Office Policies
Please bring your current insurance card to each visit and ensure you are familiar with your policy’s benefits and provisions. Provide all current insurance information, including primary and secondary coverage, prior to receiving services. Failure to do so may result in you being responsible for the cost of services, as we will be unable to file your insurance claim. If you do not have insurance, please request a sliding fee schedule application at the front desk. A discounted fee schedule may be available based on your annual household income. No one will be denied services due to an inability to pay.
Some insurance plans permit out-of-network visits without a referral, typically requiring you to meet a deductible and pay a higher out-of-pocket percentage. For any questions or concerns, please contact our billing department at 334-664-0463, extension 3305.
If your insurance requires a co-payment or co-insurance, it must be paid before the patient is seen. We accept cash, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover; however, checks are not accepted for these payments.
Patients with outstanding collections must pay their balance in full with cash or credit card before scheduling another appointment with the practice.
Pediatrics: If you require a form for daycare, pre-school, camp, sports physicals or for any other activity, we request you bring the form with you to your child’s wellness exam. We do not have these forms in any of our offices. If you are not in current need of a well-child checkup, we will charge a minimal fee of $5 to complete the form, and it will take up to 48 hours to process. Please note that if it has been more than three months since your child was last seen in the office, we may have to schedule an appointment.
Adults: If your employer, insurance, or college requires a form to be completed, please schedule an appointment for this purpose. Processing will take up to 48 hours.
Our providers cannot complete disability paperwork for pre-existing conditions within the first six months of your treatment at our practice.
We believe in never turning away a sick patient. To schedule a sick appointment, please call us so we can accommodate you at a convenient time. A triage nurse may contact you to assess the severity of symptoms and determine if a same-day appointment is necessary.
We encourage all patients to arrive 10 minutes before their scheduled appointment. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late for a primary care appointment or 10 minutes late for a mental health appointment, you will need to reschedule. If you are sick and wish to be seen on the same day, we will do our best to accommodate you, but you may need to wait for an available opening. This policy helps us honor the schedules of other patients.
Patients may cancel or reschedule appointments up to three times per year, requiring 24 hours’ notice for primary care and 48 hours for mental health appointments. Appointments not canceled within these timeframes will be marked as no-shows, incurring a fee of $25 for primary care and $50 for mental health. If a family accumulates three no-shows, PMG reserves the right to discharge the patient and all family members. We appreciate your cooperation in respecting the time of our patients, providers, and staff.
A collaborative and open provider-patient relationship is essential for effective care. Our practice reserves the right to discharge patients for non-compliance with medical instructions, failure to adhere to office policies, repeated no-shows, or unruly behavior.
Preferred Medical Group strongly requests that you bring your medication bottles to every appointment to ensure accurate information in your medical record. It is your responsibility to discuss medication needs during in-office visits, as refill requests over the phone are discouraged and only accepted in emergencies at the discretion of our Family Medicine Director. Failure to provide medications may result in appointment rescheduling.
Providers will prescribe the necessary number of refills before a reevaluation is required. Certain conditions may necessitate follow-up appointments every three months or sooner to assess medication response and dosage. We encourage you to schedule your next appointment as you leave to ensure timely refills. We do not accept faxed refill requests from pharmacies or mail services.
Prescriptions are given at the physician’s discretion, and providers are not obligated to continue medications prescribed by others or to fulfill new requests. Each visit will involve a comprehensive examination to determine the necessary medications.
Our providers will strive to send prescriptions promptly after your visit and documentation completion, prioritizing them based on necessity and appointment time. While many prescriptions may be available sooner at your pharmacy, we cannot guarantee this. You may always request a written prescription for convenience.
Annual wellness visits and all preventive screenings are essential for maintaining optimal health. Non-compliance with these visits will lead to discharge from the practice, as they are vital for ensuring thorough patient care.
No prescriptions for controlled substances, including opiates (e.g., Codeine, Hydrocodone, Oxycodone) and benzodiazepines (e.g., diazepam, lorazepam), will be provided during the initial visit. Subsequent prescriptions for these medications will require objective evidence from the previous prescribing physician (e.g., labs, imaging, psychological testing) confirming the need.
We reserve the right to wean any patient off these medications if deemed in their best interest. To receive these prescriptions, patients and anyone picking them up must agree to a drug screening (urine and/or blood) at their own cost, with 24 hours’ notice. Failure to comply or any abnormalities may result in immediate dismissal from the practice unless the patient agrees to enter a rehab program within 7 days. Any abnormalities in the person picking up the prescription will be reported to the authorities.
