News & Announcements

May 14

MAY:

BOTH OFFICES will be closed May 29th for the holiday.

JUNE:

BOTH OFFICES will be closed June 19th for the holiday.

JULY:

BOTH OFFICES will be closed July 4th for the holiday.

The STERLING office will close at 12:30 PM on July 26th.

 

Thank you.

Jan 20

Please see our new Patient Reviews Page.  We love to receive positive feedback on Google as well! Our Reviews Page is a collection of quotes from real patient testimonials from 2021. We are so pleased to have served our patients well, and look forward to providing excellent care in 2022.  Thank you AAA patients for your kind words of support over the last many years.

Jan 1

We are taking several measures to halt the spread of COVID-19. Due to the nature of our practice, we have many patients with significant respiratory disease and compromised immune systems.  We care about your health. We appreciate your understanding. Here are a just some of the steps we are taking to help our community stay safe during these challenge times:

• We are rescheduling any patient who has symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or who are still in quarantine after an exposure to COVID-19 or from a recent illness. We will reschedule any patient who may be infectious to others.
• All AAA staff are vaccinated and have received booster vaccinations for the COVID-19 virus.
• All AAA staff are currently being tested weekly and are all monitored closely for symptoms of COVID-19 while the positivity rate in our community is high.
• All AAA staff wear N95 or KN95 masks while at work.
• We require that all individuals wear face coverings while in our offices, and we prefer patients also wear N95 or NK95 masks.
• We have added HEPA filters in every patient room and in our waiting rooms
• We offer telemedicine visits for patients who are not comfortable or appropriate for in office visits.
• Allergy shot patients are still required to wait 30 min after their allergy shots. However, they can talk to our staff to see if they are eligible for waiting in alternative waiting locations and or making other accommodations for their wait.
• We strongly recommend all our patients receive vaccinations for COVID-19 – Please talk to your provider if you need help making informed decisions about the data on safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Jun 29

In an effort to keep current with guidelines for COVID-19 prevention, we are limiting our allergy shots to BY APPOINTMENT ONLY and are scheduled through your patient portal. Masks are required. Please come with only one caregiver if needed.

Due to the ongoing situation with COVID 19 we may at times have to update our schedules. We thank you for your support and patience and ask that you check our website regularly. 

If you have not received an allergy injection for an extended period of time and are unsure of your current dosing schedule, please contact our lab supervisor for an update. We will do our best to return you to your previous schedule.

As a reminder, our last few appointments of the day have firm arrival times.  Late patients will not be given a shot if they arrive after their scheduled appointment, especially near the near the end of the day.  Please allow for traffic and parking needs.  Plan to arrive 5 min before your scheduled shot appointment so that you are not turned away.

Our staff will accommodate late arriving allergy shot patients by either 1) offering another appointment time that day or 2) rescheduling their appointment to another day.  If you have arrived after we have closed or arrive late for your allergy shot, we will not be able to give you one that day.  Also, if your personal schedule has changed or if our hours of operation are not in alignment with yours, please talk to our staff about alternative sites of care for you to receive your serum from Allergy and Asthma Associates.

Feb 18

Please review the following reminders prior to coming in for your new patient appointment:

• If scheduling online please note we only schedule one person per family, per day.
• A credit card or deposit is required for any out-of-pocket expenses, such as copay, co-insurance or deductible amounts. Please contact our office PRIOR to your appointment for a list of billing codes in order that you may determine plan coverage and patient responsibility. You are responsible for providing payment at the time of service.
• Most initial appointments last approximately 2 hours. We have allocated time for allergy skin testing. If medically possible, please refrain from taking antihistamines (including over-the-counter and/or prescribed pills, creams, nasal sprays, and eye drops) to have the testing completed at your initial visit. Ask your pharmacist if your current medications are antihistamines or contact our office.
• If you need to cancel or change this appointment, we require 48 hours notice. Please speak to one of our receptionists to confirm your appointment has been cancelled. By providing notice, you avoid being charged the $100 missed appointment/late cancellation fee.
• Please confirm with your insurance company PRIOR to your appointment if there is a preferred lab in the event that lab work is ordered by your provider. You will be asked to provide this information at check in.
• Please complete your new patient paperwork PRIOR to your appointment. This greatly reduces the time required to properly register you as a patient and helps us see you on time.
• Please contact our office if you have any questions, are unable to refrain from taking antihistamines or need assistance registering for the patient portal to access your paperwork.

