Information
OFFICE HOURS
Our office is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday and is closed for weekends. We ask that you call ahead and make an appointment with us if you need to be seen.
PHONE CALLS
We begin answering incoming calls at 8:00 A.M.. During office hours, phone calls will be received by our front desk staff. They will channel the calls to a nurse, physician or other staff member. If you must speak with one of us please give the receptionist your name and the phone number where you can be reached during the day or early evening. We will make every effort to return your non-emergent phone calls by the end of the same working day. It is our policy when a patient is requesting a refill of thier routine medications, that a phone call to the office two weekdays in advance is required. Our schedule dictates that we must deal with non-emergency calls in clusters, opposed to stopping patient care and responding to each call as it is received. If your problem is an emergency, please let the receptionist know and a staff member will assist you as soon as possible.
AFTER HOURS PHONE CALLS
For after office hours and weekends, please call (360) 714.8317. You will reach a on call physician who may be one of our Bunks Medical physicians of Dr. James Hopper, Dr. Karen O'Keefe, Dr. John Weaver or one of our call sharing physicians who are Dr. Denis Foster, Dr. Lee Hein and Dr. Craig Moore.
CANCELLATIONS AND NO SHOWS
Patients that do not show up or are tardy 15 minutes or more for their scheduled appointment are of great concern to the providers of Bunks Medical Center and Family Care Network. A missed appointment is a missed opportunity for another patient to receive care that they need. A patient arriving 15 minutes late or not at all, will be considered a No Show. We do ask for 24 hours notice when canceling an appointment. We do understand that circumstances may arise where this is not possible. These circumstances will be addressed by the provider as they arise.
If a patient fails to keep their appointment to initially establish care at Bunks Medical Center, they will not have the opportunity to be seen at this clinic in the future. Once the patient is established with this clinic and they or another family member miss their first appointment, they will be notified by a letter. After the second missed appointment by the patient or family, the patient may receive a second notification and a $25.00 charge for their missed appointment. With the third missed appointment within a 12 month period, the patient or family may be dismissed from the practice at the discretion of the physician. While the patient and/or family seek an alternative medical health provider, the clinic will provide 30 days of acute and emergent care.
NOTICE OF INFORMATION PRACTICES
We keep a record of the health care services we provide you. You may ask us to see and copy that record. You may also ask us to correct that record. We will not disclose your record to others unless you direct us to do so, or unless the law authorizes or compels us to do so. You may ask to see your record or get more information about it at the front desk.
EMERGENCIES
All emergencies will be seen as a priority, and such, will be treated promptly. For a life-threatening emergency that requires prompt attention in an Emergency Room, Call 911 for assistance or go directly to St. Joseph Hospital which has 24 hour physician coverage. Infrequently, emergencies do arise which take one of us away from the office and we realize this can create inconveniences for you and your family, but we are sure that if you had a medical emergency, you would want us to be with you. At times we regretfully must interrupt office visits to discuss ongoing patient care with our staff, other physicians, and the hospital staff. We appreciate your understanding and we will try to keep the interruptions to a minimum.
FEES
Our fees are competitive and are based upon rates within our community. We expect payment at the time of service unless you are insured by one of the companies that we bill directly. Please read our financial policy for further information on this. Upon payment, we will supply you with an itemized billing so you can promptly bill your insurance company for reimbursement.
Our insurance carriers that we are contracted with are:
Aetna, CHPW (OB Only), Cigna, Crime Victims L&I, DSHS, First Choice Health, First Health, Great West Healthcare (unless there is a PHCS logo – that is non-contracted, Group Health Cooperative (including MedAdvantage), Medicare, Molina Healthcare, Out of state BCBS Plans (including MedAdvantage), Premera Blue Cross, Railroad Medicare, Regence Blue Shield (including MedAdvantage), Sierra Optima Choice, Uniform Medical Plan, US Dept Labor (Federal L&I), Washington State L&I
Plans we are NOT contracted with:CHPW – Non-OB and MedAdvantage, Humana MedAdvantage, Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS), Premera Healthy options,
Regence Healthy Options, Secure Horizons Direct, Sterling Option I & II, United Healthcare (UHC), Wellcare Health Plan MedAdvantage.
If your policy has a co-payment we ask that you be prepared to pay this when you are seen. We ask our DSHS and Molina patients to supply us with coupons for each month they are seen.
We believe that an insurance contract is between the patient and the insurance company. We will be glad to discuss any billing problems with you. If you have a problem paying your bill please do not hesitate to talk to us about it. If your child comes to our office alone, please be certain that they have current insurance information with them. We look forward to serving you with our quality health care, delivered by a well-trained, professional and courteous staff. If you have suggestions about how we can better serve you, please let us know. If you have further questions about any of our policies, please ask the receptionist.