Appointments

    Many patients come to us through referral from other physicians and practices. You may, however, make an appointment to see most of our doctors without a referral from another physician. While we want you to see the physician of your choice, the physician’s availability may be limited because of scheduling conflicts.

    If this happens, we will make arrangements for another Hughston Clinic physician to see you. We ask that, whenever possible, a return appointment for regular checkups be made before you leave the clinic. Appointments by telephone should be made at least two weeks in advance. If you must cancel an appointment, please notify our office as soon as possible.

    Our toll free number is 1-800-331-2910 or call the closest Hughston Clinic office.

Prescription Refills

    We want to process your request for prescription refills as quickly as possible. When you need a prescription refill, please notify your pharmacist or call our office. Calls received after 2:30 p.m. for routine refills will be handled on the next business day. Please call before noon, if possible, to ensure same day response.

    We will need the name of the medication, pharmacy name, and pharmacy phone number. In addition, we will need the patient’s name, address, and date of birth to ensure proper medication control. Please have this information ready when you call. During evenings, weekends, and holidays, the doctor on call does not have immediate access to your records. Therefore, routine prescriptions cannot be refilled during this time. Please contact the office during weekdays and before your medication has completely run out.

New Patient Forms

Please print the following forms.  Complete the forms and bring them to your appointment check-in.  The forms are:

• Patient Information Record

• Medical History Questionnaire

• HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practice (2 pages)

Patient Forms (4 pages)

Patient Satisfaction Survey

We would like to hear from you.  Please take the time to complete our  Patient Satisfaction Survey.

Office Procedures & Payment Policy

    During your appointment, you will be asked about your medical history. Give some thought to what you want to tell your doctor and to what questions you need to ask. After your examination, your doctor may give you prescriptions, instructions, or other recommendations. We encourage you to ask questions. Your thorough understanding is very important to us.

    When your visit is complete, the medical assistant will escort you to the check-out desk to schedule follow up appointments if necessary. Because statements and billing have become so expensive and because we do our best to keep all medical costs down, we ask that you pay any balance and copayments at check-in. We accept cash, personal checks, VISA, Discover Card, or Master Card. Our staff will file your insurance claims at no charge. Please have your insurance information available when you come for a visit and keep copies of all billing information so you can follow up on claims with your insurance company if necessary.

HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you may get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

Hughston Clinic is dedicated to protecting your medical information. We are required by law to maintain the privacy of protected information and to provide you with this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to protected health information. Hughston Clinic is required by law to abide by the terms of this Notice.

How your medical information will be used and disclosed:
We will use your medical information as part of rendering patient care. For example, the doctor or nurse treating you, by the business office to process your payment for the services rendered and by administrative personnel reviewing the quality of the care you receive may use your medical information.

We may also use and/or disclose your information in accordance with federal and state law without your consent for the following purposes:

Appointment Reminders - May contact you to provide appointment reminders
Treatment Information - Other alternative treatments or health-related services that may be of interest to you
Law Enforcement - May disclose your information as required during as investigation
Legal Proceedings - May disclose your information in the course if certain judicial or administrative proceedings
Public Safety - May disclose your information to prevent or lessen serious threat to the health or safety to the public
Military Activity and National Security - May disclose information to military command for their military records or other federal officials conducting national security and intelligence activities for protective services for the President
Worker’s Compensation - May disclose information as authorized to worker’s compensation or similar programs
Inmates - May disclose information to the correctional facility or law enforcement official for your proper care
Abuse or Neglect - May disclose information when it concerns abuse, neglect or violence in accordance to federal or state law
Coroner, Medical Examiner, or Funeral Director - May disclose information for identification of a body or determine cause of death
Food and Drug Administration - May disclose information to report adverse events, product recalls, to make repairs or replacements
Research - May disclose information for certain research purposes if an Institutional Review Board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your information {GA Code Ann.§ 31-7-6(b)}
Disclosure to Department of Health and Human Services - May disclose information for public health purposes to help control disease, injury, or disability, also to a person who may have been exposed to a communicable disease or at risk of contacting or spreading a disease or condition
Others Involved in Your Healthcare - May disclose information to a family member, other relatives, close personal friends or other representative you authorize when medical information is directly relevant to that person’s involvement in your care
Health Oversight Activities - May disclose information for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, and inspections. Oversight agencies seeking this information include government agencies that oversee health care systems, government benefit programs, and other government regulatory programs and civil rights law.
Disaster Relief - May disclose information to a public entity, such as the American Red Cross, for purpose of coordinating with that entity to assist in disaster relief efforts
Facility Directory - Unless you object, we will use and disclose in our facility directory your name, and the location at which you are receiving care. This information will be disclosed only when someone calls and ask for you by name
Business Associates - May disclose information to a business associate that we have a contract with to provide services on our behalf. We require our business associates to appropriately safeguard the health information of our patients

AUTHORIZATIONS:

We will not use or disclose your medical information for any purpose without your written authorization. Once given, you may revoke your authorization in writing at any time.

To request a Revocation of Authorization form, you may contact:

Your Personal Provider (Physician)
Hughston Clinic
6262 Veteran’s Parkway
Columbus, GA 31908
(706)324-6661/1-800-331-2910