Frequently asked Questions & office policies

Below, we include all office policies (which apply to virtual appointments) as well as HIPAA policies and Frequently Asked Questions. 

If you have questions, please contact our office for assistance.

EMERGENCIES

Distinguishing between an emergency, urgent, and non-urgent request:

In the event of an emergency (you feel suicidal, homicidal, or have a medical emergency) you should call 911 or go to the closest emergency room.

If you have an urgent need for consultation (medication side-effects, increase in symptoms, etc.) you should call the main office number (208) 939-9131 and let our administrative staff know it is an urgent request. After hours and on weekends if you have an urgent request you should call the crisis clinic 1-800-273-8255.

Many issues including insurance or billing questions, appointment changes, medication questions, or medication refills can be resolved during normal business hours, Monday through Friday 8 am-5 pm and will be handled by our administrative team. 

FINANCIAL POLICIES:

All payments are expected at the time of service: Payment is required at the time services are rendered unless other arrangements have been made in advance. This includes applicable co-insurance, co-payments, and deductibles for participating insurance companies. We accept personal checks and credit cards. 

INSURANCE

We bill participating insurance companies as a courtesy to you. You are expected to pay your deductibles and co-payments at the time of services. If we have not received payment from your insurance company, you will be expected to pay the balance in full. You are responsible for all charges. We are currently accepting many different insurances, so please talk to staff if we accept your insurance. Please provide full insurance information and your insurance card upon your initial visit to determine eligibility of benefits, and obtain authorization from your insurance provider when necessary prior to your first visit.

If your insurance plan requires pre-authorization for services, it is ultimately the responsibility of the client to obtain this authorization prior to being seen by your provider. If you fail to obtain authorization, any and all charges incurred and not reimbursed will be your financial responsibility. 

We reserve the right to bill our standard fees for case coordination, clinical and legal write-ups, and phone consultations exceeding 5 minutes per week. Our time is valuable and is best served providing high-quality care to you while you are here in session. There is no charge for routine telephone calls to our administrative staff regarding scheduling, appointments, or billing. 

OUTSTANDING BALANCE

If an unpaid balance remains after 60 days, we will require a payment plan to be initiated to continue to provide services. Unpaid balances that exceed 90 days will initiate a collection effort by our administrative team, and after 120 days will be sent to an outside collections agency for recovery and some identifying confidential information will be released in this process. This may negatively impact your credit. 

We realize that people have financial difficulty, so please communicate with our office staff so that they may assist to create a financial plan with you. 

BILLING QUESTIONS

If you should need any assistance or have billing questions, please call the office during business hours and speak with our administrative staff. 

DISMISSAL/TERMINATION OF CARE

It is your right to terminate your relationship with us for any reason. We will terminate our relationship with you in a few specific cases including being rude to staff, missing your appointments, abusing medications prescribed to you, not following up on your therapeutic plan, etc. 

MISSED APPOINTMENTS/ UNTIMELY CANCELLATIONS

Missed appointments represent a cost to us, but more importantly, it is a disservice to other patients who could have been seen in the time set aside for you. If you are unable to keep your appointment, please give 48 hours’ notice so we can fill the appointment with another patient. Please note that if less than 24 hours notice is provided, you will be billed a missed appointment fee. A missed appointment charge is not a professional service charge and is not covered by your insurance. We, therefore, will charge you a full reimbursement rate for ALL and ANY missed appointments. 

COMPLAINTS

You have a right to have your complaints heard and resolved in a timely manner. If you have a complaint about your treatment, your physician, or any office policy please inform us immediately and discuss the situation. If you do not feel the complaint has been resolved, you may also inform your insurance carrier and file a complaint if you choose. 

PRESCRIPTIONS

Medication prescriptions should be written during sessions with your doctor. This allows them to discuss how they are working and how long you should take them. Very occasionally, you may need a refill between sessions. Please call the nurse as soon as possible if this should happen to you. Keep an eye on your dosage amount to avoid a rush, and to give the pharmacy and doctors enough time to get your refill processed. 

Please allow SEVEN BUSINESS DAYS for the office staff to check against your records and acquire clinician approval. We will not authorize refills if you have no future appointment, since we are legally required to ensure that you are in active treatment if we prescribe medications. Please note that in the event of a missed, rescheduled, or canceled appointment, your medications may not be refilled. 

We are unable to provide refills of medications provided by other doctors or for other medical conditions, including narcotic pain medications, and may not prescribe any medications on your first visit.

HIPAA

HIPAA Information and Consent Form The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) provides safeguards to protect your privacy. Implementation of HIPAA requirements officially began on April 14, 2003. Many of the policies have been our practice for years. This form is a “friendly” version. A more complete text is posted in the office. What this is all about: Specifically, there are rules and restrictions on who may see or be notified of your Protected Health Information (PHI). These restrictions do not include the normal interchange of information necessary to provide you with office services. HIPAA provides certain rights and protections to you as the patient. We balance these needs with our goal of providing you with quality professional service and care. Additional information is available from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. www.hhs.gov We have adopted the following policies: 

1. Patient information will be kept confidential except as is necessary to provide services or to ensure that all administrative matters related to your care are handled appropriately. This specifically includes the sharing of information with other healthcare providers, laboratories, health insurance payers as is necessary and appropriate for your care. Patient files may be stored in open file racks and will not contain any coding which identifies a patient’s condition or information which is not already a matter of public record. The normal course of providing care means that such records may be left, at least temporarily, in administrative areas such as the front office, examination room, etc. Those records will not be available to persons other than office staff . You agree to the normal procedures utilized within the office for the handling of charts, patient records, PHI and other documents or information. 

2. It is the policy of this office to remind patients of their appointments. We may do this by telephone, e-mail, U.S mail, or by any means convenient for the practice and/or as requested by you. We may send you other communications informing you of changes to office policy and new technology that you might find valuable or informative. 

3. The practice utilizes a number of vendors in the conduct of business. These vendors may have access to PHI but must agree to abide by the confidentiality rules of HIPAA. 

4. You understand and agree to inspections of the office and review of documents which may include PHI by government agencies or insurance payers in normal performance of their duties.

5. You agree to bring any concerns or complaints regarding privacy to the attention of the office manger or the doctor. 

 

6. Your confidential information will not be used for the purposes of marketing or advertising of products, goods or services. 

 

7. We agree to provide patients with access to their records in accordance with state and federal laws. 

8. We may change, add, delete or modify any of these provisions to better serve the needs of the both the practice and the patient. 

9. You have the right to request restrictions in the use of your protected health information and to request change in certain policies used within the office concerning your PHI. However, we are not obligated to alter internal policies to conform to your request.

PAPERWORK & FORMS

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PATIENT INTAKE FORM

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PRIVACY POLICY / HIPAA

PATIENT PORTAL

PATIENT LOGIN

Appointments are done in any environment as long as you are comfortable with asking or answering any questions - which is no holds barred. You are welcome to call from the passenger seat of a car, your bed, or anywhere you feel most comfortable.