Medical Services > Primary Care

Appointments

The General Internal Medicine locations are open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Consultation with physicians and nurses is by appointment only.

Appointments may be scheduled by contacting the clinical practice directly. Existing patients may schedule appointments via MyChart. Please be prepared to provide the following information:

• Current insurance information
• Mailing address
• Daytime/evening/cell phone numbers

On the day of the appointment, please allow time for parking and registration. In addition, please bring the following items to the appointment:

• Current insurance card
• Method of payment
• Current medications or a complete list of medicines with doses, including all over-the-counter medications, herbs and vitamins

If it is necessary to cancel an appointment, please notify the clinical practice at least 24 hours in advance.

Immunizations and Injections

Visits for injections or immunizations do not require a regular appointment with the physician. However, please call us at least one day in advance, so we can make sure we have adequate supplies and staff.

Prescription Refills

Refills should be requested during regular office visits. Refills outside of office visits may be requested a number of ways:

• MyChart: This is usually the most efficient method
• Local pharmacies: Call the pharmacy and ask that a refill request be faxed to the clinical practice
• Mail-order pharmacies: Contact the mail-order pharmacy and ask that a refill request be faxed to the clinical practice
• Phone-ins: When contacting the clinical practice, please be prepared with the name, dosage and frequency of the required medication
• Controlled substances: Narcotics or sedative refills must be approved by the physician and may not be filled by the on-call physician

Telephone Calls

All messages are given to the appropriate personnel as soon as possible and every attempt is made to return telephone calls during regular working hours. There are times, however, when we cannot answer all calls in the same day they are received. Please tell the receptionist if the call is urgent, or must be returned the same day, or by a particular time. Patients should confirm their contact telephone numbers with the clinic.

MyChart

MyChart is a personalized online health source offered by UT Southwestern Medical Center, which allows patients to securely access portions of their medical record using the Internet.

With MyChart, patients may review:

• Future appointments
• Immunization records
• Allergy and medication lists
• Test results
• Diagnoses
• Links to valuable health resources

MyChart allows patients to communicate directly with the clinical practice to:

• Provide clinical information such as blood pressure or glucose measurements
• Request prescription refills
• Request and confirm appointments

Test Results

So that the clinic can communicate test results as quickly as possible, patients should make sure that we have their daytime and evening phone numbers. Results for simple blood tests are often available in one day. Special tests are sent to outside labs and may take up to two weeks to complete. Ask the doctor at the time the test is ordered how and when he or she will provide notification of the results.

Urgent Care

Patients with an urgent problem or feel they need to see the physician on the same day ─ should call the clinical practice as early as possible. A nurse will speak with the patient and make the necessary arrangements. The physician will make every attempt to see the patient. However, if this is not possible, an appointment with the doctor-on-call is available Monday through Friday, from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

For urgent problems after hours, on weekends or holidays, call the clinical practice. The answering service will contact the doctor-on-call and give her or him the patient’s telephone number. The physician will call back and help with the medical problem.

In Case of Emergency

Current patients with an urgent problem or needing to see a physician immediately, should call UT Southwestern at 214-645-8600 to leave a page for our on-call physician.

If a patient has a problem that is life-threatening, call 911 immediately and go to the nearest emergency room; UT Southwestern’s emergency room is located at UT Southwestern University Hospital at 5909 Harry Hines Blvd. (at Inwood Road).

If a patient is taken to another hospital’s emergency room, family members should inform the emergency room staff that the individual is a patient at UT Southwestern. After the patient’s condition is stabilized, the individual can be transferred to UT Southwestern. The emergency room physician will notify UT Southwestern’s on-call doctor, who will determine the best approach for transfer.

Hospital Admissions

Patients requiring hospitalization are admitted to our hospital or one of the affiliated hospitals located on the UT Southwestern Medical Center campus. Nonemergency admissions may require prior approval of the insurance carrier.

Insurance

UT Southwestern accepts Medicare, private insurance and most major managed-care health plans. View a full listing of the plans we accept.

HMOs and PPOs consist of networks of physicians and ancillary providers who have contracted with the insurance company to provide services at a reduced cost. We participate in a number of HMOs and PPOs. The actual plans we participate in and the providers in any given plan may change over time. Managed-care organizations are not obligated to let us know when these provider lists change. Consequently, it is difficult for us to know whether a given provider is contracted with an insurance company. When receiving a referral to another physician or ancillary provider, it is the patient’s responsibility to confirm with the insurance company that they are in the managed-care organization’s provider network. Failure to do so may result in the insurance company refusing to pay for the visit.

Copayments and deductibles are due on the day of the visit. For questions about the account, please call the billing office customer service representative at 214-645-0600.

Patients needing a referral to another physician should notify our office a minimum of 48 hours in advance. Referrals are made at the discretion of the primary care physician and cannot be issued without prior consultation with the primary care provider. Keep in mind that most referrals, no matter how many visits are specified, are valid for only 60 days.

In order to contain costs, most large insurance companies and HMOs have established preferred prescription formularies. The drugs placed on these lists are chosen because of known efficacy and cost-effectiveness. Occasionally, we receive requests from insurance providers' prescription plans to substitute a less expensive drug for one that has already been prescribed. In the vast majority of cases, this is acceptable. We ask the pharmacy to notify the patient of any changes prior to mailing the prescription. If there is any concern or question about a change, please call us so that we can confirm that the substitution is appropriate and effective.