CLINIC GUIDELINES
BE ON TIME
This is your health and our time. I have structured the clinic so that there is no wait time for you and I will be waiting to see you. In fact, my daughter may be waiting with a cup of tea for you. Coming late will cause rushing, resulting in suboptimal care, something I want to avoid. If you are more than 15 minutes late, you will be billed a late fee of $20. Time is respected both ways in our relationship.
MEDICATION REFILLS
Refills are only completed at the time of an office visit. You will always be given more than enough refills to last until your next appointment. I do not accept calls or fax requests from pharmacies or patients for refills. When you only have 1-2 months left, you need to schedule a visit to see me.
CHRONIC NARCOTICS, STIMULANTS AND BENZODIAZEPINES
The health care industry has created a situation where doctors have limited time in evaluating and managing chronic illness, resulting in over-prescribing, especially highly addictive narcotics, stimulants and benzodiazepines. We have over-prescribed these medications for chronic, non-malignant (non-cancer) pain and anxiety/mental health disorder in the past decade such that more people die in Oregon from prescription drugs than from car accidents. Not only are the toxic effects of chronic narcotics and benzodiazepines well known, but also, the majority of chronic pain and anxiety can be more effectively treated through other means which I am more than happy to explore with you. For these reasons, I do not prescribe chronic narcotics and benzodiazepines for chronic, non-cancer pain and mental health issues, with very rare exceptions.
CANCELLATIONS
Should you need to cancel your scheduled appointment, you will not be charged a cancellation fee as long as you have provided 24 hours notice before you scheduled appointment time. If you do not show up for or cancel your appointment fewer than 24 hours before your scheduled appointment, you will be billed $20.
FEES
Monthly Membership:
• Cost - $75/month
Services covered by the monthly fee:
24/7 direct physician access via cell phone/email
Quarterly community meetings with the doctor/community health resources
Courtesy visits at the hospital and/or nursing home
Hospice MD care
Same day visits for urgent needs
Typical office visits will be 30-60 minutes
You must pay monthly via recurring bank or credit card withdrawals.
Monthly membership patients are required to pay by the 1st of the month. Coverage will be lost if payment is not received by the 5th of the month. Late payments will be charged an additional $20 fee. If you start new membership in the middle of the month, the rate will be prorated accordingly for that month.
If you have a change of life situation, are unhappy with the services or just changed your mind, and need to cancel your membership, membership fees paid in advance will be fully reimbursed beyond the date of notification of termination. (i.e. if you tell me on November 14th that you want to cancel membership, I will refund you any fees paid ahead of time for November 15th onwards.)
If you come for your first visit after joining membership and it is not a good fit for you, then your membership fee will be fully reimbursed minus the time-based one time visit fee provided below in the “Visits Without Monthly Membership” section.
Per laws of the State of Oregon, this contract for membership will be reviewed and signed annually. There will not be any change to membership fees without direct communication between myself and the member (or responsible guardian).
Visits Without Monthly Membership: (if you want to be seen only once and not pay for ongoing membership). These are one-time visits only without membership benefits.
Payments are to be made at the time of scheduling.
- 30 minute visit $120
- 60 minute visit $240
- 90 minute visit $360
If you come for a 60 or 90 minute “visit without monthly membership” and decide that you would like to join the membership community, 80% of the total fee of your visit will be credited to your 3 month membership fee.
HEALTH INSURANCE
This clinic is not a substitute for health insurance and I encourage you to have a health insurance policy for referrals, imaging, labs, medications, hospitalizations and/or ER visits which may come up in your life.
PRESERVING OUR RELATIONSHIP
I want to be your doctor. I want to be available to you for your health concerns and provide you with what both you and I measure as outstanding care. This requires that you utilize my services effectively. Remember that though you may feel like you are my only patient, you are not. There are others who may need to be seen for an important health issue in your time slot. Please be considerate and reserve the option of making an office visit only as advised or for important health issues that have come up.
Likewise, don’t delay being seen if a health issue comes up. As I said previously, you can always email, text or call me. Its generally best to be seen sooner rather than later. I will try my best to return phone calls and emails within 4 hours. If you need to speak with a doctor sooner than I can return your message, please go to the ER. Your health is important and my clinic is not designed for emergencies. But I still want to hear from you once you are on your way and taken care of immediately.
HOSPITALIZATION
I do not provide inpatient hospital care. If you are admitted to the hospital, there will be a hospital physician assigned to take care of you. I want to know as soon as possible if you are admitted, so that I can coordinate care with your hospital doctor and also so that I can see you as soon as you get out of the hospital. If timing permits, I will try my best to come to the hospital for a social visit.
EMERGENCY CARE
My clinic is not designed to respond to emergencies. Though I am available 24/7, since I am doing this alone without any office staff, phone calls and emails may take up to 4 hours to return. If you have an emergency, do not delay in calling 911. If you are in an emergency situation, I would like to know eventually so I can coordinate your care with the ER physician. But first, call 911 and make sure help is on the way quickly.
CONSENT FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT and POLICIES
I voluntarily consent to medical treatment and diagnostic procedures provided by Priya J Carden MD LLC.
I consent to the testing for infectious and other diseases as deemed advisable by my physician.
I am aware that the practice of medicine and surgery is not an exact science and I acknowledge that no guarantees have been made as to the result of treatments, testing or examinations.
I agree that all information I convey is accurate.
I acknowledge that I have received, read, understood and agree to the privacy policies agreement (HIPAA).
I understand that the physicians in the clinic office building are not partners or otherwise affiliated with respect to the medical services provided by them. They are independent practitioners and simply share office space, equipment and some staff in their separate practices. They are not responsible for each other's practices or patients. From time to time, one of the physicians may provide services to the other physician’s patient in an on-call situation (i.e., when the other physician is unavailable). In such events, the patient will be deemed the patient of the providing/on-call physician only to the extent of the specific services provided by the providing/on-call physician.
I acknowledge I have read and agree to abide by the policies above.
Name:
Signature:
Date:
Please keep a copy of this document for your records.