Telemedicine

Dr. Hwang has offered telemedicine (via video or telephone) since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to both minimize risk of spreading COVID-19 and improve access to medical care.  

For a scheduled televisit appointment (excluding physical exams), fee will be 10% less than equivalent in-person office visit.

In some cases (e.g. due to COVID positivity or exposure), you might request a televisit in lieu of in-person physical exam. In this rare situation, Dr. Hwang will perform the history portion of the physical exam at the time of the televisit and charge the full PE price. Dr. Hwang will then schedule you to come in at a later date for the hands-on examination, immunizations, phlebotomy, +/- EKG, and will only charge for the ancillary services at the second appointment.  

For unscheduled calls when you have a clinical concern, Dr. Hwang will typically not charge for telemed if you have been seen for that issue in the past month.  Otherwise, Dr. Hwang will charge based on level of complexity of decision making as well as time, if a charge is deemed appropriate. 

Electronic/portal correspondence for clinical concerns outside the one month window after an office or televisit will be charged similarly to telemedicine if a charge is deemed appropriate.  

COVID-19 TESTING

  • True Physician Care offers 2 types of in-office testing: Rapid antigen testing and a combined, molecular test for COVID-19/Influenza A/Influenza B. 
  • PCR testing for COVID-19 is only available as part of a comprehensive respiratory panel (which includes Influenza, RSV, and other respiratory pathogens). Turn-around time for results is typically 1-2 business days. 

 

If you are symptomatic and being treated via telemedicine or are requesting to self-swab due to COVID exposure, you may do a nasal self-swab in your car or at home, and we will send it to the lab for testing.

If you are asymptomatic with no known exposure and need a PCR test for any reason, you also have the option to schedule a nurse visit to be swabbed in our office.

If you need a letter documenting a negative test result, the test (PCR or rapid antigen) must be performed in our office rather than a self-swab.

January 2025 Announcements
For Current Patients

Dr. Hwang will be out of the office January 4-12. Urgent medical issues will be covered by Dr. Sue Kanter. You may reach Tanya during normal business hours or reach Dr. Kanter for urgent matters after hours by calling our office phone number. Tanya will communicate with Dr. Kanter during normal business hours. Dr. Hwang will continue to check for medication refills while she is away.

On Thursday, January 23, our office will close at 3:30 pm for an office holiday celebration.
 
If you received an invoice for the 2025 Annual Administrative Fee (via our new billing system, TPCPay) and have not yet paid, you may use the link on the invoice to complete payment by January 20. We only have credit cards on file for patients who have been seen in the office or provided information since mid-December using our new system.

Meet Our Staff

Tanya Alston, MA

Tanya Alston has been working with Dr. Hwang as a medical assistant for much of Dr. Hwang’s medical career. Patients appreciate her warm personality, professionalism, patient-centered focus and adept technical skills.