Your Visit
Welcome to Ruttenberg Treatment Center! We want to help you move through your cancer journey knowledgeably, comfortably, and efficiently. With this in mind, we have compiled here practical information that will help you prepare for your first visit to Ruttenberg.
When you call to make your first appointment, please have the following information handy:
- Patient’s full name
- Patient’s date of birth
- Best phone number to reach patient
- Patient’s permanent address
- Diagnosis, if known
- Name and telephone number of insurance provider
- Name of insured party
Forms
After you’ve made your appointment, please fill out the essential forms and information.
- Hematology Oncology Personal History Form: It is very important to complete this form carefully, as it will serve as the basis of your first consultation with your Ruttenberg physician. Sometimes it is helpful to fill this form out with a family member or close friend who may be able to help you recall some of the details of your health history.
- Authorizations and Assignments: By signing this form, you are acknowledging your responsibility for charges billed by Mount Sinai Hospital and Icahn School of Medicine; giving your consent to the Hospital, the School of Medicine, and your physician to disclose health information to your insurers and others if needed to obtain payment; and authorizing payment of your medical benefits to be made directly to your service providers.
- Use of Information Authorization: This form requests your permission for your doctors to disclose your name and contact information to Mount Sinai’s Development Office for the purpose of contacting you with marketing information and/or about fundraising efforts that support the work of your doctors.
- Agreement to Receive Messages Containing PHI at Home: By signing this form, you are authorizing the physician you name on the form (or his/her designee) to leave messages containing Personal Health Information on your home answering machine, with someone other than yourself who answers your home telephone, or at another telephone number specified by you.
Preparing for Your First Appointment
Who to Bring with You
We heartily encourage you to bring either a family member or friend when you have an appointment at the Ruttenberg Center. With the safety and comfort of all of our patients in mind, we ask you to adhere to the following policies:
- Due to the complexity of cancer care and the risk of infection, children under the age of 12 are not permitted in any area of Ruttenberg other than the 3rd floor waiting room, where they must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Children under 12 are not permitted on the 4th floor (infusion center).
- Please bring no more than two people with you to any given appointment. You may want to arrange for family members and friends to rotate their visits.
Medical Records
It is in your best interest for your Ruttenberg physician to review your medical records from your referring physician before your visit. Your records include the results of any laboratory and other diagnostic tests performed in connection with the problem that brings you to Ruttenberg. Along with written reports, please provide films and/or disks containing results from any x-rays, scans, and/or MRIs you may have had. If you have had a biopsy, please provide the biopsy slides and a copy of your pathology report. Biopsy slides can be obtained by calling the Pathology Department of the hospital where your biopsy was performed.
Getting Your Records to Your Ruttenberg Physician
We can help you obtain your medical records and have them sent directly to Ruttenberg, at no cost to you, through a service called e-Health Global Technologies. If you did not select this option when you scheduled your appointment, you may call 212-241-6756 and request it now. This is usually the easiest and most reliable way to get your complete medical records to your Ruttenberg physician.
Another option is for you to gather your medical records and either mail or fax them to Ruttenberg prior to your visit.
Mailing Address
Medical Records Department
Ruttenberg Treatment Center
Mount Sinai Health System
One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1129
New York, New York 10029-6574
Please write date of your appointment on envelope.
Fax number: 212-241-7141
If you are unable to either mail or fax your health records ahead, please be sure to bring them to your first appointment.
Insurance Information
Please bring your insurance card and your Social Security number. If you are insured under someone else’s policy (your partner or parent, for example), please bring his/her Social Security number with you.
Many insurers require a referral from your Primary Care Physician in order for your oncology care to be covered. Please bring any referrals that your insurance plan requires (which may include one for your doctor’s visit and another one for hospital services such as laboratory and pathology services) to your first appointment.
We rely on you to provide accurate and current insurance information in order to receive care at Ruttenberg.
What to Bring to Your First Appointment
Personal Information
- Medical records from your referring physician
- Your health insurance card
- Your Social Security number
- Social Security number of insured, if not you
- Any doctor referrals required by your health insurer
Completed Forms
Understanding Your Bills
If you have questions about a specific bill, the best place to start is to call the telephone number provided on the bill itself.
You will receive bills from each of the medical providers who have contributed to your care. This will include charges from your oncologist or hematologist both for office consultations and for "bedside" visits in the infusion suite. If you have diagnostic tests performed, you will receive separate bills from the physicians who interpret the results of these tests. (Frequently these bills are from either Pathology Consultants or EKG Associates and may be from medical providers whose names you don't recognize.)
Hospital Charges
Charges for the use of hospital facilities and services provided by staff, who are not medical providers must be billed separately from Medical Provider Charges. Therefore, for any date that you have an office visit with your medical provider, you will likely receive a separate bill from Mount Sinai Hospital. The bill for hospital charges may also include laboratory services, pharmacy items, chemotherapy, and IV therapy services.
Understanding Your Bills
Please expect to receive separate bills from your Medical Providers and from Mount Sinai Hospital. While this may be confusing, health insurance regulations require us to bill this way.
- Medical Provider Charges: You will receive bills from each of the medical providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants) who have contributed to your care. These bills represent fees for their professional services only and will include charges from your oncologist or hematologist both for office consultations and for "bedside" visits in the infusion center. If you have diagnostic tests performed, you will receive separate bills from the physicians who interpret the results of these tests. These bills frequently are from either Pathology Consultants or EKG Associates but may sometimes be from medical providers whose names you do not recognize.
