Patient Resources

Our telephone policy is designed to allow us to care for patients with a minimum amount of interruptions. Depending on the urgency of the message, please allow us 24-72 hours to return your call. Less urgent calls may be returned later than others when patients are not being seen. Patients also have the option to send us an eMessage through the Patient Portal or Healow App.

Office visits are by appointment only. However, in the event that you or one of your family members develop a sudden illness and need to be seen the same day, we will do our best to accommodate you. Do understand that you may be seen by a different provider for that particular visit to be able to care for you in a timely manner. We do our best to work you in with your preferred provider depending on availability.

We request new patients to arrive 20 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment for verification of documents and insurance. Established patients are requested to arrive 10 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment. Please inform our staff beforehand about the nature of your problem so that sufficient time will be allotted for your visit.

In the event you need to cancel or reschedule an appointment, a 24 hour notice is required prior to your appointed time or a no show fee will be charged to your account. You can cancel by calling our office in advance or through the Patient Portal. If you are late for your appointment, you will be considered a walk-in.

$25 no show fee = Acute Visits, Chronic Visits, Preventive Wellness Exams, New Patient Visits
$75 no show fee = Procedures (BP Monitor, Ultrasound, etc)

If you need to reach our office after hours for an emergency, please call 407-352-9717 and the answering service will contact our on call provider immediately. Please take note that this service is for medical advice to assist you in urgent situations that require decision making. Prescriptions, refill requests, referral requests and test results will not be entertained after hours. However, if you have a MEDICAL EMERGENCY please call 911.

If you are an established patient scheduling an appointment for surgical clearance, the following information is required before we can set up your appointment:

• Surgical Clearance Form (surgeon name, office, phone number)
• Type of procedure or surgery
• Date of surgery

If you are admitted to the Emergency Room and/or the hospital, please make sure to inform hospital admission staff that we are your Primary Care Provider (PCP) so that we can follow up with your care after your hospitalization. Studies show that follow up with your PCP within 3 days after hospitalization minimizes re-admissions and complications.

Preventive Care refers to Complete Physical Exams (CPE), Annual Wellness Exams (AWE), and Well Woman Exams (WWE). Complete physical exams are preventive visits that screen patients for common health conditions and include a head to toe assessment.

Complete Physical Exams and Annual Wellness Exams include the following:

• A baseline reading of your blood pressure, temperature, pulse and respiration, weight, height, vision, hearing and other vital functions depending on your age, gender and level of activity.
• Recommendations for wellness services and healthy lifestyle changes are done during this visit.
• This annual physical will help to identify and reduce potential and future health risks.

Your insurance may cover an annual physical exam once every 12 months. Please inquire from your insurance company regarding coverage.

Once again, please be reminded that CPE/AWE cannot be scheduled on the same visit as consults, sick visits or other requested appointments. Otherwise you may be charged an additional office visit copay for the acute sick visit. This is to ensure that we can focus on prevention and well visit discussions or counseling.

For referrals/authorizations to specialists, allow our referral coordinators 48-72 hours to process the referral. For authorizations for procedures and/or pharmacies, approval is contingent on how your insurance will processes the request.

Any documents that need to be completed by a medical provider require an appointment specifically for document completion. This is to ensure that the document is completed accurately and appropriately. These documents include:

• Physical Examination Forms
• FMLA
• Attending Physician Statements
• Short Term Disability Forms
• Parking Permit forms

• Contact your local pharmacy.
• Send us a refill request via Patient Portal.
  • We strive to handle all urgent requests within the same business day.
  • Routine requests may take up to 72 hours.

We do not prescribe antibiotics without an office visit.

At Southwest Orlando Family Medicine, P.L., controlled substances are handled on an individual basis. Building a relationship with our patients is important to our clinicians, and we traditionally do not prescribe controlled substances at a New Patient appointment. Obtaining previous medical records can help expedite your treatment plan needs, so our clinicians can evaluate the appropriate medical management approach. We do not promote prolonged opioid prescription.

People with disabilities need health care and health programs for the same reasons anyone else does—to stay well, active, and a part of the community. To be healthy, people with disabilities require health care that meets their needs as a whole person, not just as a person with a disability. Most people with or without disabilities can stay healthy by learning about and living healthy lifestyles. Disability and Health: A Guide for Floridians is a tool to assist persons with disabilities receiving the best health care possible.

Patients with Long Term Disability may have specific healthcare documentation needs based on the type of programs they qualify for. While we treat patients with Long Term Disability, we recommend that our patients use the resources below when applying for Long Term Disability status. Navigating through these resources will provide information on different avenues of care as well as access to patient advocates for the Disability Claim Process. Please visit Florida Independent Living Council and Florida Health for more information. Patients can also visit the official Social Security Administration’s YouTube Channel for a detailed step-by-step guide on the Disability Claim Process.

Patients with Short Term Disability can seek both treatment and assistance with paperwork at our offices. For those seeking disability and SSI/SSD/SSDI we recommend first consulting a disability lawyer and specialist consultation to complete a Residual Functional Capacity form. This will further aid in your efforts. You may request or sign release of your medical records to provide the consultant with the information required to complete the form. The Social Security office provides this checklist, as well as their Adult Disability Starter Kit. For more information on what you may need, please visit the Social Security Disability Benefits page.

Source: FloridaHealth.gov

We do not treat patients who have been injured during their employment. Some of these injuries are “employment specific” and designate a specific doctor provided by your employer to provide you with the care you need. Please see the recommended resources below:

If you are injured in a motor vehicle accident, you should seek medical attention immediately. We recommend our patients to go to a hospital emergency room. Whether or not you have an injury you should be examined by a doctor and obtain proper care for your own peace of mind. Frequently, an automobile accident injury will not appear immediately. Always seek immediate emergency care after a motor vehicle accident. This is critical in proving that a particular injury arose from the accident. Unfortunately, we do not treat patients who have been injured in a motor vehicle accident. Please see our recommended resource below: