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  Ashe Family Healthcare : Policies: Ashe Family Healthcare Office Policies

 

General Information

General Information
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Ashe Family Healthcare (AFH) is owned, operated, and managed by Derek McClure and individuals under his employment or supervision unless otherwise indicated.

Care or medical services rendered by AFH will be rendered or supervised by a Nurse Practitioner (NP) or Physician Assistant (PA), NOT a physician (MD or DO) unless otherwise stated as such at the time of your visit. Though NP and PA providers may hold doctorate level education and professionally may be addressed as β€œDoctor,” NP and PA providers are not physicians.

AFH providers are holistic, or all-encompassing, in their approach to care of the patient. This is not to be confused with herbal, natural, alternative, allopathic, osteopathic, or other philosophies of care. Our providers may or may not include similar approaches as other philosophies in the care they choose to provide.

Our business operates on principles of equality and honesty with the influences of professionalism, faith, hope, and compassion. We expect our patients to treat our staff with these same levels of respect and patience. Dishonest, malicious, or malingering behaviors are not tolerated. Belligerent, disruptive, or abusive conduct, or threats of any kind toward the practice or its employees will be grounds for immediate discharge from our practice and possible legal recourse.

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Posted Aug 5, 14 by Ric Kolseth Under General Information Permalink 1414353316
Hospital Affiliation
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Currently, AFH is not directly associated with any hospital agency or healthcare management group.

Diagnostic testing may be performed in a variety of hospital settings at local and/or non-local facilities.

In order to maximize our skills and to provide excellent outpatient care, AFH has opted to utilize hospitalist services provided by area medical centers and hospitals in the event in-patient medical care is required.

Medically emergent concerns will be directed to the nearest available emergency service provider, activating emergency services / calling 9-1-1 should patients be on the AFH premises.

It is the policy of some hospital facilities for patients to be first evaluated by the emergency department prior to being considered for admission to the hospital.

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Posted Aug 5, 14 by Ric Kolseth Under General Information Permalink 1407261471
Drug and Alcohol Testing
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All patients are subject to random drug and alcohol testing. Patients who receive controlled substance prescriptions from our practice are automatically engaging into a binding contract with high levels of restrictions and compliance monitoring. Please note this office participates in an initiative to help law enforcement control the growing concern with methamphetamine (METH) and/or illegal trafficking of controlled substances.

Patients who receive controlled substance medication(s) from our practice understand and agree that legal action, including reporting suspected diversion, misuse, or trafficking, may be reported to appropriate legal authorities as well as notification to all/any prescribing providers identified may occur should the patient be suspected for or found in violation of our policies and/or controlled substance contract agreement.

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Posted Oct 26, 14 by Ric Kolseth Under General Information Permalink 1414356264
Food, Beverages, and Tobacco or Vape Products
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Due to the nature of a healthcare environment where the ill and infirm are treated, food and liquids can easily harbor bacteria and other dangerous organisms. No food or drink is allowed in any part of the office or clinical areas beyond the waiting room.

NO SMOKING or VAPING is permitted within 50 feet of any entry of the property!

Cigarette butts are considered litter, please dispose of properly. Fines associated with littering will be enforced.

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Posted Oct 28, 14 by Ric Kolseth Under General Information Permalink 1414550960
After-Hours Provider Access
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After hour or on-call services are available. Please be respectful of personal and professional boundaries. Providers and staff do not work 24/7. They need personal time with their families and the opportunity to rest or recharge between workdays to better serve our community.

Appropriate communication methods (main phone line or fax line) during normal office hours are a must.

The on-call line, 828-772-6888, is for urgent matters only that occur outside of normal hours of operation. Voicemails to be screened require that patients leave a detailed message with your name and callback number. Vague or inaudible messages to the on-call line will not be returned. Text messages to this number are also permitted so long as the messages contain adequate information for the on-call team member to process.

DO NOT CONTACT THE PROVIDERS OR STAFF AT HOME OR ON THEIR PERSONAL MOBILE DEVICE OR VIA SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ISSUES THAT PERTAIN TO A HEALTH OR MEDICAL CONCERN.

The on-call service is not to be utilized as a refill request line, appointment line, or to discuss lab results or visit experiences. When calling the on-call line, caller ID that appears as "PRIVATE" may go unanswered and vague messages, such as "call me," will not be returned. On-call voicemail or text messages are screened prior to responding.

The on-call line is for URGENT MATTERS THAT ARISE OUTSIDE OF NORMAL OFFICE HOURS ONLY: For emergencies, please report to your local emergency department or call 9-1-1.

Depending on the context of the communication, provider time, resource utilization or nature of the concern warranting utilization of the on-call service, AFH may generate a billable encounter, possibly resulting in fees with the patient/patient's insurance being filed accordingly. Any expenses generated and not covered by the patient's insurance are the financial responsibility of the patient.

Calls received on the on-call line during normal office hours will be deleted automatically.

