PCHCG provides a full range of preventive, primary, and urgent care services. When specialty care is required, we refer patients to outside physicians in the appropriate specialty. We do not serve as a primary care physician for patients under the age of seven.

Health Benefits Plan Guidelines

Each managed care plan has its own rules and regulations for both physicians and patients, but the following general guidelines apply when you choose Patient First as your Primary Care Provider:

Urgent Problems

When you choose a PCHCG physician or PCHCG as your primary care physician, you may visit any PCHCG physician at any Patient First center at any time for urgent problems. Please note that with some select insurance companies Patient First participates as an urgent care provider only.

Emergency Care

If you feel you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency at any time of day or night, please go to the nearest hospital emergency room. If you feel you need to visit a hospital emergency room for any other reason, please speak in advance with a PCHCG physician on duty at your center of record. Please contact the center for pre-recorded instructions on how to reach the after-hours, on-call PCHCG physician to request an immediate emergency referral. The PCHCG physician may authorize a referral or may advise you to be seen at PCHCG promptly the next morning.

If you are seen at an emergency room for a non-life-threatening problem without having obtained a referral from your PCP in advance, your insurance plan may not pay for the visit. Most insurance plans do not allow retroactive referrals. Your insurance plan determines what it will reimburse.

Chronic Conditions

If you have an ongoing medical condition, like high blood pressure or diabetes, you should try to see the same PCHCG physician each time. To ensure continuity of care, chronic conditions are best handled by a single physician.

Referrals

In general, you must be evaluated by a PCHCG physician for any problem before you will be referred to a specialist. Please consult your insurance plan for exceptions to this rule.

Allergy injections and Vitamin B12 injections are routinely administered at PCHCG. You may receive a referral for an initial evaluation for allergy testing at the allergist’s office, but you will be expected to return to PCHCG for routine injections.

Hospitalizations

PCHCG physicians practice in the office setting only. If you need hospital care, we will arrange for a specialist or hospitalist to care for you during your hospital stay. That physician will follow you and keep your PCHCG (PCP) up to date on your progress. He or she will also send a written report to your PCP for your medical record.