Patient Information

Find links to helpful information, including appointment guidelines, insurance information, and more.

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Northwest Primary Care offers a number of different avenues for medical care, including regular doctor’s visits, same-day/immediate care, annual exams, telehealth visits, nurse visits, and more. All visits require an appointment regardless of the reason. Our Scheduling department will help you decide which appointment type is right for your concern. You can reach them at 503.659.4988. Online appointment scheduling is temporarily unavailable.

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ATTENTION: If you are experiencing a medical emergency or life-threatening situation, such as prolonged crushing chest pain, unusual shortness of breath, loss of consciousness or uncontrolled bleeding, please call 911.

After-Hours Care
All of our clinic locations are open Monday through Friday, from 8:00am to 5:00pm. Our Milwaukie clinic is also open Saturday from 8:00am to 3:00pm. NWPC does not have evening hours at this time.

If you experience an immediate care need outside of our clinic hours or on a Sunday, please call our office at 503.659.4988. Your call will be received by our answering service, and they will contact our on-call physician, who will call you back within 30 minutes to help address your concern. Note: If you have call blocking active on your telephone, please deactivate it so that the doctor can reach you.

Same-Day Care
Northwest Primary Care offers same-day care for your immediate medical care needs. These may include issues such as fractures, controllable bleeding, excessive pain, etc. Since visits to non-NWPC urgent care facilities and hospital emergency rooms can be expensive and require very long waiting times, we recommend that you contact us first. If you have an immediate medical need that is not life threatening, please call our scheduling team at 503.659.4988, and we will find you an appointment as promptly as possible.

If you are an established patient, we will attempt to make your same-day care appointment with your primary care provider. If this is not possible, we will do everything in our power to help you be treated at the soonest available time and at the clinic location most convenient to you.

Other local immediate care resources:

Dispatch Health – Mobile Urgent Care Services
503-714-8990
8AM – 10PM
Open on all holidays
www.dispatchhealth.com

Local Hospital Emergency Departments
Adventist Medical Center
503.257.2500
10123 SE Market Street
Portland, OR 97216

Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center
503.692.1212
19300 SW 65th Avenue
Tualatin, OR 97062

Providence Portland Medical Center
503.215.1111
4805 NW Glisan St.
Portland, OR 97213

Providence Milwaukie Hospital
503.513.8300
10150 SE 32nd Ave
Portland OR, 97222

Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center
503.656.1631
1500 Division St.
Oregon City, OR 97045

insurance-medicare

Northwest Primary Care accepts all major insurance plans, as well as most motor vehicle insurance carriers. Learn more on our Insurance and Medicare Information Page >

 
telehealth

A telehealth visit allows you to see and talk to one of our providers online from the comfort of your home. NWPC uses a platform called Doximity for our telehealth visits, which establishes an encrypted, real-time connection over video with your provider. You will need a smartphone, desktop computer, or tablet for telehealth appointments.

Please note: The patient receiving care must be present on the video call and in the state of Oregon.

How to join a telehealth appointment

  1. Check-in: You will receive a link to check-in for your telehealth appointment in your text message and email appointment reminders via athenaOne. Please complete your pre-appointment check-in prior to your appointment time. If you have questions or difficulties completing appointment check-in, please call our office at 503.659.4988, Option 9.
  2. Join your appointment via smartphone (preferred method): At your appointment time, you will receive a text message on your smartphone with a link to join your appointment. The text message will come from the number “88286.” When you tap the link, you may see a blue button prompting you to enable audio and video. Once you have enabled both audio and video, your appointment will begin.
  3. Join via computer: We can also send you a link to join the appointment via email. You can then click the link in the email to join the appointment on your computer. You may be asked to enable audio and video. If you would prefer to join your appointment via email link, please call our office at 503.659.4988, Option 9 ahead of your appointment time so we can inform your care team.

Telehealth appointment troubleshooting:

  • Be sure to enable audio and video on your smartphone or computer. See more information here >
  • If 10 minutes have passed since your appointment time and you have not received a link to join, please call our office at 503.659.4988, Option 9.
  • You can also call our office if you have any other issue accessing your appointment.
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Motor Vehicle Accidents
We provide a variety of treatment options for injuries associated with motor vehicle accidents. These injuries most commonly include whiplash; back and neck pain, muscle strain; shoulder injuries; and elbow, wrist, and hand fractures. Patients with motor vehicle accident injuries can be treated by any of our providers. Please let our Scheduling team know when you call that you are making an appointment for a Motor Vehicle Accident.