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Posted Oct 28, 14 by Ric Kolseth Under General Information Permalink 1414551202
Cell Phone Use
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Please silence all cell phones when leaving our waiting area.

Should a provider enter an exam room whereby you or a person in the exam room with you is using a mobile phone to text or talk, the provider reserves the right to step back out of the room and change the otherwise scheduled appointment into a work-in slot, thereby potentially increasing wait time within the office.

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Posted Oct 28, 14 by Ric Kolseth Under General Information Permalink 1414550868
Laboratory and Testing Results
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Routine laboratory testing is typically completed prior to a scheduled visit with the AFH provider, permitting in-person review of results and fostering a discussion between the provider and the patient to ensure better understanding of results.

For testing not ordered prior to your visit, please permit up to two weeks for a return phone call with your results from our staff. If results are needed more promptly, please arrange a follow up appointment to discuss accordingly. Tests ordered by outside providers but collected at Ashe Family Healthcare will be forwarded to the ordering provider upon receipt of results without review from this office and such results will need to be obtained/discussed with the ordering provider.

You may receive a bill from any laboratory company used for the purpose of test collection.

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Posted Oct 28, 14 by Ric Kolseth Under General Information Permalink 1414550815
Medications, Refill Requests, Patient Requests, and Messages
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Please bring all of your medication bottles to each appointment, including any products taken over-the-counter (herbs, vitamins, etc.) as well as any medications prescribed by non-Ashe Family Healthcare providers.

Effective 1/1/2021, refills will only be honored at the time of the office visit or electronic pharmacy-initiated request only. Phoned-in and faxed-in requests will not be accepted.

Electronic refill requests (initiated by your pharmacy) will be approved within seven (7) business days if the request is

a) deemed medically appropriate

b) received within a reasonable time frame since your last scheduled appointment

c) made while your account is in good financial standing

d) made based on our last reported medication list review (completed at each and every appointment with an AFH provider)

It is the patient's responsibility to verify and update his/her medication list with AFH

Requests for medication refills need to be submitted to your pharmacy who will in-turn will notify us electronically of your request for refills. Again, please allow up to seven (7) business days for a response for a refill request. Our office will not contact you after a request has been made or fulfilled unless questions about the request should arise. Check for refill verification at the pharmacy rather than contacting our office. Controlled substance medications due to be refilled require more frequent office visits and this is non-negotiable.

Call-in requests for treatment without an office visit are evaluated case-by-case, but anticipate if it has been over 90 days since your last appointment, you will be asked to present to the office in order to be evaluated. Virtual visits are available and may be encouraged. Phone in requests for pain management or mental health will not be authorized and will require an appointment for evaluation of the concern.

Messages or patient specific requests will be addressed within seven (7) business days of receipt.

Form completion requests may require an in-person visit or be subject to additional fees not covered by your insurance.

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Posted Oct 28, 14 by Ric Kolseth Under General Information Permalink 1414550457
Patient Records
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Patients may request a copy of his or her records at any time. A fee of $5.00 plus $0.25 per page can be assessed. All record releases require a patient or legal guardian (proof of legal guardianship is required) and witness to have signed the request.

Patients may also choose to view their patient portal (note: information in the portal is not comprehensive), which is free for the patient and requires a valid email to enroll for portal access.

Records requested by another provider or medical facility are consider continuity of care communication and are not subject to fees or patient expense.

Records may be released without signed request as required by law, public health requirements or for appropriate collaborative medical efforts.

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Posted Oct 28, 14 by Ric Kolseth Under General Information Permalink 1414550412

Appointments

Patient Demographic Updates and Scheduling of Appointments
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It is the patient's (or patient guardian's) responsibility to ensure current contact information, including phone, mobile phone, email, mailing address, insurance information, etc. prior to the date of his or her next appointment.

***PLEASE UPDATE YOUR PERSONAL PROFILE REGULARLY***

Required demographic information for every visit:

-Full legal name

-Mailing address

-A working phone number (mobile is preferred)

-Patient date of birth

-All medical insurance information

-Patient's social security number

-Preferred pharmacy

Required information for every patient (prior to scheduling an appointment) includes, but is not limited to, completion or review of the "new patient packet," which reflects all the above demographic information, as well as comprehensive information about medications in use, past medical/surgical history, and emergency contact information.

We attempt to remind patients via email (requires sign-up), text message, and/or phone about their upcoming appointments. Please be sure your contact information is current. If we call/leave a message about the upcoming appointment, we consider this to be a successful reminder.

Copayments and any past-due balances are due prior to start of visit. Balances > 90 days must be paid prior to scheduling any future appointment. Refill requests will not be honored for accounts in poor financial standing.

Due to limited space and often quite busy schedules for the providers, time allotted for a patient may vary from 15-60 minutes, depending on the stated need of the patient or procedures to be performed during that visit. When making your appointment, please provide as much information as possible as to the nature of your needs so the receptionist may schedule accordingly. A missed appointment without advanced cancellation can result in taking time away from another patient who would have otherwise benefited from the appointment. With this understanding, we ask that patients maintain awareness of ALL pending appointments with AFH. A reschedule fee of $30 may be required to re-activate your account for any missed appointments (or same-day cancellations).

