Frequently Asked Questions

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Home Appointment Info Welcome New Patients Need To Be Seen Today? Choose A Provider Schedule An Appointment Need A Referral Prescription Refills Insurance Plans Payment Options Special Accommodations Frequently Asked Questions	Frequently Asked Questions I want to schedule an online appointment, but I am having trouble. Do you have directions? When I use mySFM for online services, can anyone access my information? What information will the receptionist need to schedule an appointment? Can I schedule more than one person for an appointment at a time? What should I bring to my appointment? Will I be reminded of my appointment? What if I can’t make my appointment or I need to reschedule? What if I’m late for an appointment? Will I always be able to see my own doctor? What if I have a medical question? What if I have a question for a doctor after hours? What if I need to be seen right away? What if I don’t have insurance? What types of diagnostic services do you offer? When can I expect my test results? Can I get my test results online? How do I request my medical records? I want to schedule an online appointment, but I am having trouble. Do you have directions? Click here for mySFM online directions for simple step-by-step instructions. You have to have been seen in the office and become a patient before you can log in. mySFM Printable PDF Instructions Back to top of page When I use mySFM for online services, can anyone access my information? mySFM is a secure, HIPPA-compliant messaging solution that offers you a full range of convenient online services. Simply log in here to: Make or view your appointments Get your test results View your prescriptions and order refills Access secure online bill paying Back to top of page What information will the receptionist need to schedule an appointment? When you call to schedule an initial appointment, please have the following patient information ready: Full Name, Including Middle Initial Address Your Current Phone Number Your Birthdate Your Social Security Number Your Physician's Name The Nature or Reason for your Call/Purpose of the Appointment Insurance Policy Information It is very important that you let the scheduler know about all the concerns you would like addressed during your appointment. This helps us make sure an appropriate amount of time is scheduled. Coverage Reminder: If you are scheduling a regular well exam and additional care is provided other than what is normally covered in routine well exams, your insurance may require an additional co-pay or deny payment and you will be billed for these services. Please check with your insurance provider for more information about your coverage. Coverage Reminder: If you are scheduling a regular well exam and additional care is provided other than what is normally covered in routine well exams, your insurance may require an additional co-pay or deny payment and you will be billed for these services. Please check with your insurance provider for more information about your coverage. Back to top of page Can I schedule more than one person for an appointment at a time? No. To allow enough time with each patient, we schedule a separate appointment slot for each family member. You may schedule a maximum of two consecutive appointments. Please schedule any additional family members separately. Back to top of page What should I bring to my appointment? Please bring: Your current insurance card and / or coupon Shot records Be prepared to pay off any remaining balance on your account Co-pays are required to be paid at the time of service. If you forget your co-pay, ask the receptionist to provide you with a postage-paid envelope to send it to us within 24 hours of your appointment. Any prescription medication you are currently taking. Bring in your medications or write them down and bring a complete up-to-date list. Change of address or phone number(s) if you’ve recently moved or made a change. Please arrive 10-15 minutes early for your appointment. If this is your first appointment, please arrive 20 minutes early for preparation of your records and to complete paperwork. Back to top of page Will I be reminded of my appointment? We use an automated appointment reminder system that will call you one day before your appointment or if you schedule your appointment online, we will send you an email appointment confirmation and reminder a couple of days before the appointment. Back to top of page What if I can’t make my appointment or I need to reschedule? Please call your physician’s office as soon as you realize you won’t be able to make your appointment. We request that cancellations be made as early as possible, a minimum of 24 hours in advance so that we are able to schedule another patient in the appointment block. If you scheduled the appointment online, just log in and cancel your appointment. A failure to present at the time of a scheduled appointment will be recorded in the patient’s chart as a “No Show.” We incur the cost of dedicated providers and staff to provide scheduled appointments. We understand that there are legitimate reasons for a missed appointment; however, if there is an ongoing pattern we may ask you to find a new provider. Back to top of page What if I’m late for an appointment? If you are late we will attempt to work you in. If you are over 20 minutes late, it will be your doctor’s determination whether his schedule will allow you to be seen or if you will need to reschedule. Back to top of page Will I always be able to see my own doctor? In most cases you will see your own doctor. However, there may be occasions when your doctor is at the hospital delivering babies or handling an emergency, in which we will call to reschedule your appointment or ask if you would be willing to see another physician that day. Back to top of page What if I have a medical question? Our physicians are with patients throughout the day, so it is usually not possible for them to immediately answer individual phone calls unless it is an emergency. We offer a consulting nurse line to help with your medical questions. Call 253-848-5951, option 4. Our consulting nurses are available from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm, Monday through Thursday and Friday 7:30 am to 5:00 pm. Your call will be answered in the order it is received. Please be aware that there may be