Health First Physicians Policies

Our Mission: Health First Physicians’ mission is to provide quality, comprehensive health care to patients of all ages. Our practice includes doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, medical assistants, technicians and receptionists who share a commitment to providing the best possible care for your family.

Family Care Focus: Health First Physicians consist of family medicine doctors. Our physicians are committed to serving as the main source for medical care for all members of your family - from newborns to senior citizens. Health First Physicians will document your complete medical history and monitor your health over the years, taking care of you when you are sick, but more importantly, when you are well. For conditions that require specialty care, we work very closely with a variety of specialists throughout the area. Should you need hospital care, our primary hospital facilities are Bethesda North Hospital and Jewish Hospital Kenwood.

Scheduling Appointments: Patients are seen by appointment Monday through Friday. Our offices also offer Saturday morning appointments for urgent medical symptoms. Our office staff makes every effort to schedule appointments so patients can be seen promptly. Our physicians work closely with our receptionist staff to help determine the need for an appointment time. At the time of scheduling, be sure to let our receptionist know all of the reasons for your visit. Under normal circumstances, our physicians will address most of your concerns. However, occasionally it may be necessary for our physicians to schedule another appointment time to allow you more time to adequately address your concerns.

Telephone Policy: During regular business hours, your calls are taken by our receptionist staff who will happily assist you to determine the need to schedule an appointment time or assist you in taking a message. If a message is taken, either a physician or their assistant will return your call as soon as possible. Physicians often return patient phone calls after patient office hours. Please leave phone numbers where we can reach you before and after 5 pm.

After Hours Care: In the event that you need care after hours or on weekends, Health First Physicians have staff available. Please call your physician’s office to contact the doctor on call. Our physicians ask that you limit your after hours calls to urgent medical situations that cannot wait for normal office hours. We ask that you do not contact our physicians after hours for routine medication refills. If you feel you are in an emergency situation, you should immediately dial 911 or go to the nearest hospital emergency room.

Registration: Each time you arrive for your appointment, you will be asked to present your insurance card and verify your address and phone number. While this may seem like an inconvenience, we’ve found that often the insurance companies make slight changes to the coverage that are important for us to know. Please be prepared to present this information to the receptionist upon checking in for your appointment. Our goal is to have you in the exam room and prepared to see the doctor at your scheduled appointment time. If there are changes in your address, phone number or insurance information, please plan to arrive 10-15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment to complete the needed paperwork, or print the Registration Form and complete it before your visit.

Referrals: Requests for referrals or prior authorizations are the responsibility of the patient. If your insurance company requires a referral, please let the office know at least one week in advance of your specialist appointment. This will allow adequate time to have the referral placed with your insurance company. To facilitate this request, please provide us with the following information: patient name, date of birth, home phone number, name of primary care physician, name of specialist or facility, appointment date, reason for appointment, name of insurance company, and whether the referral will be picked up or request to mail to patient’s home address.

Office Charges/Copay Policy: Health First Physicians participates in a large number of insurance plans and Medicare. Please contact your insurance company to verify that your services will be covered at our office. Each visit, we will ask for a copy of your insurance card. Using this information, we will file a claim with your insurance company for the services provided in our office. We require that any insurance copayment you have be made at the time of service. We will collect these copayments after your appointment. If you do not have insurance, your visit will be your responsibility, and you will be required to pay a minimum of $50 for each visit. For your convenience, we accept cash payments, personal checks, Visa and MasterCard. If your copayment or minimum payment is not paid at the time of service, Health First Physicians reserves the right to assess a $10.00 fee to your account.

Treatment of Minors Policy: Patients under the age of 18 must have a parent/legal guardian present to complete initial paperwork and treatment consent. All minors must have written parental consent with each subsequent office visit, even if they are accompanied by an older sibling, babysitter or grandparent. Without parental consent, the child’s appointment will have to be rescheduled. A parent/legal guardian or another adult with the parent’s consent to treat must be present when vaccinations or injections of any kind are administered.

Medication Refill Policy: If you are on regular medications, you may need refills. When our physicians see you in the office, they will write your prescription with a certain number of refills to hold you over until your next visit. Follow-up appointments to monitor your progress on these medications are very important. That is why in some cases, we may not accommodate your request to phone your refill into your pharmacy. Be sure to call our office well in advance of the time your refill is needed.

If we determine that your prescription refill may be called in, please have the following information ready: patient name, date of birth, home phone number, pharmacy phone number, name of medication, dosage (milligrams, etc), directions on use (times per day taken, etc), and prescription number if applicable. We require a minimum 48 hour notice for refills. Our physicians will not refill or phone in a new prescription for antibiotics without an office visit to evaluate the condition.

Missed Appointment Policy: We realize that circumstances may cause you to arrive late or miss an appointment. If you are unable to keep your appointment, please call the office 24 hours in advance to cancel. By doing so, you make it possible for us to see another patient who might otherwise have to wait to be treated. If you know you will be late, please call us at least 30 minutes in advance.

If you arrive 15 minutes late or more without advance notice, you will be asked to reschedule. If you miss an appointment without giving us advance notice, Health First Physicians reserve the right to charge $20 for the missed appointment time. If we find it necessary to change your appointment, we’ll attempt to notify you as far in advance as possible so that we can reschedule your appointment at a convenient time.

Billing Office: If you have questions or concerns about your bill or need to set up payment arrangements, please feel free to contact our billing office directly at (513) 619-6800.

Release/Transfer of Medical Records: Health First Physicians require an administrative fee for the duplication, transfer and release of a patient's medical chart. This fee covers the cost of the duplication and any applicable postage to forward those medical records. Prior authorization from the patient is required before any copies are released. Health First Physicians’ fee policy for the transfer of records is in accordance with Ohio Revised Code 3701.741. Charges are as follows:

$15.00 labor charge
All Pages - .20 cents per page
Maximum charge per patient $30.00
The $15.00 labor charge is waived for additional family members within the same office.
Only the last two years of the record will be copied.

After receiving your authorization for release/transfer of records you will receive a letter totaling the cost for transfer. Upon receipt of your payment, Health First Physicians will forward a copy of the last two years of your medical record to the physician/facility you have designated.