AAIC participates with the following insurance plans:
Aetna
BC/BS IL
BC/BS MO
BC/BS
Blue Choice
Cigna
Essence
First Health-CCN
GHP/Advantra
Health Alliance
Healthlink
Medicare-Illinois
Medicare-Missouri
Mercy and Mercy Premier Plus
Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)/ Multiplan
Tricare Prime
Tricare Standard
Unicare
United Healthcare
Wellcare

LET’S GET STARTED

To set up an online account, please call us at 618-624-2060 or send us an e-mail HERE.

Fill out the appropriate paperwork and online questionnaires through our patient portal prior to arriving at our office.

Forms and questionnaires that should be filled out prior to your first visit:

1. Practice-related paper forms (personal information, release authorization, privacy practices, privacy acknowledgment, financial policy) located HERE.
2. Online medical history questionnaires (via the patient portal, HERE)

All of the necessary forms are available on our website located at www.aaicenter.org and through our patient portal. To access the our practice-related paper forms on our website (for download), use the links provided above or click the tab labeled “Resources.” There you will find a category called “New Patient Forms.” “Right click” on each of the first 4 forms (release authorization, privacy practices, privacy practices acknowledgement, financial policy) to save them to your computer. If you want to authorize treatment for your minor, please click on the last document under this header. To login to our “patient portal,” use the link above or go to the ” Patients” tab and follow the link to log into the login to our system. Enter the username and password provided by our office. Once you enter the patient portal, follow the links provided on the website to complete the medical history questionnaires. Filling out the medical questionnaires and your past medical history (past surgeries, social history, family history, medications) on the patient portal is mandatory prior to your visit. If you have any questions about the new patient forms or the medical history questionnaires on the patient portal, please contact our office prior to your appointment at (618) 624-2060. Failure to complete all of the necessary forms will result in delayed medical care and may necessitate a rescheduled appointment.

If you can’t fill out the new patient forms and online questionnaires prior to your visit, please arrive at least 2 hours early for your appointment. If you do not have a computer and internet access from home, please arrive to our office at least 2 hour priors to your appointment. If you are scheduled for the first appointment of the day, please stop by the office to fill out our paperwork and online questionnaire at least 48 hours prior to your scheduled appointment. Our new patient online questionnaires are very detailed. Completing them will take at least 1-2 hours. Failure to complete all of the necessary forms on time will result in delayed medical care and may necessitate a rescheduled appointment.

Be prepared for your first visit. Your first visit to the AAIC will include a detailed interview and physical exam. In addition, if necessary, skin testing to allergenic pollens, dust, mold, pets, and food MAY be performed. Skin testing is generally done during the first visit to decrease the time necessary to complete your evaluation and start the appropriate therapies. If your PCP told you that your consultation is for penicillin or another antibiotic reaction, for local anesthetic sensitivity, or for stinging insect sensitivity, please call our allergy technician at (618) 624-2060 to make sure that we know that these tests will need to be performed.

To assure that the skin testing is accurate, it is very important that you avoid taking any antihistamines for at least 7 days prior to your appointment. Antihistamines are found in many medications used to treat allergies, colds and sinus problems. A list of medications containing antihistamines is located below. Ask your pharmacist or call us if you have questions about other medications not listed. Please stop only the antihistamines – DO NOT STOP ANY OTHER MEDICATION(S). Sometimes tranquilizer and antidepressant medications interfere with allergy skin testing. This is also true for steroid preparations. If you are taking any of these medications, do not stop taking them without first talking to your psychiatrist or primary care physician (PCP). If you have questions about any medications that you are taking, please call us at (618) 624-2060. We will evaluate your need for skin testing and discuss changes in therapy with you and your physician at the time of your visit.

Please note: if you are currently experiencing skin conditions such as urticaria (hives) or angioedema (swelling) or systemic allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis, we DO NOT typically perform skin testing on the first visit. In these instances, swelling can be life-threatening and stopping antihistamines could be detrimental to your health, even fatal. If you have one of these conditions, please DO NOT STOP YOUR ANTIHISTAMINE without first discussing your situation/condition with our office. We will evaluate your need for skin testing and discuss possible changes in therapy with you prior to your visit.

Antihistamines and medications with antihistamine properties include:

NON-PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS:

PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS:

ANTIHISTAMINES TO REDUCE STOMACH ACID

ANTIDEPRESSANTS AND PSYCHOTROPIC MEDICATIONS WITH PROPERTIES LIKE ANTIHISTAMINES

OTHER NON-ANTIHISTAMINES THAT MAY INTERFERE WITH SKIN TESTING (hold 1 day prior to appointment)

Montelukast (Singulair)

STEROIDS

Prednisone at 20 mg per day and methylprednisolone (Medrol) at 16 mg per day may interfere with skin testing. Injected steroids and steroids topically applied to the skin may also interfere. Inhaled steroids (such as those used to treat asthma–e.g. Flovent, Pulmicort, Asmanex, Advair, Symbicort, QVAR, Alvesco) do not interfere with skin testing. Intranasal (nasal spray) steroids (such as those used to treat nasal allergies–e.g. fluticasone (Flonase), Nasonex, Nasacort AQ, Rhinocort Aqua, Veramyst, Omnaris) do not interfere with skin testing either.

NOTE: Some nasal sprays and eye drops used to treat allergy are NOT steroids (e.g. Astelin, Astepro, Elestat, Optivar, Patanase, Patanol, Pataday and Zaditor), but antihistamines, and DO INTERFERE WITH SKIN TESTING and must be stopped at least 7 days prior to skin testing.]

Put medications in bubble table or we may just eliminate and have patients call to discuss their medications and have a contact bubble to ask questions about medications that block our skin testing. I think these bubble tables are just too much and over the top. Less is more.

Again, if you are uncertain about any medication, please discuss your concerns with a pharmacist, your PCP or call us (618) 624-2060 prior to your visit.

Bring a list of your current medications with you. It is also helpful if you can tell us what has been prescribed to you in the past.

Please bring your insurance card and, if necessary, a “consultation request” from your primary care physician (PCP). Some insurance carriers require a consultation request from your PCP to authorize our evaluation and treatment. If this is required by your insurance, please contact your primary care doctor a week or more in advance of your appointment to request one.