a wait while our nurses are assisting earlier callers. You may also refer to “Health Links” in our “Health Resources” section of this website. Back to top of page What if I have a question for a doctor after hours? In the event you suspect a life-threatening emergency, such as a heart attack, a stroke, or other emergency, you should call 911 for transportation to an emergency room. If you have questions for a physician that should not wait until the office is open, you may contact the doctor on call by dialing 253-380-5440. This will reach the doctor on call either by cell phone or voice mail. Leave a message for the doctor, and they will return your call. Please remember to stay off the phone while you wait for the return call. If you have not been called back in 20 minutes please call again in case of technical problems. We refill prescriptions for controlled substances only during office hours. Other emergent refills may be managed using the on-call physician if an emergency need occurs. Back to top of page What if I need to be seen right away? Our doctors keep a few slots open each day for their patients that need to be seen that day. Log In to mySFM and schedule an appointment online before the office opens up to an hour before a visit. You can also call before 8 am to reserve those appointments. If they are filled, you can walk right in to be seen right away at our Puyallup and Bonney Lake Sound Same-Day Clinics. Back to top of page What if I don’t have insurance? If you have no insurance, you may participate in Simple Care, a discounted medical program. For more information, visit www.simplecare.com All fees for your visit must be paid at time of service. The driver’s licenses of all patients who are being seen with no insurance or Simple Care will be scanned into the computer. Patients must leave a minimum deposit of $50 (either cash, check or credit/debit) before going back to see a doctor. Available funds will be verified. We accept all major credit cards. Another option is to set up a payment plan with our patient billing department. Back to top of page What types of diagnostic services do you offer? We offer an onsite lab at our main Puyallup clinic. We perform blood draws, adult immunizations, and a variety of medical tests. Please note that fees associated with our lab are separate from your office visit. Tests done in house at SFM will be billed to you or your insurance company. Tests sent out to Quest Diagnostic Labs will be billed separately by them. If you have been instructed to fast for your blood work, drink nothing but water for 10-12 hours prior to your blood draw. You may take any medication with a glass of water during this time. If you are not seeing your provider on the day of your lab services, please check in at the front reception counter prior to coming to the lab. Another service we offer is bone density testing using our DEXA machine. This is currently the best technique available for measuring bone density. DEXA tests are used to diagnose and monitor the treatment of osteoporosis. The test is painless, safe, and non-invasive. Back to top of page When can I expect my lab results? Sound Family Medicine sends many of our lab tests to Quest Diagnostics. Our policy is to notify you of your results every time we order lab tests. You should expect to hear about the results of your testing by letter, phone call or through an online message emailed to you to pick up your results through mySFM within 10 days for most tests. If you do not get results in 10 days, please call our office at (253) 848-5951 and speak with the phone nurse. Exceptions to this timeframe are pathology (tissue biopsies) and PAP results, which may take up to 2-3 weeks for final results. X-ray, ultrasound, CT (computed tomography imaging) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) results are usually received at our office within 5 working days after the test is performed. We will contact you by letter, phone call or online with these results within 10 working days after the test is performed. Results of testing done at Good Samaritan Hospital Emergency Department are usually received at this office within 5 working days and should be available for physician review at follow-up visits in that timeframe. Out-of-town ER visits, hospital or outside lab results are less predictable in the time it takes for reports to reach our office. Back to top of page Can I get my test results online? We can now offer lab and test results to you via a secure website. mySFM lets you access your normal lab test results online, generally faster and more easily than if we try to contact you by phone or mail. mySFM has a high level of security and privacy, above and beyond what ordinary e-mail offers. In fact, HIPPA, the federal law that applies to patient privacy, indicates that ordinary e-mail is not an acceptable method to share confidential patient information. mySFM is a HIPPA-compliant, secure messaging solution to this issue. It works like this. When we have the results of your lab tests, imaging tests, or other information we want to get to you, we will send you an email notifying you that you have a message from your provider at SFM. This message will contain a link for you to click on to go to the secure mySFM site. There you can log on using your user name and password, or if it is your first visit, you can register and select a user name and password. Then select myMessages from the menu, and read the message from your provider. We will only send messages this way when we feel we can adequately explain the results and give appropriate advice online. If more detailed information needs to be conveyed we will call you to discuss the results. Back to top of page How do I request my medical records? For any release of a patient’s medical record we must have a signed Authorization for the Release of Medical Records. For any medical records over ten pages, we charge a fee of $.20 per page. Medical records can never be released to anyone other than the patient if they are over 13 years of age. This includes child to parent, husband to wife and vice versa unless we have a current Authorization For The Release Of Medical Records form. The reception desk is required to view a Photo ID at the time of pick up. Please allow between 7-14 business days to process your medical records request. Back to top of page
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