Lab Test and Imaging Results

Routine labs and imaging results may take up to 1 week for receipt and processing of test results, depending on the test. If you are having a yearly physical exam or plan to have your cholesterol checked, please come fasting for your appointment. You will be notified by telephone of any abnormal test results only. We will leave a message asking you to return our call if you are not available. Please do not assume that if you haven’t heard from the office, the results are normal. On occasion, we may request that you come in to the office or schedule an appointment with a practitioner to discuss complicated or sensitive test results. We reserve the right to require an office visit before releasing test results to you if the practitioner deems it necessary. If you are18 years of age or older, it is illegal for us to release your test results to anyone else without your specific consent. In the event that we cannot reach you by telephone, or you do not respond to messages left on voicemail, Doctors Clinic Houston is no longer obligated to attempt to contact you. It is your responsibility to make sure we have accurate phone numbers and addresses in the event that we need to contact you. Furthermore, it is your responsibility to follow up on all lab and imaging tests.

Release of Information

In accordance with state and federal laws, Doctors Clinic Houston will not release any medical or personal information to anyone else, including spouses, without your specific consent. This applies to any patient over the age of 18. We require parental consent form to be signed for the treatment of any minor.

If you would like a copy of your medical records to take to another physician, you will be required to sign a release of information form. We can then release your records directly to you, or send them to the physician of your choice. Again, records can be picked up by you only, unless specific, written consent is given by you. Please allow 5 business days for copying your records. Should you want to pick up your medical records a service fee may apply and no service fee applies from doctor to doctor office.

Appointments

Please call our office during regular business hours to schedule an appointment. The receptionist will ask what you visit is regarding. This information is necessary to schedule enough time for your medical problems to be adequately handled. Please provide the receptionist your current Insurance card and Driver’s License. For every office visit please bring all of your medications, review ahead of time what medications you need refilled, and advise us of any change in your phone number and home address.

New patients will be asked to arrive twenty minutes ahead of time to complete paperwork and insurance verification. If you are more than twenty minutes late for your appointment please contact our office to inform us. If you have not called to let us know, you may be asked to reschedule your appointment or be worked in at the end of the appointment schedule so as not to delay everyone else’s appointments. Please call at least 24 hours prior to your scheduled appointment for cancellation.

Walk-Ins

Doctors Clinic Houston allows opportunities for walk-ins during office hours for urgent/ill visits.

We may request that you schedule a separate appointment for complex exams or procedures. All walk-ins are seen on a first come first served basis but there may be a prolonged wait depending on the schedule. We will, however, move someone up in line should their condition deem it necessary. These policies are in an effort to accommodate all the acutely ill patients.

After Hours Policy

Doctors Clinic Houston has a 24 hour on-call triage for only emergency issues. The practitioner will attempt to answer all calls but in the event he/she is unable to, please leave a detailed message with your name, phone number, and concern so he/she can promptly reply. For routine questions, please call during office hours. If this is an emergency, please call 911 and go to the nearest ER.

Medication Refills

If you need a refill on a current medication, please call your pharmacy first as you may have refills remaining on your prescription. If not, your pharmacy will call our office to request a prescription refill for you. Please do not wait until you are out of medicine as it can sometimes take up to 48 hours for your prescription to be refilled. Please request refills 1-2 weeks prior to running out of meds to ensure refill requests are processed in a timely manner. We require periodic office visits and blood work for certain medications. If you have not been seen within a specified period of time (3 Months), we will inform you that you are due for an office visit. If you do not come in, we may reduce the number of pills you receive or deny the next refill altogether. Please call our office to make other arrangements if it is impossible for you to be seen as we want to prevent you from running out of medication. If you are not feeling better, you need to be evaluated to see why your condition is not improving.

Controlled Substances

Doctors Clinic Houston is very strict and conservative when prescribing narcotics and controlled substances. We do not prescribe these medicines on a routine, ongoing or long-term basis. We believe in finding other, more appropriate and less addictive ways of controlling your long-term pain and chronic diseases. These other means may include chiropractic medicine, other kind of a pain medications, or pain control specialists within our organization. Our providers is responsible for decisions regarding these medications.

Insurance and Billing

As a service to you, we will bill your insurance company for office visit and procedures. You are responsible to pay your co-payment at every visit and any charges denied by your insurance company prior to services rendered. We make every effort to include all necessary information and appropriate diagnosis codes when billing your insurance company. We also try to warn you when we think any insurance company won’t cover a requested service. However, it is impossible for us to know everything that any given insurance policy does or does not include. If you have any questions regarding a bill or unpaid charges, please discuss them with the office manager and our billing department. We will make a sincere effort to file your claim with the insurance company to obtain payment; however, in the event the claim is denied, you will be sent a bill for services rendered. A receipt may be obtained so that you can attempt to be reimbursed by the insurance company.

Feedback/Complaints

We welcome your feedback. If you feel that an area of our practice needs attention, please feel free to call any of our locations, come in, or email us at ladana@drclh.com regarding your concern. You can voice your concerns with the clinic Office Manager and/or the Doctor. Please remember that any medical practice is dynamic, with ongoing change at all times. We constantly strive to meet your needs in a more efficient and effective manner. Please keep your comments constructive as we always welcome suggestions.