Medication Policy:
If you experience a psychiatric emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
If you have medication issues, please make an appointment to allow your provider to give you the care and attention you deserve.
Medication refills will not be issued by phone.
During visits, tell your Provider about any refills needed before your next visit.
By law, controlled substance prescriptions require follow up appointments every 3 months and must be submitted electronically.
Replacement medications will not be issued before the date they were due to run out.
You must safeguard your medications.
We expect you to gradually wean yourself off addictive benzodiazapine medications such as Xanax, Ativan, Valium, etc.
We care about your overall health and longevity, so we encourage you to acquire other healthier coping skills for chronic anxiety.
E-FORCSE® We are required by law to use the Florida Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to avoid possible adverse drug interactions and to reduce drug abuse or diversion.
Phone Policy
To uphold the quality of care and in fairness to all, Providers cannot interrupt appointments to take phone calls. If you feel you must speak with your Provider, please make an appointment. Thank you for understanding. We take pride in answering your call in person whenever possible. However, when all six lines are busy, calls are routed to our staff member’s voicemail, if this happens to you… Please follow these 3 simple steps:
- Do not call more than once per day for the same issue. Doing so only adds more delay to returning your call.
- Keep your message as brief as possible (name, and reason for call)
- Allow up to 24 hours for a return call, especially if you call late in the day due to the fact we typically receive from 75 to 100 calls each day.
Please ensure that we can reach you by checking that your personal voicemail box is not full.
Help us reduce our call volume and improve your ability to reach us by authorizing us to send your appointment reminders via text message, e-mail or automated voice response.
NOTE: Abusive, threatening or incessant calling is cause for termination. All threats are reported.
No call / No show Policy & Fees
FPA providers are seen by appointment only. To provide the best possible service for everyone, we require 24-hour notice to cancel or reschedule appointments. Broken appointments may require you to prepay to reschedule. Initial appointments with our office may require a deposit. If you no-show or cancel less than 24 hours before your initial appointment the deposit will be applied to the no-show fee. For return visit appointments, a $50 no-show fee applies. Patients are ultimately responsible for confirming and keeping, or canceling their appointments regardless of any reminder status, response or method of delivery.
Note: Insurance companies do not reimburse for No-Show fees.
Automated Appointment Reminders
We offer appointment reminders as a courtesy to patients. You may elect to receive reminders by text message, e-mail or phone call. Please remember that automated reminders are subject to phone, network & internet delays and related equipment outages. To avoid possible double booking or rescheduling of your appointment and any no-show fees, either confirm your appointment by replying to the reminder or cancel it in a timely manner by calling the office.
Scheduling, Payment, Insurance, Termination, other Policies & Fees
Scheduling appointments: Our office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Initial appointments are for evaluation purposes only. We make every effort to schedule your appointment as soon as possible.
Payment policy: Payment of all applicable charges is due when service is rendered. If not, your appointment will be rescheduled.
For your convenience, we accept major credit cards, cash and personal checks. We do not accept post dated checks. There is a $50 fee for checks returned for insufficient funds. We reserve the right to charge a service fee of $50 on unpaid balances after 60 days.
Insurance: FPA is an “in network” provider for Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Tricare Standard. We accept out-of-network benefits from most other plans and we furnish proof of treatment for your reimbursement upon request.
Termination Policy: It is the policy of this practice to establish and maintain a cooperative trust based provider/patient relationship. Should the relationship, trust or mutual goals of the provider and patient not be realized, either party may terminate the relationship within the bounds of applicable state and federal laws, rules and regulations.
Inactive Patient: Any patient not seen by an FPA Provider within the previous 18 months is inactive and will be terminated.
FMLA, Legal paperwork charges and limitations: Cost is $50 per page in advance.
We do not process long-term disability applications nor provide letters of endorsement for emotional support animals.
Use of recording devices in the office is prohibited unless approved in advance in writing.