- Hospital Charges: Charges for all other aspects of providing your care, such as use of hospital facilities, support staff, and supplies are billed separately from professional fees. Laboratory services, pharmacy items, chemotherapy, and IV therapy services are some specific examples of the charges that fall into this category. Therefore, for any date that you have an office visit with your medical provider, it is will likely that you will receive a separate bill from Mount Sinai Hospital. If you have a question about a specific bill, the best place to start is to call the telephone number provided on the bill itself.
- Insurance Co-payments: Your health insurance plan determines how much you are responsible to pay for your visit (co-payment). Your co-payment will be collected at the time of your visit and may be paid by cash, check, or any credit card other. If you have a question about an explanation of benefits (EOB) from your insurer, please call your insurer first.
Directions and Parking
By Public Transportation
- Subway: #6 to 96th Street and Lexington Avenue. Walk west on 96th Street to Madison Avenue, cross Madison, and turn right. 1470 Madison Avenue is between 101st and 102nd Streets. It is about a 15-minute walk from the subway to Ruttenberg.
- Bus: The M1, M2, M3, M4, M96, M98, and M106 stop within several blocks of Ruttenberg.
From Pennsylvania Station
- Cab/Uber/Lyft
- Bus: Exit station onto Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street. Cross Seventh Avenue and continue on 32nd Street to mid-block. (You will be on 32nd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.) Take M4 bus to Madison Avenue and 101st Street. Cross Madison Avenue to # 1470.
- Subway and Bus (fastest): From within Penn Station follow signs for #1, #2, or #3 uptown. Take any of these trains to 96th Street and Broadway. On 96th Street, pick up the 96th Street crosstown bus heading east. Madison Avenue is the second stop after going through Central Park. Walk north on Madison Avenue to 1470 which will be across the street.
From Grand Central Station
- Cab/Uber/Lyft
- Bus: Exit station. Walk west to Madison Avenue (about 5 minutes). Take M1, M2, M3, or M4 to Madison Avenue and 101st Street. Cross Madison Avenue to # 1470.
- Subway (fastest): From within Grand Central Station, follow signs for #6 uptown. Take train to 96th Street and Lexington Avenue. Walk west on 96th Street to Madison Avenue, cross Madison, and turn right. 1470 Madison Avenue is between 101st and 102nd Streets. It is about a 15-minute walk from the subway to Ruttenberg.
Driving Directions
Please click here to input your starting location for driving directions.
Parking
Parking for Patients of Ruttenberg Treatment Center of The Tisch Cancer Institute
- Drive to the Mount Sinai Parking Facility on the northwest corner of Madison Avenue and East 104th Street. The attended lot is open from 5 AM – 10 PM Monday through Friday.
- Identify yourself as a Ruttenberg Treatment Center patient. You will leave your key and the attendant will park your car.
- A shuttle bus runs between the parking lot and Ruttenberg Treatment Center every 20 minutes from 7 AM – 7 PM. It is a 5-minute ride between the parking lot and Ruttenberg. The shuttle can accommodate wheelchairs and walkers.
- The cost of parking, including shuttle service, is $25 per day, payable when you register at Ruttenberg. At registration, please request a parking permit to place in your front windshield for future visits.
- Saturdays only, Ruttenberg patients may park in the Mount Sinai Hospital Garage and receive the special rate of $25 per day. The garage is located on East 99th Street between Madison and Park Avenues.
- Please observe Mount Sinai's No Tipping Policy
Food and Conveniences
On campus
For Food:
- CSM Café (in Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine)
- Serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner (hot and cold breakfast, made-to-order salads, soups, paninis, deli sandwiches, etc.)
- Monday – Friday, 7:00am – 4:00pm
- Plaza Cafeteria (located at 1468 Madison Avenue in Guggenheim Pavilion)
- Serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
- Monday – Friday, 6:30am – 7:30pm; Weekends and Holidays, 7:00am – 9:30am and 10:30am – 3pm (closed 9:30am – 10:30am)
- Kosher Corner (within Plaza Café under the supervision of the Orthodox Union)
- Serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner
- Monday – Thursday and breakfast and lunch on Fridays (Kosher Corner is closed on Saturdays and on Jewish holidays)
- Starbucks Café (located in the Guggenheim Pavilion)
- Monday – Friday, 7:00am – 7:00pm
For Conveniences:
- ATM (opposite East Elevators in Guggenheim Pavilion at 1468 Madison Avenue)
- Gift Shop (Guggenheim Pavilion, 7th Floor, take East Elevators)
- For gifts, cards, reading glasses, MetroCards, umbrellas, toiletries, drinks, snacks, etc.
- Monday – Friday, 8:00am – 8:00pm; Saturday, 9:00am – 8:00pm
In the Neighborhood
For Food:
- Champignon (1389 Madison Avenue between 96th and 97th Streets)
- Café offering salads, sandwiches, baked goods, beverages
- Phone: 212-987-1700
- Dunkin' Donuts (corner of Madison and 97th Street)
- Phone: 212-423-0190
- Famiglia (corner of Madison and 97th Street)
- Pizza and pasta
- Phone: 212-996-9797
For Shopping:
- Duane Reade (1490 Madison Avenue, corner 102nd Street)
- NYC-based chain store carrying all drugstore-related products; in-store pharmacy
- Phone: 212-410-2508
- Jerome Florist (1379 Madison Avenue, corner 96th Street)
- Phone: 212-289-1677