Office Policies
Late Policy
It is our goal to be on time out of respect for both your and our time. To help keep us running on time, please arrive on time. We understand that on occasion it is impossible to be on time. If you do show up late, we will discuss your options. If the next patient is not due for some time, we may decide to proceed with your visit. However, it may need to be a shorter appointment than you would have had otherwise, and be limited to discussing only your most pressing issue. Alternatively, we may decide we need to reschedule for a different day. If this happens, you will be charged the $50 cancellation/no show fee.
Cancellation/No Show Fee
Your appointment slot is long (typically 30-60 minutes depending on appointment type). Although we may not use the entire time slot for you appointment, this time is reserved for you and no one else. Please cancel your appointment online at least 24 hours prior to your appointment if you need to cancel. This will allow time for the slot to be filled by another patient. If you do not notify me at least 24 hours beforehand, you will be charged a $50 cancellation/no show fee.
If you do not come to your appointment without cancelling (“no show”), or cancel with less than 24 hours notice, you will be required to provide a credit card number in order to schedule another appointment. On the second “no show” or less than 24 hour cancellation, the missed appointment fee will be collected.
Phone
For non-urgent questions please contact us via the portal or call (971)-319-1653. If you have an urgent health issue and require immediate assistance or advice from Dr. Waite please call (971)-319-1653. If she doesn’t answer right away, please leave a message and she will get back to you as soon as she can.
Please use this privilege appropriately as it means interrupting work or family time.
For a life-threatening emergency, always call 911 immediately then call Dr. Waite.
There may be rare times when Dr. Waite will not be able to return your urgent call promptly (such as the cell phone battery dying unexpectedly) and what was an urgent situation becomes an emergent situation. In these cases, please don’t delay in seeking emergent care or calling 911.
Email
Email can be a convenient way for us to communicate, however I encourage you to use our patient portal for most questions. Please be aware that email is not a secure form of communication. For example, if your email address is through your employer, your employer may be able to read the messages. Likewise, there is a small possibility of interception of messages from outside parties (“hackers”). For these reasons, it is best to use the patient portal through Charm.
Vacations
There will be times when Dr. Waite will be out of town or otherwise unreachable. Dates of upcoming vacation plans will be posted on the home page. If you have an urgent health question or need to be seen while she’s away please check the home page as it will also include a link to the website of her colleagues who can help you in her absence.
Hospitalizations
We hope you will never need to be hospitalized. However, should it be necessary, we will strive to obtain all of the information and results of your hospital stay. Please tell the hospital that Dr. Waite is your primary care physician so they can update her with all important information. Also, within a day or two of your discharge, please send a message or call so we can determine how soon you need to be seen for follow-up.
Refills
Refilling prescriptions consumes a surprisingly large portion of staff time in a standard medical office. As we will be operating this clinic with minimal staff, we will not be able to refill prescriptions outside of office visits. When Dr. Waite writes a prescription, she will give you enough refills to last at least until your next scheduled office visit. If your refills are running low, it likely means it is time to schedule your follow up appointment! For medications that arenʼt used every day of the year, like allergy or headache medications, this policy will require you to be mindful and anticipate future refill needs during your current appointment.
If all else fails and you end up needing an emergency refill outside of an office visit, send a message or call with the drug name and dosage as well as the pharmacy phone number. We will attend to it within 24 hours. You will be charged a $15 administrative fee for this service for the first prescription, $5 for each additional prescription.
Please do NOT have your pharmacy contact us for refills. These refill requests are often auto-generated at the pharmacy or are simply incorrect, thus we will ignore them. You must contact us personally if you need an emergency refill outside of an office visit.
Narcotic/Scheduled Medications
Dr. Waite rarely believes it is in the best interest of her patients to rely on chronic narcotics or sedatives, and thus infrequently prescribes them. If you come to her on chronic narcotics or sedatives she will work to decrease your dose to the lowest tolerable level. Additionally, for both of your safety and hers, she requires a signed contract and random drug testing for continued prescribing. By law, these medications cannot be refilled over the phone.
Termination of the Doctor-Patient Relationship
You may terminate our relationship at any time for any reason. We would appreciate communication from you expressing your desire for termination, but it is not required. Likewise, Dr. Waite may terminate your relationship at any time. Generally, she will reserve this measure for patients who are not abiding by the stated policies, are delinquent in paying bills, or are disrespectful to her, her clinic or her staff. If she chooses to terminate our relationship, she will notify you in writing. You will then have 30 days to find a new physician, during which time she will be available to you for urgent health issues only. You may request a transfer of medical records to your new physician.
These policies may be updated periodically. Please check back from time to time to see what may have changed.
