Scheduling an appointment

To make an appointment, you may call 757-578-2260 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday – Thursday or until 1 p.m. on Friday, or you may stop by our office to schedule an appointment with a pain management specialist or physical therapist. Physicians referring patients to the Barr Center may have their staff call to schedule the appointment for patients or fill out the online Patient Referral Form and fax it to our office at 757-578-2261.

Initial Evaluation wait time

Patients are generally scheduled within two weeks for a new evaluation.

Initial evaluation 

You will receive a welcome packet in the mail, prior to your visit, or you can download the New Patient Packet from this website.  It is recommended that you arrive about 15 minutes prior to your initial evaluation if you have completed your paper work, and 30 minutes if you have not completed the paperwork. After your initial evaluation, your doctor will discuss with you the most effective treatment program for your problem.

Preparing for your first appointment

To assist in making your first visit to the Barr Center more time efficient, please bring any relevant medical records as well as:

• Photo Id
• Insurance card
• Any referrals from your primary care physician
• All completed new patient paperwork
• Co-pay, if required

We will request any other medical records, MRI’s, CT Scans, X-rays or laboratory results or MRI’s be faxed to our office from your referring physician’s office. To expedite this process you can download the Medical Records Request Form before your first visit.

Length of the initial evaluation

Generally, your initial evaluation takes about 60 minutes. Your physician will have to take a thorough history and review your medical records to determine what treatment is best for you.

Clothing to wear to the exam

You should wear comfortable clothing. Please bring shorts or sweat pants for any lower extremity problems, and women are asked to bring or wear a sports bra for shoulder problems.

Before your appointment

As a courtesy to our patients and staff, wearing of strong perfumes or colognes and/or lotions should be avoided.

Questions about your treatment

The Barr Center recognizes that diagnoses and medical procedures can be difficult to understand. Every effort is made to simply and completely answer all questions related to treatment. The Barr Center believes that patient education is critical in the process of pain management.

Scheduling follow-up visits

Follow up visits are scheduled at the end of your initial evaluation. If a procedure is recommended, it may be scheduled at that time. You will be given any necessary paper work for follow up. Please note that certain insurances require pre-authorization for physical therapy and pain management procedures. It may take as long as seven to ten days for us to obtain authorization before certain services can be scheduled. We will do our best to get your procedure authorized in a timely fashion. If you are uncertain about the status of your authorization, please contact our office.

Ride/drive home from appointment

Reflexes may be temporarily impaired from certain procedures or you may experience numbness, so arranging for a driver is an important safety precaution. You will be advised as to whether or not you will need to make the necessary arrangements prior to your procedure.

Returning to work after the exam/procedure

Yes, in most cases. However, there are a few procedures that may require patients to miss work. You will be given more information about your procedure and what you should prepare for as well as expect.

Expected improvements after the procedure

The quality and length of pain relief vary from patient to patient based on the type of symptoms, how long they have been present, their origin in the body, and the procedure that is performed. Your physician will advise you on what to expect from the procedure that is to be performed.

Lack of pain relief after the procedure

Whether the procedure relieves your symptoms or not, your physician will gather important information about the source and nature of your pain. If there is no relief, then you physician will discuss with you what needs to be further done to determine the source of your pain.

Having your prescription refilled

You can call our office at 757-578-2260 for prescription refills, Monday through Thursday between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m and on Friday between 9:00 am to noon. Please allow three (3) business days to process your request. If someone is picking up the prescription for you, an Authorization for Release of Prescription has to be completed in order for the prescription to be released.  We cannot refill controlled substances over the phone.

Medication refills must be made at the time of your scheduled appointment. This ensures that we remain in compliance with the Virginia Board of Medicine safe prescribing guidelines.

Obtaining a copy of your medical records

We will be happy to provide you with a copy of your medical records. You will need to fill out a copy of the Medical Records Release Form, and return it to the office closest to you. There is a $10 retrieval fee, and a .50 per page charge. You will need to allow at least five days for us to process your request. We will fax any records to other physicians, but you will have to come to the office to sign a release for the records.

Health insurance pre-authorization procedure

You should check with your insurance to determine if a referral is necessary prior to receiving treatment. If your insurance requires a pre-authorization to see a specialist, then you must get a referral from a Primary Care Physician or OB/Gyn to see a pain specialist for an initial appointment.

After the initial consultation, our office will obtain any future pre-authorizations, sometimes with the assistance of your referring doctor.