Prepare for your first appointment with Dr. Bal by completing our new patient form from home, at your leisure.

Simply click here and the PDF form will download to your computer.

You may either complete the form by:

1. Printing the form and filling it out by hand.
2. Typing your answers into the form, then printing.

Bring your completed form with you to your appointment.

It is natural to have questions about joint replacement surgery. Despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of Americans have experienced tremendous improvement in their lifestyles, thanks to innovations in implants and surgical techniques, most of us have no reason to think about the joint replacement until the time comes to consider having the procedure.

Joint replacement is a process that requires an active, involved, patient with a positive attitude. The questions and answers included here are meant to help you prepare for your diagnosis, procedure, and recovery. We can't think of every question, but we invite you to submit a question if you don't see it in one of these pages, and we'll do our best to provide an answer.

What does my physician expect of me?

Your surgeon is the leader of your care team. Even if you have been referred to us by another physician, he, often accompanied by a resident physician, will examine you, review your medical record, and determine the best course of action to help improve your condition. You are encouraged to ask questions and be an active participant in your care.

Physician and patient must work together to ensure the best possible outcome. Our surgeons offer these 10 guidelines for his patients:

1. We expect that you will research and investigate your condition, using resources such as friends, the Internet, the library, and others.




2. We expect that you will follow up on instructions asking you to obtain medical, dental, and other specialty medical consultations before surgery, and that you will take the time to understand the discharge instructions after you leave the hospital.




3. We expect that you will educate and familiarize yourself with the planned procedure, its attendant risks and benefits, and the full complement of potential outcomes, and that you will make your decision accordingly.




4. We expect you to visit our Web site and carefully review the information contained at that location, and to ask me to clarify or elaborate on anything that is not entirely clear to you.




5. We expect you to take care of your health, by practicing sound personal hygiene, avoiding smoking and excess alcohol use, and maintaining a reasonable body weight and activity level after surgery.




6. We expect you to investigate your surgeon and his team, and to establish a relationship with us only if you are entirely convinced that we are compatible and that our relationship will benefit your health.




7. We expect you to respect the constraints that we must work with in health care in terms of scheduling surgery, planning discharges, and accommodating changes, and unexpected deviations in planning.




8. We expect you to treat our team with professional courtesy and respect, and to expect compassion, attention, care, and professionalism from us in turn.




9. We expect you to understand that the decision to proceed with total joint replacement surgery is a major and irreversible undertaking, and that there is nothing casual about this surgery no matter what the media may have led you to believe, and that life with an artificial joint in place is not the same as life with your own joint in your body.




10. We expect that you understand the value of a relationship based on mutual respect, regard, trust, integrity, and the value of such a relationship in optimizing the service that we can provide you, and to realize and accept that we are here to do our best for you.