New Patients

If this is your first visit with our clinic, please plan to arrive 20 minutes before your scheduled appointment to complete initial paperwork.

Bring a photo ID, your insurance card, and a list of current medications or previous medical records if available. Our front desk team will walk you through the registration process and answer any questions to help you feel comfortable before your visit begins.

Returning Patients

If you have visited our clinic before, please check in at the front desk when you arrive.

Bring a photo ID and insurance card so we can verify your information, and let our staff know if anything has changed since your last visit (contact information, insurance, primary care provider, etc.). For the best experience, we recommend arriving 10–15 minutes early so we can complete any updates before your appointment begins.

Patients arriving more than 10 minutes after their scheduled appointment time will be considered late, and the visit may be canceled or rescheduled.

A $50 no-show/late-cancellation fee may be charged when:

• You do not attend your appointment and do not notify us, and/or

• You cancel or reschedule with less than 24 hours’ notice

These fees reflect the appointment time we were unable to offer to other patients.

After three (3) no-shows, the clinic reserves the right to discharge you from our practice.

Cell Phone Usage

To eliminate distractions when the provider/nurse is with you, please turn off your cell phone. We do not allow photos or videos during any point of your visit at Seven Peaks Family Medicine.

Disorderly Conduct

Any rude, disruptive, or abusive behavior towards staff or other patients, threatening or violent behavior deemed as such by the practice owners and/or practice manager WILL NOT be tolerated and may result in dismissal from the practice. 

Consent To Receive Automated Calls And Texts

We use an automated system of phone calls and text messages in order to remind you about appointments and portal messages.  If you do not want to receive these reminders, please notify us in writing 

Previous balances, copays, deductibles, and coinsurance are due prior to being seen at each visit. For questions about what you may owe, please contact your insurance company directly.

We accept the following forms of payment:

• Cash

• Check

• Visa, Mastercard, and Discover
  (American Express is not accepted)

Accounts with unpaid balances may be sent to a collection agency. If your account is placed in collections, it will be inactivated. To reactivate your account, you must pay:

1. All outstanding balances in full, and

2. A $50 reactivation fee

Returned (NSF) checks will be charged back to the patient's account with an additional service fee of $50.00.

If you choose to dispute credit card charges made in our office, we will not respond to the dispute. The charge will be added back to your account and subject to our Collections Policies.

Payment is due at the time of service. All third-party payor contracts include a clause requiring that deductibles, copayments and coinsurance be collected at each appointment. 

Patients under the age of 18 cannot be their own guarantor. At least one parent or legal guardian must be included on the account as the guarantor.

Patients will receive three statements and then a collection letter. 30 days after the collection letter is sent, the account will be sent to a bad debt collection agency. If an account is sent to bad debt collections, all future appointments will be canceled. Once the patient has paid the bad debt, they will need to pay a $50 reinstatement fee in order to be seen again.

With the exception of the annual deductible, Medicare balances are typically not sent to bad debt collections. Medicaid eligible balances are not sent to bad debt collections.

We believe that divorce, separation, or custody matters should not interfere with a child’s medical care.

• The parent who brings the child to the appointment is responsible for any copays, deductibles, or fees associated with that visit.

• In cases of joint custody, both parents have equal access to the child’s medical record. Without a court order, we will not block either parent from accessing records or test results.

• We rely on co-parents to communicate with one another regarding medical recommendations, diagnoses, medications, and treatment plans.

• We do not contact the other parent for consent prior to providing medically necessary care.

If conflict between co-parents becomes disruptive to the clinical environment or interferes with our ability to provide care, we reserve the right to dismiss the family from the practice and recommend transfer to another provider.

A provider must see you in person before:

• Prescribing any new medication

• Refilling antibiotics or controlled substances

• Changing an existing medication

Controlled medications are not prescribed by phone, after hours, or on weekends.

We do not accept refill requests through the patient portal or by phone. All refill requests must be submitted through your pharmacy, even if the prescription has expired.
If you change pharmacies, please bring your prescription bottles to the new pharmacy and have them send the refill request to us directly.

Same-day sick visits are reserved for urgent, single-issue concerns. Because these visits occur in between scheduled appointments, we ask that you stay focused on the reason you were seen that day. We will address the immediate problem first and, if needed, schedule a separate appointment for routine or ongoing care.

Regular or non-urgent prescriptions are not refilled during a same-day sick visit.

Referrals and prior authorizations from your insurance can take up to 96 hours (or longer) to process. Please do not call from the specialist’s office on the day of your appointment to request a referral.

If you need a referral, please contact our office before scheduling or attending a specialist visit. In most cases, you must schedule an appointment with our provider to obtain the referral.

For any medical emergency after office hours, on weekends, or holidays, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Inform the hospital provider that our clinic is your Primary Care Provider so they can notify us of your visit. After discharge, please schedule a follow-up appointment with our clinic within 7 days.

For non-emergency needs outside of clinic hours, please use the Athena patient portal to message your care team. Messages are typically answered within one business day.

If you choose to use our after-hours triage line or on-call physician, please note that there is an associated fee which may not be covered by insurance. If not covered, you are responsible for the full charge.

Medical record copies are available upon request. Printing and mailing fees are applied in accordance with North Carolina General Statute allowable rates.

We do not fax, mail, or email reports directly to patients. All patients have access to their records through the patient portal, where reports can be viewed and printed at no cost.

If you request to address other medical issues during a scheduled physical exam, the visit will be billed as both a preventive (well) visit and a problem-focused (sick) visit.

Your insurance may not cover both services during the same visit. If the combination is not covered, you will be responsible for the remaining balance. The problem-focused portion of the visit may be subject to your plan’s copay, deductible, or coinsurance.