OFFICE POLICIES, EFFECTIVE July 1st, 2019

Thank you for choosing our office for your medical care. We have written these policies to keep you informed of our current office policies. Please refer to our website for policy updates.

Office Hours:  Our office is open Monday – Friday, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. Saturday 10:00 am -1:00 pm. We are closed on major holidays. Please refer to our website for additional closures.

Appointments: We see patients by appointment only. Same day appointments are usually available for urgent or sudden illness for existing patients. Please arrive at least 10 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment to allow us adequate time to properly check you in. If you have any changes to your demographic information (such as a change of address or insurance), please arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled time.

After-hours, Emergencies and Holidays: If you have a life-threatening emergency, call 911 immediately. Our voicemail system is available after hours, weekends and holidays for your convenience. You will have the opportunity to either leave a message or contact our WhatsApp line at 242.432.4010 or the on-call nurse if you are a part of our concierge package.

Same Day Appointments: We have a limited number of same-day appointments available every day for sudden illness. Please call before 10:30 am if you wish to be seen same-day. Appointments for more acute illnesses will be given priority. If you must be seen same-day and the physician agrees to see you during non-regular appointment times (e.g., during lunch or after hours), an additional fee may apply unless you are a concierge patient.

Walk-in Appointments: We are not usually able to accommodate walk-in appointments. Patients who walk in and request a same-day appointment will be offered to wait or to come back at a later, scheduled time.

Cancellations / Rescheduling: Please call at least 1 business day prior to your scheduled appointment if you will not be able to keep your appointment. This allows us to provide that time slot to another patient. Failure to cancel or reschedule 24 hours in advance may result in a charge to you for a missed appointment. Running on time: We know your schedule is busy and that your time is valuable. Our physician makes every effort to keep on schedule. If you have been waiting more than 20 minutes and have not been advised of a delay, please speak to a staff member to ensure that you have been properly checked in. Patients are seen in schedule order, with few exceptions. Patients arriving more than 10 minutes after their scheduled appointment may be asked to reschedule.

Treatment of Minors: As a specialist in Family medicine we will see children under 18 as long as they are accompanied by an adult guardian.

Physical Exams: We believe that routine physical examinations (“preventative exams”) are important to the maintenance of good health. Your insurance policy may or may not cover preventative exams. Please review your benefits prior to your appointment so you will know what is covered by your insurance plan. Please check in 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment to complete all necessary paperwork. This paperwork is patient-specific and is not available on the website.

Test Results: A staff member will contact you if you need to take immediate action regarding your results. If the doctor needs to speak to you regarding your results, you will receive a phone call and be asked to schedule an appointment. All test results will be provided to you via the patient’s portal if you have a patient account. If you wish to obtain a hard copy of your results, please stop by our office and we will print them for you. Requests for test results are on a per test basis, except for patients with patient portal accounts. The best way to obtain a hard copy of your test results is to inform the physician at the time you receive your lab slip and request that the lab “cc” you. Extensive printing may incur a charge.

Prescriptions and Refills: The best time to get a prescription refill is at your appointment. If you need a refill, and your current prescription bottle indicates that you have refills remaining, please contact your pharmacy. Most refills require the doctor’s approval. Please allow 2 business days for us to process your refill request. You may leave an after-hours request on our voicemail system.

Narcotics: We do not prescribe narcotics for chronic pain. Your physician will refer you to a pain management specialist for most chronic pain issues requiring the use of narcotics. After-hours narcotics requests will be denied.

Mail order prescriptions: We recommend that you request a printed prescription the first time you use a new mail-order pharmacy. Once you are established with the mail-order pharmacy, we are able to email prescriptions and refills. If your insurance company requires a proprietary form to be submitted with your prescription, please tell the physician that you would like your prescription printed. If you would like our office to complete the form for you, there will be a charge (please refer to the Financial Policies Section).

Samples: Drug samples may not be stocked in our office. Please refer to our website, under the Doctor’s page for our philosophy on samples. Short-term prescriptions will be written if you wish to try a new prescription for a short time period.

Patient Dismissal: While we make every effort to work with you, sometimes we feel it is best for all involved to dismiss you from our practice. If you are dismissed from the practice, you will be allowed 30 days for emergency treatment in our office. After that time, you will be required to seek the services of another physician in another office. Common reasons for dismissal include: Failure to keep appointments, Noncompliance, Abusiveness to staff, Failure to pay your bill.