Office Management Staff Madelynn Mitchell, Practice Manager
Cydnei Blackburn, R.D., Insurance Administrator
Latonya Runnels, Office Supervisor
Mid Level Providers
Dr.
Blackburn utilizes mid level providers, which are trained as either
Physician's Assistants or Nurse Practitioners. They are trained by Dr.
Blackburn specifically for your care. These assistants work under Dr.
Blackburn's supervision and are able to diagnosis and prescribe
medications under his direction. Also, the fees to see the assistants
are much lower.
Assistants and office staff are available. The office is open during the noon hour everyday.
Appointments
It
is important that you call first and schedule an appointment when you
feel it is necessary. This allows us to schedule patients so that each
individual has adequate time with the physician. Even though, we only
see patients by appointment, due to the number of patients we service,
there is always a wait time in the office. If you are new to our
practice, please call to schedule an appointment for an exam. Please
bring a list of all prescription medicines that you are currently
taking with you to each appointment.
Telephone Calls to the Office
We
welcome your telephone calls and encourage you to call the office if
you have any questions or concerns. If you have a question for your
physician, we will most likely take a message and have him/her call you
back at the end of office hours. This allows the physician(s)
uninterrupted time with all patients. If you need to make an
appointment, our office staff will assist you in doing so. When calling
for an urgent care visit, please call as early in the day as possible
so that we can see you that day. Telephones are answered 24 hours and 7
days a week. After hours calls are handled by answering services for
emergency calls only. Refills, appointments and non-emergencies calls
are not handled after hours and on weekends. Our follow-up
appointments are confirmed by our Housecalls computerized system. Calls
are usually made 2 days before your appointment. If you need to cancel
an appointment, please enter the appropriate response or call the
office as soon as you are able. Twenty-four hours' notice is requested
when possible; this allows us to offer the appointment time to another
patient.
Urgent Calls If you have an urgent medical
problem, call the office immediately. During scheduled office hours,
provide your name and a description of the situation to the
receptionist. When the office is closed, our answering service will
take your call. Please indicate that you are calling regarding an
urgent situation; the answering service will contact the physician on
call immediately. A physician will guide you in your urgent care.
Emergency Care
In the case of an emergency, please seek care at the nearest emergency facility or dial 911.
Prescription Refills & lost prescriptions
Please
call during regularly scheduled office hours to request prescription
refills. Please do not wait until the last day of medication to call
the office. This will ensure enough time for us to review your request
and phone in the prescription if indicated.
When calling for a
prescription refill, please have the name and phone number of your
pharmacy available to give to our office staff. There is a 48 - 72 hour
wait time for refill requests. Please do not leave messages for refills
with the answering service.
Lost Prescriptions
It is our policy to mail lost prescriptions to patients. We do not call pharmacies for lost prescriptions.
Prescription Prior Authorizations
Prior
Authorizations for medications we have prescribed also take some time
to handle. There is a 48-72 hour wait time for prior authorizations for
prescriptions. For prior authorizations, we do not call insurance
companies nor complete prior authorization forms.
Why?
The
patient is able to obtain the prescription as written. We know it is
cheaper if you use your insurance. However, the prescription insurance
is a contract between you and your insurance carrier. Please understand
the insurance carrier is asking us to validate and/or approve the
treatment plan we have already devised for you. This is double work for
us.
Financial Policy
Payment
is due at the time of the visit. We accept all of the MasterCard, Visa,
American Express and Discover Card. Checks are accepted with a Texas
driver?s license or Texas ID, only. We do not accept out of state
checks. No exceptions
Medical records, forms completion & receipts
Copies
of medical records, are available for patients with a signed medical
release and a small fee. Duplicate receipts and forms completions are
also available for a small fee.
