Our Policies
Your Appointment
We will confirm your appointment with you either by phone or with a text message reminder one to two days before your appointment. If you would like to receive text message reminders, please give your cell phone number to one of our receptionists.
Please plan to arrive at least 10 minutes prior to every appointment in order to complete any necessary paperwork. New patients will receive a new patient registration packet, which consists of forms that require completion before your physician visit. Before seeing your physician you will need to:
- Complete a patient registration form
- Complete a medical history form
- Acknowledge of receipt of our Notice of Privacy Practices
- Present your insurance card
- Present your picture ID
- Sign an authorization to release confidential health information
At every appointment, our front staff will confirm your address, telephone number(s) and insurance plan, including plan name and type (e.g., PPO, HMO). Please be prepared to show our staff your insurance card at each visit. Although your insurance plan may not have changed, we must verify at each visit that our records contain the most recent copy of your insurance card and benefit levels.
On an annual basis, we will ask you to complete an updated patient registration form. Please note that the signatures on this form are only valid for one year, and therefore, the form must be completed annually. We appreciate your patience and cooperation in helping to keep our files current.
Well-Child Visits, School Physicals and Annual Appointments
We encourage our patients to plan in advance for routine annual exams, as we want to ensure you can schedule your appointment with your regular doctor. Families with children are encouraged to contact our office in the spring to begin scheduling upcoming school and sports physicals to ensure that children are seen before the start of the school year. Follow-up well child exams should be scheduled before you leave the office to ensure that your child is seen in the appropriate time frame.
Late Arrivals
We appreciate that you arrive for appointments on time; however, we do understand that sometimes situations arise that may delay your arrival. Late arrivals create delays for both physicians and other patients. If you arrive late to your appointment, you may be asked to reschedule your appointment for an alternate time. Please recognize that we make every effort to see you as promptly as possible; however, emergencies may arise, delaying your scheduled appointment time. Our staff will notify you upon your arrival if a significant delay is anticipated. We apologize if you need to wait due to another patient's emergency, but please know that we would give you the same attention if the event of your emergency.
Missed Appointment
In order to provide the best care possible to you and our other patients, we ask that you please notify us at least 24 hours in advance if you are unable to keep your appointment.
We do understand that last-minute things happen and if you are unable to keep your appointment, we would still appreciate a call as soon as possible.
Please be aware of our policy if you do miss a scheduled appointment without notifying us:
- For your first missed appointment, we will send you a letter reminding you of our missed appointment policy.
- If you miss a second scheduled appointment without a 24-hour advance notice, a second letter will be sent and you may be charged a missed appointment fee.
- After a third scheduled appointment is missed without a 24-hour advance notice, we will no longer be able to provide medical care and will assist you in finding a new physician.
If you have any questions about our policy, we’ll be happy to answer them.