WELCOME
The following information is provided to familiarize you with our practice policies. We are dedicated to providing you the highest quality mental health care in a relaxed, comfortable and professional atmosphere. We hope this information will answer most of your questions about our practice. For more information, please visit our website.
CONTACTING OUR OFFICE
New Contact Numbers:
Our business hours are Monday-Friday from 9:00am to 5:00pm. Please call or text 512-521-0595 (Note: this is a new number). Please contact us during these working hours hours if at all possible. Our new number to text/call for after hours urgent messages is 512-521-0595
Michael Huebner’s private clients may also contact him directly by call or text 512-920-3063.
Phone calls, emails and texts are not substitutes for a face-to-face evaluation, so please make an appointment if you have a detailed or complex issue to discuss.
Due to the high volume of calls, texts and emails, we ask for your patience and understanding that we will respond by the end of the next business day.
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
In the event of an emergency, call 911 immediately or go to the nearest hospital emergency department.
A WARNING ABOUT TEXTS AND EMAILS
Although we are able to receive text messages and emails, we cannot guarantee messaging to be secure. There is a possibility that information included in texts or emails can be intercepted and read by other parties besides the person to whom they are addressed. For this reason, we request that you do not send personal health information by text or email. If you initiate communication by text or email, we assume you are aware of potential compromises to confidentiality and have consented to our response by the same communication method.
APPOINTMENTS
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and our concern for the safety and wellbeing of patients and staff, most visits with our doctors will be by telemedicine unless otherwise agreed upon in advance.
Mr. Huebner’s private clients will also meet remotely via phone call until otherwise notified.
Patients are seen by appointment only. Self-scheduling is no longer available.
We aim to keep appointments running on schedule. Please be aware that situations occasionally arise which may cause unexpected delays or re-scheduled appointments. If this occurs, we will make every effort to notify you prior to your visit. We ask that you be on time and call if you will be late or unable to keep your appointment.
Regular appointments are important for proper assessment and ongoing treatment. Your appointment frequency will be tailored to your needs and based on standards of care for your condition. Unless otherwise arranged, patients must be seen at least once every 90 days to remain active and continue receiving care. In some instances, we will recommend that you be seen more frequently. Please be aware that if you fail to schedule and attend appointments as recommended, you will be considered an inactive patient and we will not be able fill prescriptions or refills for you until you are re-evaluated in the office by the doctor.
The link to our virtual clinic is: www.doxy.me/donaldgarciamd Feel free to visit!
CANCELLATIONS, LATE AND MISSED APPOINTMENTS
If you need to make any changes to your appointment, please provide at least 24 hours notice by contacting the office by phone or text at 737-204-5610. When you book and pay for an appointment, you are reserving that specific time with your provider. Therefore, if you fail to provide 24 hours notice, your payment for that reserved time will not be refunded. If you arrive late to your appointment, your appointment time cannot be extended and will end at the scheduled time.
PAYMENT AND FEE SCHEDULE
Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Partners Austin does not accept insurance, including Medicare or Medicaid. Payment via credit or debit card (MasterCard, VISA, Discover) is required to schedule an appointment and reserve time.
New Patient Initial Comprehensive Evaluation (60 minutes; in office only) - $400
Psychotherapy and Medication Management (60 min; office or videoconference) - $400
Psychotherapy and Medication Management (45 min; office or videoconference) - $300
Psychotherapy and Medication Management (30 min; office or videoconference) - $200
Medication Management (15 min; office or videoconference) - $100
Standard Therapy Session with Michael Huebner, MA, LPC-I (50 minutes; in office only) - $100
Between visit Schedule II refills (Ritalin, Adderall, etc.) with notice of three business days - $25
Weekend, less than 3 day notice or multiple between-visit refill requests - $50
Missed appointment with less than 24 hours notice - FULL FEE
Additional time billed at $400 hourly rate. Fees may be incurred for other professional services such as preparing reports/treatment summaries and consulting with other professionals about patient care.
PRESCRIPTIONS AND REFILLS
Be prepared to request refills for maintenance medications during your appointment. Your medication is important and we do not want you to run out as this could be medically dangerous and sometimes life-threatening.
If you require a refill between appointments for any reason, please allow three business days for the refill to be called in to your pharmacy. Prescription refills may be requested through messages in your Patient Fusion account here.
If you require a Schedule II prescription (Ritalin, Adderall, etc.) to be refilled between visits, please allow three business days for the refill to be called in to your pharmacy. Schedule II prescription refills will not provided if you have not seen Dr. Garcia within 90 days of your last appointment. Please also note that same day and same week appointments are usually not possible, so please plan ahead.
Urgent or immediate requests for prescriptions cannot always be accommodated. It is your responsibility to keep track of your medications, maintain them in a secure location, anticipate when you will need a refill and give us enough time to properly review your medical record and call the prescription in to your pharmacy. In some instances, you will be asked to make an appointment to be evaluated before a prescription can be refilled, at the doctor’s discretion.
Accepted standards of care require that you receive prescription medications for your mental health conditions through Dr. Garcia ONLY, unless otherwise agreed upon at the time of your initial evaluation. You will be considered non-compliant with treatment if you obtain prescriptions for your mental health conditions outside of this office (please see reasons for termination of care). If in doubt, please discuss with Dr. Garcia before getting a prescription elsewhere.
MEDICAL RECORDS RELEASE, LETTERS AND FORMS
Upon request and at his discretion, Dr. Garcia will complete routine, brief, one-page forms during a scheduled office visit, without charge. Extended or complex forms, summaries, letters, or other documents will be billed at a rate of $400/hour in 5-minute increments. Medical record requests require a signed Release of Information Form, available at our office. Records are sent directly from our office to the requesting physician’s office. Please provide at least 7 days notice for medical records requests to be processed. Medical records requested for the patient’s own use may be provided in the form of a treatment summary at the discretion of the doctor.
OFFICE SAFETY
We take safety seriously and wish to provide a safe, non-threatening space for our patients. Weapons of any kind, with or without a license to carry a firearm, are strictly prohibited in this office.
TERMINATION OF CARE
If you are contemplating terminating your care with us, we ask that you please schedule an appointment to discuss. This allows us to understand your circumstances, provide referrals and plan your transition so that there is no interruption in your treatment.
Under certain circumstances we will assume that you have decided to terminate your relationship with Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Partners Austin. If you do not schedule a follow up appointment within 120 days of your last scheduled appointment, we will assume that you have decided to terminate care and your file will be marked as inactive. If you desire to resume care with our office, please contact the office. Since our patient care load is limited, we may not be able to resume your care after becoming inactive.
Under certain circumstances we may decide to terminate our care with you. This is a rare occurrence but may occur for (1) non-payment of services (2) failure to keep appointments, and (3) non-compliance with treatment. There may be other circumstances under which we may decide to terminate care. This decision will only be reached after careful consideration and discussion with you.
Thank you for reviewing this important document. If you have questions about any of these policies or procedures, please discuss them with Dr. Garcia.