Memory and Aging Center
at UCSF (Parnassus Campus)

Director: Bruce L. Miller, MD

• Location
• The Evaluation
• Specialists
• Attending Neurologists
• Interpretation Services
• Becoming a New Patient
• Insurance

Location
The clinic at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center is located on the Parnassus Avenue campus in San Francisco. For information regarding location, directions, and phone numbers, please click here.

The Evaluation
At the UCSF Memory and Aging Center Clinic, the patient will go through an extensive neurological, neuropsychological, and nursing assessment, usually lasting about three hours. The input of the caregiver is sought in every case. Because memory loss and other related symptoms are often multi-factorial and complex, we believe that a multidisciplinary and comprehensive evaluation is necessary for most patients. This extensive initial evaluation accomplishes an assessment that may take two or three visits in a traditional medical setting.

The purpose of this comprehensive evaluation is to determine the cause or causes of the patient's symptoms and to recommend treatment. After the initial evaluation, the clinicians involved with each case hold a conference during which they discuss the diagnosis and potential treatments. Following this conference, the clinicians discuss their findings with the patient and the family. In some cases, a diagnosis wil be deferred until more information (such as blood tests or brain imaging) is collected. A written report is sent to the primary care physician and/or referring physician.

Specialists
The UCSF Memory and Aging Center has specialists from a wide-variety of disciplines including neurology, neuropsychology, geriatrics, geropsychiatry, pharmacy, nursing, social work and speech pathology who are available to participate in a patient's evaluation.

Neurologists
The attending neurologists at the Memory and Aging Center are:

Adam Boxer, MD, PhD
Michael Geschwind, MD, PhD
Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini, MD, PhD
Bruce Miller, MD
Gil Rabinovici, MD
Howard Rosen, MD
William Seeley, MD

Interpretation Services
Language should not be considered a barrier for patients and their families seeking evaluation for cognitive and/or behavioral changes. The UCSF Medical Center provides interpreters for medical visits. Interpreter services are free of charge. Interpreters are available for Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese), Vietnamese, Spanish, and Russian. The Memory and Aging Center also includes staff from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Becoming a New Patient
To become a new patient at the Memory and Aging Center, there are a few steps that are necessary to take prior to your appointment that will help prepare us for the evaluation.

1. Please request your medical records from your primary care physician and other health care providers (or neurologist or psychologist). The medical records should include recent medical records (from the past year), including lab results, diagnostic reports, clinical notes, and imaging. Please have them sent to:

Attn: Clinic Coordinator
UCSF Memory and Aging Center
350 Parnassus Ave Suite 905
San Francisco CA 94143-1207

2. If you are referred by a physician, please have the physician send us a referral letter, insurance information and authorization. The referral letter should describe why you are being referred and a synopsis of your condition.
3. Clinic staff reviews the referral letter and medical records to determine if you should be seen at the Memory and Aging Center or by a different kind of specialist.
4. The clinic coordinator will call you and either set up an appointment at our clinic or refer you to a different specialist. The next available new patient appointment is typically booked out from 3-4 months.
5. Obtain your insurance authorization (see insurance section below). If you are unable to obtain your authorization 5 days prior to the visit, your visit will need to be rescheduled.

Insurance
It is very important to notify your health insurance company of your intention to see us for an evaluation, particularly if you are covered by one of the following plans:

• San Francisco City Health Plan
• Medi-Cal
• Brown & Toland/Health Net
• Pacificare/Secure Horizons
• Kaiser
• Blue Shield HMO
• Marin IPA
• AltaBates Medical Group
• …or any other healthcare plan that requires authorization prior to the appointment.

First, call your primary care physician and let them know that you plan to see a neurologist at UCSF. You can let your insurance carrier or doctor’s office know that the following codes will be used:

First Visit
99245 Comprehensive Consultation
99354 First hour
99355 Additional hour
96117 Neuropsychological testing battery (billed x2)

Follow-up Visit
99215 Comprehensive follow-up

All visits must be authorized including follow-up visits. If they are not authorized, you will be charged the balance in full. Please have your primary care physician fax a copy of the authorization to the Memory and Aging Center at (415) 476-4800.

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