Patients requiring controlled substances for more than six weeks for pain will need to see a pain management specialist. Chronic controlled substances are not prescribed for headaches, fibromyalgia, or mechanical low back pain. If you believe you are addicted to any controlled substance, we are willing to assist you in safely tapering off the medication.
This policy does not apply to hospice patients or individuals with terminal illnesses, except for those picking up prescriptions on behalf of the patient.
We are available 24/7 for urgent or emergency situations. After-hours calls are directed to our answering service, which will contact one of our providers. These calls should be limited to urgent matters, as providers typically cannot diagnose issues without an in-person examination. If you are sick, we recommend calling at 8:00 a.m. for a same-day appointment to allow for a thorough evaluation, as our providers do not prescribe medications without assessing the patient first.
Please update your patient information each time you visit the office to ensure we have your current address and phone number. An administrative charge will apply if your bill is returned due to a change of address or if a check is returned by your bank for insufficient funds.
At your written request, we will transfer your immunizations, growth charts, and other medical records to another physician’s office once, free of charge. Under Alabama law, our providers have up to 30 days to release your records after you sign the Medical Records Release Form. Most physicians require immunization records and recent labs before your first appointment. We can provide a non-official immunization and lab record with your medical summary at no cost while your records are processed. If you wish to obtain a copy of your full medical record, a standard fee will apply as permitted by Alabama law, and additional record requests will also incur a charge.
We require all pediatric patients to be immunized for all state-mandated vaccinations. Some vaccines, including newer options, are optional and may not be covered by insurance; therefore, you will need to pay for any vaccines not reimbursed. For specific information about vaccine reimbursement, please contact your insurance carrier.
PMG requests that parents or guardians provide all immunization records prior to or at the first appointment. If these records are not provided, our providers and nursing staff may proceed with the wellness exam without administering vaccinations. In such cases, we will schedule a separate appointment for immunizations. This policy helps ensure that your child receives the correct vaccines at the appropriate ages by consolidating immunization history from previous providers and public records.
Our providers strive to give each patient their full attention. Please schedule an appointment for each child requiring examination or discussion. Due to the size of our exam rooms, we ask that only one parent and two children be present during appointments to ensure adequate space. If you are scheduling for three or more children, one child must be old enough to sit unaccompanied in a separate room, or another adult may accompany the third child.
For continuity of care, Preferred Medical Group requires that all pediatric patients in a household be seen by the same group of providers. If you choose to bring your children to our practice, please ensure that all are established at one of our three locations (Phenix City, Fort Mitchell, or Opelika). We reserve the right to discontinue care for families not adhering to this policy.
In compliance with federal HIPAA regulations, medical information must be picked up in person at our office; we prefer not to fax or email any medical records. For more information on HIPAA laws, please visit our website. For your convenience, we offer a secure Patient Portal where you can review and print relevant medical information, including upcoming appointments, lab results, and notes from your recent visits.
For the safety of our pediatric patients, a parent or legal guardian must accompany the child to their first appointment, bringing a valid ID that will be scanned into the patient’s chart. We may request to see your ID at each visit to verify your role as the parent or guardian. This also applies to any adults over 18 who have your consent to bring the patient; their names must be listed on the patient registration form under “Able to Bring Child,” and their IDs will be verified at each visit. We also require copies of IDs for adult patients, in accordance with standard policy. Any personal documents scanned into the patient’s chart will not be reproduced.
If both biological parents do not share joint custody of a child, we require a copy of the custody agreement or another document that verifies legal custody and authority to make medical decisions. This applies regardless of whether the custodian is a biological parent, foster parent, grandparent, or court-appointed guardian. The document will be scanned into the child’s patient chart to protect the child’s safety, especially in cases where someone without custody requests medical information. For questions or further details about this policy, please email contactus@preferredmedgroup.com.
To respect those around you, please refrain from using your cell phone in our office. Once in the examination room, we ask that you silence your phone and store it away completely.
To maintain a clean and sanitary environment for all patients, please refrain from bringing food and drinks into our facility, except for bottles for infants.
At PMG, we are committed to maintaining a professional environment for all patients and their families. We ask that caretakers use child-friendly language and dress appropriately for appointments. Inappropriate behavior includes the use of vulgar language, insinuations of violence, or wearing revealing clothing, sleepwear, or swimwear.
For the health and wellbeing of all our patients and staff, we kindly request that the patient and anyone accompanying the patient arrive for appointments free from the smell of smoke. Smoke on clothing or personal belongings can worsen pre-existing conditions, such as asthma and allergies. Given the high number of patients with asthma, this is especially important.
We take pride in maintaining a clean facility and parking lot. We ask for your cooperation in keeping these areas clean by not leaving trash in exam rooms, waiting areas, or the parking lot. Additionally, we request that you refrain from disposing of used diapers on our premises.