serious complications are incurred.

Most common preventative services include:

• Comprehensive Physicals including PAP smears
• Appropriate Vaccinations
• Bone Density testing for osteoporosis
• Screening blood tests
• Referral for colonoscopy and mammograms

Laboratory Testing

Our office will draw your blood for any tests ordered by Dr. Long.  We run very few tests in our office anymore because of constraints placed on us by insurance companies.  Those not done in our office are sent to Spectrum Labs.  Because we send your lab tests out, we will bring you in one day and draw your blood.  We will then ask you to return to see Dr. Long to get the results and for him to tell you what should be done about any abnormal values.  We perform the following tests in our lab:

• Glucose (Sugar)
• Hemoglobin A1C (Gives an average of your glucose over the last three Months)
• Urine for Microalbuminuria (Earliest sign of kidney damage due to diabetes)
• Urinalysis
• Strep Throat swabs
• Urine Pregnancy testing

Your insurance company may pay for your tests in full or you may receive a bill from us or from the lab itself for what insurance doesn't cover.  Some tests Dr. Long orders may be considered medically unnecessary by the insurance company but very necessary by him; he will not order the lab work unless it is needed to provide excellent care of you.  Medicare will not pay for lab tests it deems medically unnecessary and requires that we tell you in advance that they will not pay the bill, about how much it will cost you, and that you will be responsible for it.  You will sign this form at the time of service.

Other Diagnostic Testing

• Bone densitometry to look for osteoporosis.
• Stress testing of all kinds to look for heart disease.
• EKGs to evaluate your heart rhythms.
• Echocardiography to evaluate how the heart looks.
• Pulmonary function testing to look for asthma and emphysema.
• Liver biopsy.
• Skin biopsy.
• Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy to look for abnormalities including cancers.

Hospitalization

Our patients are admitted to Lexington Memorial Hospital unless all of their beds are full or a service is needed that is unavailable at their facility.  Dr. Long will admit you if it is during regular office hours or during the time he is on call.  You will be admitted by the after hours call group any other time.

If you are admitted by the after hours call group, Dr. Long will assume your care the next morning unless it is on a weekend or he is out of town.  If you are admitted on a weekend he will not take over until Monday; he will continue rounding, through the weekend, on those patients that were already in the hospital.  The on call doctor will round on you through the weekend since he admitted you and will be getting the phone calls from the nurses if you have a problem; he needs to know what has been done for you throughout your admission.

Long Term Care

Dr. Long prefers admitting his Lexington patients to the Brian Center of Lexington where he is the Medical Director and is in and out of the facility three to four times a week. He is also the Medical Director of the Brian Center of Mooresville. Both facilities are owned and operated by SavaSeniorCare. Dr. Long also admits to Lexington Health Care Center and visits there weekly. Patients at other homes may be seen in our office.

Dr. Long is certified by the American Medical Directors Association as a Long Term Care Medical Director and is certified in Wound Care in an effort to provide the best possible care for nursing home patients. He also performs many hours of continuing medical education in the long term care and geriatric fields.

After Hours

Doctor Long participates in an after hours call group with Terry Arnold MD, Victor Farrah DO, and Marc Fedder MD.  Please call Lexington Memorial Hospital at 248-5161 and the switchboard will be able to contact the physician that is on call.  It will be Dr. Long or one of the above group.  Rarely, a different physician may cover for this group in unusual circumstances.  If you clearly have an emergency that can't be handled over the phone, go directly to the emergency room or call 911.

Please do not expect the doctors on call for Dr. Long to prescribe pain pills or nerve pills over the telephone.  They will not be able to know whether or not you are a drug seeker.  You will need to be seen in the emergency room or at an urgent care center like MedChoice to obtain these medicines.  Obviously, it will be at that doctor's discretion whether to prescribe them or not.