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Pain medicine, pain management, fibromyalgia, Arizona pain, back pain, pain treatment, discography, back pain, neck pain, migraine, headaches, sciatica, muscle pain, Arizona pain center, acupuncture, arthritis, Arizona, Scottsdale, phoenix
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Frequently Asked Questions

Many of our most commonly asked questions are answered below. If you would like a question answered, Click Here to submit your question online. A member of our front desk team call you with an answer. We will place a copy of some of the questions here to help other patients.

Questions from our Patients

Can You help?

This is a surprisingly common question. The treatment of pain requires a dedication to the patient that surpasses that in many medical fields, that is because often patients do not get better with one injection or a single medication. At Arizona Pain Specialists we are committed to sticking with you throughout your treatment with us. We believe a balanced approach is the only way to treat pain, and will do our best to help you regardless of the origin of your pain.

What Insurances do you accept?

These are the insurances we are currently contracted with.

  • Aetna
  • Arizona Foundation for Medical Care
  • Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) / Medicaid
  • Beechstreet
  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBS)
  • Cigna
  • Coventry First Health
  • Galaxy
  • Greatwest
  • Healthnet
  • Humana
  • Lifewise
  • Medicare
  • Mercy Care
  • Multiplan / Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS) / Admar
  • Pacificare
  • Schaller Anderson
  • State Compensation Fund (Worker’s Comp)
  • Secure Horizons
  • Tricare
  • United Health (UH)
  • Veterans Administration (VA)

For MRI, we accept all carriers listed above except:

  • Aetna
  • Cigna

Additionally, some insurances not listed above are accepted on a case-by-base basis. If your insurance company is not listed above, please call our knowledgeable front desk staff at 480-563-6400 for more information.

Our office staff will work with you to explain your insurance benefits to you which often involves out of network benefits. We will work with you to make sure that if you are out of network we set up a plan that makes it affordable for you to see us.

What kind of treatments do you offer?

Our doctors focus on advanced interventional pain so our office can treat nearly any kind of pain.  You can count on a thorough examination and your doctor will recommend the treatment option that he or she believes will best treat your condition. As for what procedures we offer, click here to see our list of traditional as well as cutting edge procedures available to our patients. You will find a complete list of procedures, pain information and a whole lot more.

How early do I need to arrive for my appointment?

For clinic appointments, patients are requested to arrive fifteen minutes before their scheduled appointment time.

If you are being seen by one of our providers for the first time, please arrive an additional fifteen minutes early to ensure that you have adequate time to complete our New Patient Intake paperwork. If you prefer, you can download, print and complete this paperwork prior to your visit, using this link: Click here to download our New Patient Intake Paperwork. If you bring your completed paperwork with you, please arrive fifteen minutes prior to your scheduled appointment time.

For procedures, patients need to arrive one hour before their scheduled procedure time. It takes time to prepare for your procedure including check-in, changing, blood work, IV’s.  We just want to make sure we have enough time to give you truly great care and not rush anything.

How long will it take to get authorization for my procedure or MRI?

Because each insurance company has it own requirements and process for authorization, it can be hard to predict how long your authorization will take.  Some only take a few days, while others can take weeks for your insurance company to approve. In certain cases, patients can significantly expedite their authorization by contacting their insurance provider directly. You can always check on the status of your authorization request by calling our Auth Department at 480-505-4204.

What Medicines do you use for Caudal Epidural Injections?

A classic Caudal Epidural Injection uses similar medications to epidural steroids, namely long acting local anesthetics and a depo version of steroids. However, our founding physicians trained under the world famous Gabor Racz who invented a novel technique in the late 1980s which utilized a caudal approach to the epidural space. A catheter is placed and then four medications are placed, a long acting local anesthetic, a depo version of a steroid, an enzyme to break up adhesions, and hypertonic saline (which acts to decrease swelling and to block pain signals). For more information, see the adhesiolysis (Radz Procedure) article in our online pain textbook for a full description of this exciting procedure.

I’m tired of pain medications. Can you help?

We commonly hear patients suffering with pain ask, “How can you help me because I have a pain clinic but all they do is just give me more meds and nothing ever gets done to help me with the issues?” At Arizona Pain Specialists we practice a balanced approach which only partially relies on pain medications for relief. There are only so many pills you can take! Our approach utilize medications, minimally invasive procedures, behavioral therapy, acupuncture, massage, diet and exercise counseling, pastoral care as well as a host of other outside-the-box treatments.

What are your Hours of operation? Where are you located?

We have conveniently located offices in the surrounding Phoenix area. Please refer to our Contact Us page for hours, locations, and driving directions.

Still have questions?

If your question was not addressed above, please click here to submit your question online, or call our front desk at 480-563-6400.