To ensure appropriate attention to the needs of patients and facilitate an efficient flow of office systems, we have developed the following office policies. We hope that a careful reading of these policies will answer many of your questions. Thank you in advance for your consideration, cooperation and compliance with regard to our policies. If you have further questions, our staff will be happy to assist you.
Office Hours
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Holiday Hours
Holiday hours will be posted in the office and on the answering machine one week in advance. Please check your medication refills and call the office prior to the holiday hours if refills are needed.
After Hours
We do not have an after hours practice. Please call 911 or proceed to the nearest emergency room if you have an emergency after hours or during the weekend.
Appointment Scheduling
You may schedule an appointment during regular business hours. We will make every effort to schedule you in a timely fashion to meet your needs.
Cancellation Policy
Our staff typically gives patients appointment reminder calls 24-48 hours before a scheduled appointment. However, should you not receive a reminder call, the responsibility for your scheduled appointment is still your responsibility. If you know that you will not be able to make your appointment, please call to cancel as soon as possible so that others in need can be scheduled.
PSMC requires 24-hour notice to cancel or change an appointment. Notice of cancellation or change should be made during regular office hours. After-hour cancellations will apply to the next business day. Failure to provide 24-hour cancellation notice will result in a $50 charge.
HIPAA Policy
The Pain and Stress Management Center respects the privacy of protected health information and understands the importance of keeping this information confidential and secure. Please carefully review our HIPAA Policy for further information about how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information.
Insurance Policy
Dr. Ximenes is a provider for a number of insurance carriers. Due to the numerous and ever changing policies and groups, it is the responsibility of the patient to ensure that they are seeing a network provider and to determine if a referral is needed for visits to a specialist. Please verify this by calling the "800" number on the back of your insurance card. We do not see any work related injuries or illnesses.
Lab Results
All patients who need lab results will be required to make an appointment to be seen to have interpretation of these results. You may have a copy of your results without an appointment, but this will be without interpretation, diagnosis or treatment. If your results are abnormal and require immediate attention, you will be contacted to make an appointment to discuss them with the physician or physician assistant.
Prescription Refills
Notify Dr. Ximenes of any prescriptions needed at the time of your appointment. He will try to ensure you have enough refills to last until you are due for your next appointment. However, if you need refills prior to your scheduled appointment, please have your pharmacy FAX the request to us with a 48-hour notice. We will make every attempt to be as prompt as possible in completing your refill requests appropriately. If your prescription request has not been addressed after 48 hours please contact the office.
Patient Confidentiality
For your protection, we cannot release any information without the signed consent of the patient. This includes information to a spouse or family member. All patients age 18 or older must sign a consent if they wish for their health information to be discussed with a parent.
Payment Policy
All services are to be paid for in full at the time of service. There is a $35 charge for returned checks.
Concluding Remarks
We have a commitment to offering our patients the best care possible. The advent of rising malpractice rates and poor reimbursements paid by insurance companies (despite how much they have increased your premiums), makes it critical that we have a commitment from you as well to take responsibility for your health care. Thank you again for your consideration and for allowing us to do what we love to do.