Policies
Appointment Policy
A 24-hour notice is required to reschedule or cancel your appointment. Failure to do so will result in a full charge of the session. If you arrive late for your appointment, your appointment will still end at the appointed time as it is important that we honor the appointment times of other patients. You are responsible for keeping and managing your appointment time.
Telemedicine
Telemedicine involves the use of electronic communications to enable the provider to connect with individuals using interactive video and audio communications. Ideally, telemedicine appointments should include both video and audio. Exceptions can be made on a case by case basis for established patients.
By law, in order to have controlled substances prescribed, the patient must initially be seen in person. No controlled substances will be prescribed without an in-person appointment.
Legacy Mental Health will not bill your insurance company. We are out of network for all insurance. A form of payment is required to reserve your appointment time and payment is due the day of service. Your provider can provide you with a superbill after each appointment, which you can submit to your insurance company for reimbursement directly or via Reimbursify. It is your responsibility as the patient to verify the specifics of your coverage.
Payment for Services
Patient information in the electronic medical chart is accessible to other clinicians for purposes of emergency coverage if the doctor is not available. Limited information is accessible to trained staff for scheduling and medication refill purposes. However, no information about you or your care will be released to anyone outside the office without your written consent or a court order. There is no guarantee of confidentiality under the following conditions:
* If I suspect you/your child are/is in imminent danger of harm to self or others, or a child or elderly person is being abused or neglected (as we are a mandated reporter)
* If a court orders a release of information
* If you initiate a malpractice lawsuit, or a billing dispute with a financial institution
* If your insurance company requests to review your/your child’s case
* If you pay by credit card, my name will appear on your credit card statement
* If you do not pay your bill, your balance due statement (including diagnostic and procedural codes) may be sent to a collections agency or other responsible party
* Between me and my administrative staff, or colleagues with whom I consult professionally
You may complete a Release of Information for any person(s) you would like to give permission to discuss information concerning care and/or financial matters concerning your account at Legacy Mental Health. Children (under the age of 17) have the right to confidential exchanges with clinicians.
Privacy and HIPAA
It is your responsibility, as the patient, to notify your provider if you need a refill at your scheduled appointments. The provider reserves the right to refuse medication refills in the case of failure to show or frequently canceling your appointments whereby your medications would be refilled. This could also lead to dismissal/discharge from the practice. Please note the no refills will be called in after hours or on the weekends. Please notify the physician prior to running out of medications and allow up to 2 business days before medications are refilled.
Controlled substances (medications such as Adderall, Xanax, Klonopin, etc) will be issued in intervals no greater than 3 months at a time. Because these medications are highly regulated, appointments must be kept in order to receive refills. In the event the the medication is lost, it will not be rewritten until the next refill time. Patients are subject to random urine drug screenings while being prescribed controlled medications. The provider reserves the right to refuse medication refill and/or dismiss a patient from the practice due to failure to complete urine drug screenings when requested.
Medication Refills
Non-urgent phone calls and messages will be addressed during regular business hours. As staff is often with a patient, please leave a detailed voicemail as it is monitored regularly with the exception of weekends and after hours. Please allow up to 48 hours for a response. If your concern involves a safety issue, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency department.
Treatment Issues
It may be medically necessary for lab or radiologic tests to be requested in order to provide the best treatment possible. It is your responsibility, as the patient, to obtain the requested examinations. Our office will assist you as much as possible, but testing may require you to visit another facility or lab. If you do not obtain these tests within a reasonable time, your physician reserves the right to refuse to refill or prescribe certain medications until tests are completed. Urine drug screenings are performed on patients when necessary. All patients prescribed controlled medications will have an initial drug screening and may be subject to random drug screenings after that. Any charges that may result from the urine drug screening will be the responsibility of the patent if not covered by the insurance company.
Laboratory Policy
On the very rare occasion, a patient may be dismissed/discharged from the practice. If you are dismissed/discharged from the practice, it means you can no longer schedule appointments, get medication refills, or consider us to be your physician. Medications will be provided at physician discretion with a minimum of 30 days. Common reasons for dismissal/discharge include failure to keep appointments, abuse (verbal or physical) to staff, failure to pay bill, etc. A letter will be sent to your listed address notifying you of dismissal/discharge.
