Preparing for Your Visit
Scheduling Your Visit
During your scheduling process, our staff will answer any questions you have about the appointment, and ask for information necessary for registration, such as insurance information.
- Using health insurance: It is important to have insurance information before your appointment, or you may not be able to obtain services on the day you arrive. We are in-network for all Illinois Medicaid plans, and most other private Illinois insurers. Click here for a full list.
- Without health insurance: If you do not have insurance, or insurance does not cover your abortion, we will work with you to reduce or eliminate the out-of-pocket cost for your care. Please contact us for more information.
- Medical screening: We may ask several medical questions to determine if we need records or other information from your other doctors. This helps us do as much as possible for you at your first visit. No matter how complex your medical history is, we are eager to help.
- Help to attend your appointment: Many of our patients may have barriers that can make it difficult to attend their appointment. If you are having problems, including if you are traveling longer distances or do not have reliable transportation, please, let us know.
Before your visit:
- Eating/fasting: Please eat normally on the day of your appointment, unless our staff has told you otherwise. We may recommend taking medications that cause more nausea if your stomach is empty. If you are too nauseous from morning sickness to eat, do your best, but let us know, and we can help with anti-nausea medications.
- MyChart: We strongly suggest registering for MyChart, our online patient portal and secure messaging system. With this account, you will be able to see your appointments and test results, and communicate securely with your UI Health doctors.
- Sanitary pads: Pads are recommended instead of tampons for the first week after an abortion or miscarriage. Maxi-pads are helpful for medical abortions or medical management of miscarriage.
- Heating pads: Hot water bottles or heating pads are helpful for uterine cramping after a vacuum aspiration (or “D&C”), or during a medical abortion or miscarriage. We have single-use hot packs for the office, but it can be helpful to buy these items for use at home afterwards as well.
- Contraception: If you are interested in birth control at, or after, your appointment, we can help. You can visit Besider before your visit to learn about your birth control options.
At Your Visit:
- Parking: General parking information is available here. If you arrive and the Wood Street parking lot is full (1100 S. Wood St.), try the parking garage at Paulina and Taylor Streets (915 S. Paulina St.).
- Confidentiality: Each of our patients is interviewed alone during the visit. Guests accompanying our patients can be invited to the exam room later if desired.
- Your healthcare team: At UI Health, resident physicians and medical students are important members of your healthcare team and may be involved in your care with your permission.
- Appointment times: Appointment lengths vary, but may last 1 to 4 hours depending on the type of visit you have. Having an in-office vacuum aspiration (or “D&C”) may take 4 hours, and if you are planning on having sedation, your OR procedure the next day may require 4 – 6 hours in the hospital from initial check-in to discharge.
- Driving home: For in-office vacuum aspiration (or “D&C”), antianxiety medications are available. These medicines can make it unsafe to drive, so if you might want these medications, please arrange for someone you trust to pick you up rather than driving yourself, using ride-shares or public transportation. If you have any questions, please contact us by MyChart or call 312.413.8681.
- Work/school notes: Notes for work/school excuse need not contain the reason for your visit.
- Waiting room: Please note that we are part of a large practice and each day, we have many doctors and other healthcare providers seeing patients. A patient who arrived after you might be called back to a room before you because they are seeing a different provider.
