Check-In

New patients: to allow time to complete necessary paperwork, please arrive 20 minutes before your appointment time. 

Returning patients: please arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled appointment time. 

Any patient arriving 10 minutes past the scheduled appointment time will be considered late and the appointment may be canceled or rescheduled. In addition, a no show/late cancellation fee may be charged in accordance with the appointment type.

No Shows

If you do not show up and/or do not call us 24 hours in advance to cancel or reschedule your appointment, we reserve the right to charge a fee for the scheduled time that we were unable to give to other patients. No Show fees are $50 visit.

After three no shows, we reserve the right to discharge you as our patient.

Deductibles, Coinsurance, Copays and Other Payments

We collect previous balances, co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance for every visit prior to being seen. If you have any questions regarding this, please call your insurance company.

Forms of payment accepted are Cash, Check, or Visa, Mastercard and Discover cards only. We do not accept American Express.

If your delinquent account is submitted to a collection agency, your account will be inactivated. In order to reactivate your account, you must pay a $50 reactivation fee along with any outstanding balance.

Returned (Nsf) Checks

Returned (NSF) checks will be charged back to the patient's account with an additional service fee of $50.00.

Parental Separation / Divorce Policy

We believe that divorce, separation and custody agreements should not interfere with a child’s medical care. The parent requesting the visit is responsible for payment of any copays or deductibles related to that appointment. Joint Custody means that each parent has equal access to the child’s medical record. Without a court order, we will not prevent either parent from accessing their child’s chart or obtaining their test results. We count on co-parents to communicate with each other the relevant medical recommendations and specific treatments, if any. We will not call the other parent for consent prior to treatment. Should issues between the co-parents become disruptive to our ability to provide care to your child, we reserve the right to dismiss the family and recommend a different provider. 

Cell Phones

To eliminate distractions when the provider/nurse is with you, please turn off your cell phone. We do not allow photos or videos during any point of your visit at Seven Peaks Family Medicine. 

Same Day Sick Office Visits

If our provider is seeing you for a Same Day Sick Visit, please stay focused on the reason for that day’s visit. Remember your provider is seeing you in between scheduled patients. We will take care of your immediate problem first and schedule your routine visit on another day. Your regular prescriptions will not be filled on your same day sick visit.

Preventive Exam (Pe)

If you are here for a physical exam and want to be seen for other health issues in addition to the PE, then we will bill your insurance for both sick and well visit. Your insurance might not pay for the combination visit; if this is the case, you are responsible for paying the complete balance due. The problem-focused component of your visit may be subject to any co-pay, deductible, or co-insurance associated charges.

Prescriptions

Our provider MUST SEE YOU prior to prescribing a new RX, refills on Antibiotics or Narcotics (Controlled medications) and changing your existing medication. NO controlled medication will be prescribed over the phone, after hours, or weekends.

We do not accept prescription refill requests through the patient portal or by phone call. You must contact your pharmacy and have them send us a refill request, even if the prescription is expired. If you change pharmacies, please take your prescription bottles to the new pharmacy and have them submit refill requests directly to us.

Referrals and Prior Authorizations

Obtaining a referral or prior authorization from your insurance can take up to 96 hours or more. Please do not call from the specialist’s office at the time of your appointment for a referral. Please call our office and schedule an appointment to get a referral before seeing a specialist.

Medical Records/Copies

We charge for the printing and mailing of medical records to you based on the NC allowable amounts per the General Statutes.

We do not fax/mail or email reports to patients as patients have portal access to print reports.

Emergency Room Visit/Hospital Visits

In case of an emergency after office hours, weekends, or holidays, please call 911 or go to the nearest ER, and let the hospital provider know that our provider is your Primary Care Physician so that they can notify us about your visit. Once discharged, please schedule a follow-up appointment with the clinic within 7 days.

Consent To Receive Automated Calls And Texts

We use an automated system of phone calls and text messages in order to remind you about appointments and portal messages.  If you do not want to receive these reminders, please notify us in writing 

Credit Card Disputes

If you choose to dispute credit card charges made in our office, we will not respond to the dispute. The charge will be added back to your account and subject to our Collections Policies.

After Hours Triage And Physician Access

Please utilize the Athena patient portal to communicate with your care team when not in the clinic. We respond to all portal messages within one business day. If you choose to access our after hours triage line or on call physician, there will be an associated charge billed to you. Your insurance might not pay for this charge; if this is the case, you are responsible for paying the complete balance due.

Disorderly Conduct

Any rude, disruptive, or abusive behavior towards staff or other patients, threatening or violent behavior deemed as such by the practice owners and/or practice manager WILL NOT be tolerated and may result in dismissal from the practice. 

Collections Policies

Payment is due at the time of service. All third-party payor contracts include a clause requiring that deductibles, copayments and coinsurance be collected at each appointment. 

Patients under the age of 18 cannot be their own guarantor. At least one parent or legal guardian must be included on the account as the guarantor.

Patients will receive three statements and then a collection letter. 30 days after the collection letter is sent, the account will be sent to a bad debt collection agency. If an account is sent to bad debt collections, all future appointments will be canceled. Once the patient has paid the bad debt, they will need to pay a $50 reinstatement fee in order to be seen again.

With the exception of the annual deductible, Medicare balances are typically not sent to bad debt collections. Medicaid eligible balances are not sent to bad debt collections.