MPCP Bowie Office
About our Practice
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to our practice and thank you for choosing us for your primary healthcare needs. In a sincere effort to maintain patient satisfaction while honoring the need to maximize effectiveness and efficiency of our work processes, we have implemented procedures which we hope will let us provide you with the best quality medical care we can. This page contains answers to some of the most commonly asked questions by patients. We hope that you will find this information useful.
Services
Our providers are board-certified with extensive experience in all aspects of primary care. In addition to physicians, we have a large staff of nurse practitioners, medical assistants, administrative assistants and laboratory assistants. Our practice offers high quality comprehensive medical care to patients of all ages, including pediatrics, internal medicine, routine gynecological care and geriatrics, with emphasis on preventive care. We perform minor skin surgeries, such as biopsies, laceration repairs, cryotherapy and mole removal, as well as treatment of acute and chronic illnesses.
Policies
Appointments
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Call during office hours to schedule appointments. Routine and urgent care will be provided within 24 to 48-hours. Acute appointments are scheduled in 15-minute increments, which only allow the provider time to assess one problem with specific symptoms. If you have multiple problems, please let the receptionist know so that the appropriate amount of time can be scheduled for your visit. Depending on demand; it may take several weeks to schedule complete physical exams.
Appointment Reminders
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As a courtesy to our patients, we utilize an automatic calling system that will call you 24 hours prior to your appointment. This system allows you to confirm or cancel your appointment. As you know automated systems can sometimes fail, so we request that you do not depend on this system to remind you of any upcoming appointments. We do understand that things come up and you may need to cancel. We ask that you extend us the courtesy of at least a 24 hour notice. This courtesy allows us to continue to operate efficiently and use the time that was reserved for you, to help other patients in need. You may request in writing to cancel this service from calling your home with a reminder call.
Check-In
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- All patients are asked to arrive 10 minutes before their scheduled appointment time and check-in with the receptionist
- You will be asked to present your insurance card and government issued photo ID at every visit
- If no insurance information is given at the time of service, the patient will be placed in a “Self-Pay” status and assumes responsibility for the entire bill
- If a government issued photo ID is not presented at check-in, we may not be able to see you.
No-Shows, Cancellations and Late Arrivals
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- If you fail to show up for your scheduled appointment and/or do not cancel up to 24 hours prior to the appointment time, you will be assessed a no show fee of $35 for a regular visit, or $50 for a physical examination visit.
- Three No-Shows and/or late cancellations will merit a review for termination from this practice
- If a patient is late for an acute issue, if the provider is available to see the patient, the patient may be offered the next available appointment time or an appointment with another provider. If the patient needs to be seen for an urgent matter, and the provider does not have any other available appointments, the patient may have to wait to be worked in to see that provider. If the patient is scheduled for a preventative exam, the patient may be asked to reschedule to another day.
Co-payments and Deductibles
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All co-payments and deductibles must be paid at the time of service. This arrangement is part of your contract with your insurance company. We are legally required by the terms of the contract to collect any co-pays and/or deductibles from you at the time of service. For your convenience, we accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, and Debit cards as well as checks or cash. Failure to pay for medical services delivered in good faith may cause a patient’s account to be turned over to an outside collection agency. Should this become necessary, you may be discharged from the practice.
Insurance
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We participate with most insurance plans, including Medicare. If you are insured by a plan we do business with, but don’t have an up-to-date insurance card, payment in full for each visit is required until we can verify your coverage. Knowing your insurance benefits is your responsibility. Please contact your insurance company with any questions you may have regarding your coverage.
Non-Covered Services
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Please be aware that we are not familiar with all of the benefits offered by all of the insurance companies and therefore some services that you receive may not be covered by your insurance coverage and are the patient’s responsibility.
Prescription Refills
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Please allow at least 1 week prior to running out of your prescription to request refills. We ask that you call the pharmacy and have them fax your request to (410) 741-0865. If you are calling in your request, please have the full name of the medication, strength and how you are instructed to take the medication as well as the name, location and phone number of your pharmacy. We ask that you allow us 72 hours to refill all prescriptions.
Test Results
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We ask that you allow the following wait times to receive either a call or a letter from our office regarding your results:
- Blood work – 14 days
- Pap smears – 21 days
- Radiology results – 7 days
- Cardiology results – 14 days
- Positive throat cultures only – 3 days
If you do not hear from our office regarding your results within this time frame, we encourage you to contact our office for those results.
Referrals
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We require at least 72 business hours notice to fulfill requests for referrals. Please note that it is your insurance company’s requirement that we have medical documentation of all problems we are referring for. If you have not been seen by one of our providers for the problem you are requesting a referral for, we may not be able to provide the referral. We do ask that you pick up your referral because when faxed or mailed, you run the risk of them not arriving to their destination.
Form Completion and Requested Letters
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A fee will be charged for completion of paperwork for school, daycare, employment, sports camp, DOT, auto and life insurance, FMLA, disability forms, etc. and/or for letter writing regarding your condition. This service is not part of your office visit and you may be charged a separate fee for this service. The fee may range from $10.00 to $25.00 per occurrence based on the complexity of the form and/or provider time involved. You are personally responsible for paying the fee which is due at time of service. Please be advised that any request made for a form completion and/or letter, may require a visit. Please allow 7-10 days for completion of forms and requested letters.
Medical Record Releases
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Medical records of services rendered at our office remain the property of Maryland Primary Care Physicians. Should you request and/or authorize the release of copies of your medical records, you will need to sign a HIPAA compliant release to begin the process. There are fees involved with obtaining copies of your records. Under Maryland law, record requests for personal use are charged a fee of $0.76 per page plus the cost of actual postage. All other requests (insurance, attorneys, etc.) are subject to a fee that includes $0.76 per page, a preparation fee of $22.88 and the cost of actual postage. An invoice will be sent to the person or entity requesting the records. While we are required by law to have the copied records prepared within 30 days, except in the case of specific circumstances, we will not send the records until we receive payment. If you have questions concerning this process, call (410) 729-1367.
Inclement Weather
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In the event of bad weather, please call the office to confirm that we are open before you venture out into the elements.
Office Hours
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The office is open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Phones are open Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
After Hours/Weekends
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If you have an emergent issue after normal business hours, please contact our office at (301) 262-5900 for specific instructions of how to take care of your after-hours needs. Our physicians rotate after-hours, weekend and holiday duty so that a doctor will always be available to you.