Please know that our providers often have the need to adjust their work schedule due to family concerns, educational issues, or even personal illness. We make efforts to reschedule our patients in advance, but there may be times your visit will be shifted to another provider due to an urgent circumstance. If we are able to make adjustments to the schedule in advance, you will be offered the option to reschedule with the same or different provider, possibly even having an opening on the same day as the original appointment.

Please be respectful of the provider's time as well as the patient who is waiting to be seen after you. Multiple concerns may or will need to be addressed in separate appointments to avoid workflow disruptions. Emergencies and case sensitive issues often create delays during the work day, so please be patient as we help those in crisis first. The order of care priority is as follows: emergencies, scheduled appointments, and then work-in visits. Please note that emergencies occur daily and disruption to our schedule is possible. Please have patience with our staff and providers.

In order to ensure that your time with the provider is maximized, please arrive 15 minutes prior to your appointment time, 30 minutes prior to CDL and Wellness Exams.

See "MISSED APPOINTMENT" tab under "POLICIES" for important information and fees associated with NO SHOW or SAME DAY CANCELLATION as related to provider visits.

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Posted Oct 28, 14 by Ric Kolseth Under Appointments Permalink 1414550216
Missed Appointment, Same Day Cancellation, Leaving After Triage
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Please note, effective 1/2/2021 our NO SHOW or SAME DAY CANCELLATION policy has changed.

If you are unable to make your appointment time, kindly contact our office at least 24 hours in advance. Failure to appear for an appointment or make effort of cancel at least 24 hours in advance will result in a missed appointment status ("NO SHOW").

For this (NO SHOW or SAME DAY CANCELLATION), your chart is temporarily deactivated and a $30.00 reschedule fee is applied to your account that must be paid prior to being eligible to reschedule, request refills, or have access to any of the services provided by our facility.

After three NO SHOW or SAME DAY CANCELLATION occurrences, the practice reserves the right to discharge the patient from the practice. Three consecutively missed appointments will be considered grounds for immediate dismissal from the practice.

Leaving after having been triaged by our nurse or medical assistant but prior to consultation with the provider will result in forfeiture of co-payment or any monies paid for that visit and will be tallied as a NO SHOW or SAME DAY CANCELLATION penalty.

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Posted Aug 5, 14 by Ric Kolseth Under Appointments Permalink 1407259757
Inclement Weather and Holiday Closure
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In the event of inclement weather, please call the office prior to your departure to your appointment. In the case of such weather, we typically will open on a one- or two-hour delay, and we occasionally must close completely. We will make attempts to adjust the message on our answering machine, as well as update our website and our social media page during days we are affected by inclement weather, as well as for any scheduled holiday closures.

In the event of complete office closure, such as during staff education days, holidays, or inclement weather, patients with matters needing to be addressed during that time, for issues that cannot wait until we reopen, we encourage our patients to present to the nearest urgent care.

Missed appointments during inclement weather are noted within the chart and typically do not apply to our missed appointment policy detailed above.

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Posted Aug 5, 14 by Derek McClure Under Appointments Permalink 1407260591

Billing

Billing and Payment for Services Rendered
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Copayments for the current visit and any balances generated from previous AFH service are to be paid in full at the time of the visit. Account balances > 90 days must be paid in full prior to scheduling future appointments or approval of medication refills and charts may be temporarily deactivated until accounts are settled.

Effective 1/1/2025, AFH will no longer offer any special payment plans for balances generated from previous services. It is the patient's duty to be financially responsible for payment of services rendered at the time of service and understand how his/her insurance covers medical care.

For services rendered directly by AFH, it may appear on filed claims, receipts, or Explanation of Benefit (EOB) statements as "Derek McClure," "Ashe Family Healthcare," "Dr. Daniel Strickland" (our collaborating physician), "West Jefferson Medical Associates," or the name of any provider under the employment of Ashe Family Healthcare. Questions regarding billing directly from our office need to be directed to our Business Manager who can be accessed by calling our main office number.

Bills received by the patient that originate from other companies that may have been used by Ashe Family Healthcare, such as Quest, LabCorp, Ashe Memorial Hospital, HealthRx, SNAP Diagnostics, etc., need to be directed to the originating company, not Ashe Family Healthcare. It is the patient's responsibility to ensure we have the most current insurance information prior to rendering of service.

Self-pay patients, or patients without insurance, please note we require the minimum office fee to be paid prior to seeing the provider. Any additional charges accumulated during your visit or as a result of the visit will be collected at time of check out. Ask any of our staff members about the different options available to help keep healthcare affordable and manageable. We encourage patients to explore the AFH Exclusive plan for additional cost savings (see tab "Save $ $ $ with AFH")

AFH Exclusive Plan Post Info
Posted Oct 26, 14 by Ric Kolseth Under Billing Permalink 1414356055