Clinic Policies
Scheduled Visits
We prefer that our patients make scheduled appointments for all office visits. You may do this by requesting your appointment online or by giving us a call.
Priority will be given to patients with standing appointments. We ask that you please arrive fifteen minutes prior to your scheduled appointment to allow time to
process insurance and personal information. It is our goal to have patients seen within thirty minutes of their scheduled appointment time.
If you are unable to keep your appointment, please call at least 24 hours in advance to cancel. If you fail to keep your appointment with us on several occasions and fail to call the clinic in advance to cancel or reschedule, we will not be able to continue to provide medical service for you. Calling to cancel and reschedule is important for your care and is a courtesy to other patients who may need urgent care.
Walk-Ins and After Hours Care
This clinic sees patients on a walk-in basis during normal clinic hours and during expanded hours to accommodate the needs of our patients. This service is provided to allow individuals with acute medical needs to be seen and evaluated without the need for an appointment.
We do not schedule appointments after hours Monday-Friday or on weekends. We do this to better address the acute medical needs of our patients that may arise during these times.
We do not handle routine telephone call during After Hours Care and suggest that you use the online Patient Portal to leave routine messages for your physician.
It is our goal to see walk-in patients within one hour of their arrival.
Nurse Visits
At your Provider's request, you may be asked to return to the clinic to be checked by the nurse for basic testing or evaluation. This may include blood pressure checks, prescription refills, completion of paperwork, etc. There may be a charge for these services.
Phone Calls
If you are experiencing a medical emergency call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Do not attempt to contact this office for such care.
Please be sure to leave a number where you can be easily reached when you leave a message. We make every attempt to return each call on the same day. At times, however, our call volume can get so high that your call may not be returned until the next day.
Calls received after 3:00 pm will be returned the following day.
Due to limited staffing, please be aware that calls received after hours and weekends will be documented in your chart and responded too either the following day or at the start of the following week by your regular Provider. You can also leave a message via the Patient Portal.
If you feel it can not wait and our attention is required, we suggest you come to our After Hours Clinic to be seen by the Provider on call.
Prescription Refills
We encourage our patients to be pro-active in their health care and seek needed refills on a timely basis. Because prescription refills require authorization by your Provider, we ask that you allow 48 hours to obtain refills. The following information will be needed:
Patient's name and date of birth
Patient's phone number
Name and dose of medicine
The frequency the medicine is taken
Pharmacy name, location and phone number
Please also note the following with regard to prescription refills:
Patients are encouraged to call their pharmacy to verify their prescription is ready.
Due to limited staffing, routine prescription requests will not be processed after hours or over weekends.
Medication will not be called in for individuals who are not active patients.
If it has been 6 months since you were last seen by a Physician, you must schedule an appointment before a Prescription will be refilled.
Prescriptions for controlled medications are Pick-Up only and WILL NOT be refilled by phone. Be sure to bring a valid ID when picking up these types of prescriptions.
You can also place a prescription refill request by using the online Patient Portal. Messages left here will go directly to your Provider's nurse and avoids the hassle of dialing in through the clinic telephone operators.
Medical Records
Patients may obtain a copy of their medical record (or portions of it) by completing the Authorization to Release Records form found below. Please fill out the form in its entirety, sign/date it, and fax to (601) 268-5058. HIPAA regulations are very specific regarding medical records and their release. Click Here for some FAQ's regarding HIPAA and its regulations.
With regard to record requests, please keep in mind the following:
We will not process a record request without a signature. Please do not forget to sign and date the release form before submitting it.
Only records generated by The Family Practice / After Hours Clinic will be released.
Please allow a minimum of one week to process record requests.
There is a fee for copying and releasing records.
Download Authorization to Release Records form here.
The "Wellness" Visit
At this time, one of the most common complaints that we hear is about the way we bill a person who presents for a "Wellness" Visit. Our patients are under the impression that they get a free doctor visit with this benefit and are often upset when this is not the case. Your Wellness benefit pays for a doctor visit once a year as well as LIMITED lab work and testing that is based upon your sex and age. Wellness benefits do not take into account ANY medical illnesses. If you have medical problems and these problems need to be monitored, then Wellness often does not cover the cost of monitoring these problems. So if you have medical problems such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar or thyroid disease, then your Wellness benefits will not pay for lab work associated with monitoring these problems and thus you may receive a bill for those services. Also, your doctor must know if this is a Wellness exam prior to the visit. Please inform the receptionist and the nurse prior to the doctor seeing you. The doctor cannot change the visit to a "Wellness Visit" after he or she has seen you for other medical problems. Please refer to the information given to you by your employer about your insurance benefits if you have any questions regarding this.