Thank you and we look forward to meeting you.

Allergy and Asthma Associates

Mar 14

Whether you are new to our practice or established, you may have questions prior to your appointment. Avoid a lengthy check-in process by getting answers prior to coming in!

We will be happy to help you with:

• verifying new insurance
• providing you with details about your visit
• giving you an estimate of your out of pocket costs
• supplying billing codes
• listing what information you will need in order to contact your insurance
• anything else

Please reach out to our reception or billing team with any questions you may have. We look forward to assisting you!

Jun 13

Reminder: If you are requiring allergy skin testing or a specialized test, some medications limit test accuracy. If medically possible, you must refrain from certain medications one week prior to the test date. Please speak to our nursing team if there are any questions about medications you are currently taking- prior to your appointment.

There are numerous medications, including some Anti-Depressant medication that interfere with testing and should not be stopped due to the nature of the drugs. Please check with your physician or pharmacist if you have any questions about specific drugs not listed below. 

WARNING: Some sleep aids, cough and cold medications and heartburn medications may have antihistamines. Please read the packaging carefully.

⛔Stop these medications 7 days prior:

AccuHist                                             Karbinal ER (Carbinoxamine)

Actifed                                                Kronofed-A

Advil PM                                             Marax (Hydroxyzine)

Alavert                                                Meclizine

Allegra (Fexofenadine)                      NyQuil (Doxylamine)

Antivert (Meclizine)                            Pepcid (Famotidine)

Atarax(Hydroxyzine)                          Phenergan (Promethazine)

Atrohist                                               RyVent (Carbinoxamine)

Axid (Nizatidine)                                 Rynatan

Benadryl (*3 days)                              Semprex D

Bromfed                                             Tagamet (Cimetidine)

Claritin (Loratadine)                           Tavist

Clarinex (Desloratadine)                   Temaril (Alimemazine)

Chlor-Trimeton                                   Triaminic

Dayhist (Clemastine)                         Trinalin (Azatadine)

Dramamine (Dimenhydrinate)          Tylenol PM

Dimetapp                                           Vistaril (Hydroxyzine)

Elestat                                                Xyzal (Levocetirizine)

Flexeril (muscle relaxer)                    Zantac (Ranitidine)

Hispril (Diphenylpyraline)                  Zyrtec  

 

⛔Stop these nasal sprays / eye drops 7 days prior:

Afrin                                                     Optivar (Azelastine)

Astelin Nasal Spray                            Pataday

Astepro                                               Patanase

Bepreve                                              Patanol

Dymista                                               Zaditor (eye drops)

 

🙂Okay to continue:

Antibiotics                                        Nasalcrom

Atrovent                                           Prednisone

Accolate (Zafirlukast)                      Prelone

Azmacort (Triamcinolone)              Singulair (Montelukast)

Aciphex                                           Sudafed (Pseudoephedrine)

Cromolyn                                        Theophylline

Gualifed                                          Zicam

Humibid (Guaifenesin)                   Zyflo (Zileuton)

Medrol (corticosteroids)

Motrin

 

🙂Nasal Steroids:

Flonase (Fluticasone)                  Nasalide

Qnasl                                            Nasacort

Nasonex

Xhance

 

🙂Inhaled Asthma Steroids / Bronchodilators:

Aerobid                                       Dulera

Aerospan                                    Flovent (Fluticasone)

Advair                                         ProAir

Asmanex                                    Pulmicort

Albuterol                                    Qvar

Alvesco                                      Symbicort

Beclovent                                  Ventolin

Breo                                           Xopenex HFA

Breztri

 

🙂SSRI Antidepressants:

Celexa (Citalopram Hydrobromide)     Paxil (Paroxetine)

Effexor (Venlafaxine)                             Prozac (Fluoxetine)

Lexapro                                                  Zoloft (Sertraline) 

 

🙂Antacids:

Nexium (Esomeprazole)                      Prilosec (Omeprazole)

Prevacid (Lansoprazole)                     Protonix – Pantoprazole

**On some occasions, even if you have avoided the above medications, the physician may decide that a blood test would be indicated before allergy testing is preformed.

Apr 27

Please note that serum lab has updated hours: Monday-Thursday 8 AM-4 PM. Please contact the Sterling Office to speak with the lab supervisor or send non-urgent messages via the patient portal.

Phone: (703) 430-0833, ext 103.