In an emergency, you should call 911 or go to the Emergency department at Jefferson Healthcare. The Emergency department will notify your physician about your condition at the earliest possible time.

General Information

Physical Exams

We recommend that you schedule your routine physicals in advance and early in the morning to accommodate any scheduled lab tests. Please bring to your appointment any forms requiring a signature, along with a list of prescriptions you need refilled.

Before Your Appointment  

To ensure that you have the best outcome from your appointment, we recommend that you prepare by writing down your questions and concerns and by bringing a record of your current medications.You may want to call our clinic 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment to confirm your provider is on time. This way, we won’t keep you waiting longer than necessary.
To help our clinic operations to run on schedule, please check in with our receptionist at least 15 minutes prior to your appointment.

Due to our patient appointment schedule, our providers are not able to see other members of your family who may accompany you to your appointment. We are always happy to assist them in scheduling an appointment at another time.

If you cannot keep your appointment, please notify the clinic as soon as possible, in consideration of others needing appointments.

When You Call Your Provider

Our receptionist will record your call and give your message to the appropriate staff member (nurse, doctor, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner) for a response. Your call will be returned by staff the same day unless you are informed otherwise.We do not interrupt providers when they are seeing patients unless there is a medical emergency. If your call requires a response, the appropriate person will call you at the earliest opportunity.
Our providers cannot diagnose or treat your medical problems over the phone. Additionally, some requests and/or questions cannot be handled over the phone; therefore, you will be asked to make an appointment.

Reports

We will notify you about your laboratory, pathology, or X-ray reports in a reasonable amount of time. The amount of time varies according to the test. If you have not heard about your results within 7 to 10 days, please contact the clinic to inquire.We protect the privacy of your test results. We will not give results to your family members or others without your written consent. Test results for minors will be given to the person who is legally responsible for the minor.

Professional Fees

Charges for office visits and consultations are determined by the amount of time you spend with the provider, and the complexity of your visit. If you would like information about current fee schedules, please ask our reception staff.Professional fees are reviewed and adjusted annually according to a national formula, which is adjusted for this area of Washington state.

Our Billing Policies

Our billing is handled by Jefferson Healthcare. For questions regarding clinic billing, you may call 360-385-2200, ext. 4804.

Sliding Scale

Jefferson Healthcare provides charity care and a sliding fee scale to assist those who are in need of financial assistance. The receptionist can help you with this information, if needed. Our clinic offers a 10 percent discount to uninsured patients who pay their bill on the date of service.

Insurance Information

Our receptionist will request insurance information at the time you present for your appointment. You may be asked to bring your insurance card so that we can update your records. We bill insurance companies as a courtesy to our patients; however, all patients are personally responsible for payment of all charges and should be familiar with their individual insurance coverage. Please notify our office if your insurance changes. We ask you to make your co-payments at the time you check in for your office visit.

Medical Records and Privacy

We keep a detailed record of the health care services we provide to you. You may see your records at our office any time, and if needed, we will provide you with a copy of your records at no charge. We will need your signed consent if you request to have your records sent to another provider or to release them to family members. Otherwise, we will release your records only as the law authorizes or compels us, for insurance or other purposes.

You will be given a copy of the full disclosure of the “Notice of Privacy Practices.” If you have questions after reading the notice, please ask the clinic staff for clarification.