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Patient Policies

If you have any questions after reading our patient policies, feel free to contact us at [email protected].
Please complete your intake forms prior to your appointment.
Intake Forms
You may request a release of medical records here.
Records Request
Late/Missed Appointments and Rescheduling/Payment Policy
In order to provide the highest level of care, we do not double book appointments. This allows you to enjoy more one-on-one time with your provider and requires us to follow the appointment policies below.

If you have not filled out your appointment paperwork in advance, please arrive 20 minutes early for a new patient establish care visit or 10 minutes early for established care continuity/urgent visits. If your paperwork is complete ahead of time, we ask that you still arrive 5-10 minutes in advance. You can download the paperwork here or pick it up from our office during normal business hours.

Appointments for which the patient is running 10/+ minutes late will need to be rescheduled. These will be considered missed appointments.

We require a 24 hour notification for cancellations. Otherwise the missed appointment will be billed at $20 for urgent/continuity visits, $275 for annual visits, and $270 for establish care visits (with the $80 enrollment fee retained).
You will receive email and text appointment reminders sent to your email/cell phone number on file.

We will not be able to schedule another appointment until any balance from a missed appointment has been paid.

Patient Portal (Passport) and Prescription Refill Response Times

Passport patient portal replies and refill requests can take up to three business days to process, so please plan accordingly. Refill requests should be directed to your primary care provider through the Passport patient portal at least three business days in advance.

Controlled Substance Policy
At Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville our goal is to explore natural and holistic methods for treating medical problems prior to prescribing controlled substances. We will not prescribe controlled substances for patients on their first visit, and we will only prescribe them for established patients after the third visit. If necessary, we will prescribe controlled substances only as part of a holistic treatment plan.

We require a controlled substance agreement that outlines how we prescribe these medications and establishes an understanding that you may only receive controlled substances from one provider or clinic. If a patient is found to be non-compliant with this agreement, we hold the right to refuse any future care at Integrative Family Medicine.

We will not refill controlled substances from other physicians under any circumstances.
We will not refill medications that have been lost or stolen until you are due for your next refill.
We require that you use one pharmacy to obtain all of your controlled substances.
We reserve the right to require random drug tests if we have concerns about controlled substance use.
We may discontinue treatment if you are found to use illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine, or amphetamines.

If you have a condition that will require chronic narcotic prescriptions we recommend that you establish care with a pain management center; we would be happy to coordinate our services with such a center. We also recommend a variety of therapies such as counseling, acupuncture, yoga, qigong, meditation, nutrition, and massage that work well for chronic conditions. We may be able to help you decrease or eliminate your need for pain medications.

We do not have any narcotic medication on the premises of Integrative Family Medicine.

Phone Calls and Secure Emails

We call or send a message through the patient portal with lab results as part of our routine service for Integrative Life and Employee Health Plan Members. In these communications, we will discuss the laboratory findings in relation to your previous visit. If you have questions beyond that visit or in relation to other topics, we ask that you schedule an appointment to discuss them in person.  If you have a brief question for one of our providers, we encourage members to use our secure Passport patient portal messaging system.

Emergency/After Hours Calls
For after hours questions or concerns, we provide 24-hour phone support through our nurse triage service. The service does not have access to your medical records and cannot prescribe; however, they can advise you whether your concern can wait until the next business day or warrants more immediate care. Please call 911 for any emergencies after hours.
Clinical Forms and Paperwork from Other Offices
We will complete clinical forms that are part of your office visit such as routine DOT forms or routine physical forms for school. We will provide copies of any records generated by services provided at our office and make available a secure Patient Portal so you may access all your records online at your convenience. We encourage you to work with us to keep these records up to date if you are working with other providers that may change your medication or treatments.

If you have forms outside of routine care during your visit or require us to complete in-depth paperwork from other offices, we will charge based on the time required for completion at a rate of $45 per ten minute increment.

Pap Smear and Biopsy Policy
Pap smear and biopsy prices include two charges, one from Integrative Family Medicine and one from a pathologist who works for our third party laboratory, Labcorp. Our members typically pay just $25 for a Pap exam—this is the charge passed on to us by Labcorp—though it may occasionally be more. Additional details are found below.

We have negotiated prices for pap exams and biopsies with Labcorp to give our members the best chance at getting the lowest possible price. Sometimes when the specimen has abnormalities the pathologist has to perform extra tests, based on what she is seeing with the specimen before her.

In this scenario, Labcorp bills our clinic for the additional testing at our wholesale rates. We will then bill the patient for any additional charges at the rate Labcorp bills our office, with no surcharges. By undergoing the procedure, you agree to pay any additional fees incurred by the required supplemental testing.

If you prefer, we can have Labcorp bill you directly for their charges, but this usually results in higher overall costs since they will give you their standard retail pricing. If you have any questions regarding this policy, please inquire with our staff prior to the procedure.

Insurance Reimbursement Submissions: Member Responsibility
As a Direct Primary Care (DPC) practice, Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville consciously does not bill insurance for lab work or office visits. If you would like to file any lab work costs with insurance, you may request a copy of your paperwork to submit to your insurance provider for reimbursement. We can make no guarantees concerning rates of reimbursement as they are dependent upon each patient’s insurance provider and plan. Please note that Medicare and Medicaid patients are not allowed to file claims as we have opted out of these services. We require all Medicare eligible patients to accept the “Medicare Patient Understandings” contained in our Patient Policy Agreements.

We will only bill Medicare for lab work that is $60 and up per test (panels excluded). Panels are comprised of individual tests and therefore not included as billable; only the cost of a qualifying individual test may be submitted. *Excludes specialty and hormone testing; we do not bill Medicare for these labs.

*Studies done outside our clinic such as X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans can be billed directly to insurance through the organization performing the study. You may have copays or deductibles depending on your plan.

Patient Conduct Policy
Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville, in order to provide a safe and supportive workplace, has a zero tolerance policy toward verbal/physical abuse toward staff/providers. Such behavior, including but not limited to the following, is prohibited and considered grounds for patient dismissal:

  • Using vulgar, profane, or threatening language
  • Making demands and/or screaming
  • Physically assaulting someone at the practice
Notice of Privacy Policies
Integrative Family Medicine of Asheville’s Notice of Privacy Practices (version effective December 2022) may be viewed at this link. Patients may request a printed copy of this policy at any time by requesting one from our front desk staff.