Please keep in mind the following regarding these types of appointments:

  • Personal injury protection (PIP) is medical and wage-loss insurance that is required for every Oregon non-commercial auto insurance policy. PIP is intended to cover your medical expenses. When your PIP is exhausted, we will bill your medical insurance.
  • If you are not covered by medical insurance or it’s a plan that we do not accept, a $150 deposit is required for each appointment. If your medical insurance does not fully cover treatment for your motor vehicle injuries, please contact your auto insurance carrier for information regarding your PIP coverage.

Workers’ Compensation
As of March 2023, Northwest Primary Care is no longer taking new Worker's Compensation patients. We will continue to see patients with existing Workers' Compensation claims.

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Laboratory Information
Laboratory services are available to Northwest Primary Care patients with a provider order at all sites by appointment only. Please call 503.659.4988 to schedule an appointment. See your clinic’s information page for lab hours.

Our Milwaukie clinic lab offers full-service laboratory testing. It is a CLIA-certified, high-complexity facility.

Our Sellwood, Happy Valley, and Oregon City sites offer phlebotomy services and minimal laboratory testing. All are CLIA certified, waived/PPM facilities.

Radiology Information
Radiology services are available to Northwest Primary Care patients with a provider’s order. Our radiology services are offered 5 days a week only at our Milwaukie clinic. On arrival in our Milwaukie Clinic, please check in at the front desk.

Radiology Services offers a complete array of X-ray exams. We also offer Bone Density (DEXA) scans.

We will process orders by practitioners outside of NWPC with an appropriate order.

All Radiologic Technologists are nationally certified and credentialed through the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) and Oregon Board of Medical Imaging (OBMI), and hold current CPR cards.

Copies of your X-Ray exam can be put on a CD or transmitted to outside facilities for follow-up appointments by calling our Radiology Department at 503.659.4988.

Our Radiology team will return all messages within two hours and no later than the end of the business day.

Radiology Services Hours
Monday – Friday
8:00am – 12:30pm & 1:30pm – 5:00pm

prescription

Refills
Northwest Primary Care works with your pharmacy to refill prescriptions Monday through Friday. Please allow at least 48 to 72 business hours for your request to be processed. If you wish to have a prescription refilled, please contact your pharmacy as soon as possible. Medication refills will not be authorized in the evenings or on weekends. If you contact your pharmacy for a refill on a weekend or during a holiday, please keep in mind your request will not be addressed until the next business day.

Written Prescriptions
If you need a written prescription, please call your provider’s office with the drug name, strength, and quantity desired. Your request will be handled by your provider, whose office will notify you by phone when your prescription is ready to be picked up. Please allow at least 48 to 72 business hours for your request to be processed.

Drug Prior Authorization
Depending on the prescribed medication, your Practitioner may need to contact your insurance company for a Drug Prior Authorization before the pharmacy can fill your prescription. In this case, your provider may change your medication to a drug that is covered by your prescription benefit plan. This covered alternative drug is referred to as a “formulary” medication and is paid for by your prescription benefit plan.

If your provider feels your medication is medically necessary and chooses to do a Drug Prior Authorization, please be aware that this process can take up to 72 hours or more. The response time varies, depending on your insurance company’s review process.

A Drug Prior Authorization request does not guarantee payment by your insurance company of your non-covered medication. Your insurance company may suggest covered alternatives and may further require these medications be tried and found ineffective before approving the originally-prescribed medication.

Narcotics for Chronic Pain
If you are taking a narcotic for chronic pain, please know that Oregon Law requires your provider to ask you to sign a Narcotic Contract and/or ask that you see a specialist for your condition, prior to any refills.

You may also be required to schedule follow-up visits with your Practitioner every 3 to 6 months.

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Missed and Canceled Appointments

We request that you notify us 24 hours in advance when canceling a scheduled appointment. We reserve the right to charge a fee of $40 for any appointment missed or canceled without reasonable notice.

Financial Responsibility

Patients or their legal guardian(s) are financially responsible for all services received.

If you do not pay your co-payment at the time of the service, a $25 billing fee will be charged.

Overdue accounts are subject to a rebilling fee of $10 per month and may be placed on a cash payment basis for future appointments.

If you are required to pay for treatment at the time of service and are unable, your appointment may be rescheduled.

A $25 fee will be assessed for checks returned by your bank for any reason.

Failure to meet your financial responsibility may result in collection or legal actions. Accounts that are turned over to a collection agency will be assessed a collection account fee of 10% of the outstanding balance.

Credit and Payment Policy

Due to the changing nature of health insurance, this policy is subject to change without advance notice. For the most recent copy, ask our front desk staff.