Dear Patient,
We are excited to share with you some news about our practice. As you may know, Lisa Theriault left us last fall in order to care for her aging parents. Her position has been filled by Lynn Dumont, who is also a family medicine trained nurse practitioner. Lynn has hit the ground running and we're very pleased to have her with us. You can learn more about Lynn on our website at ffhealth.net.
We are also excited to announce that we'll be moving to new electronic medical record on May 1 of 2023. This will allow us to do a better job of keeping track of preventative health issues and referrals. It will also allow us to bill and receive payments electronically. Unfortunately, it means PATIENT FUSION messages will no longer reach us after May 1st. You will need to open a new portal through our Athenaone system. For details on how to do this, see our website after May 1. This is not the same as the portal system which connects you to MaineGeneral. The patient portal will continue to be a great way to let us know about non-urgent issues. Especially during this transition, if you do not hear back in a timely manner through the portal, please don't hesitate to call. It's best to call directly if you think you need an appointment.
Based on our patient need, it's becoming harder to find time to see everyone who needs a visit. For this reason, we are tightening our guidelines about missed appointments and last minute cancellations. We understand that mistakes happen and last minute emergencies do which means after one missed visit results in a formal letter of notice. Please notify us as soon as possible if something happens to make it impossible for you to come to your scheduled appointment so we can make this time available to other patients. A second missed appointment or repeated last minute cancellations will result in a warning letter. Missing 3 appointments withing a year will trigger a 30 day notice of dismissal from our practice.
Our hours may have changed a bit since you last reviewed them:
Monday, Thursday, Friday 8-4
Tuesday and Wednesday 8-6:30
Saturday 9-12
Notice that we are open late Tues and Wed to try to accommodate after school/work acute visits and Saturday from 9-12 to address acute concerns. If our office is closed and you have a concern please call our regular number and the prompt will walk your through leaving a message. If you need to speak with a provider urgently and our office is closed, call the same number and you will be prompted to push "1" to reach the on call provider. If we aren't able to answer immediately it means whoever is carrying the phone is driving or otherwise not available. Please leave a message with your name and number and we'll call you back as soon as we are able.
We are truly welcoming this new system as we feel it can help us provide better care for you. We value the trust you place in us and appreciate you patience with us during this shift.
Laura Pogemiller Caron MD
Lynn Dumont FNP
Monica (White)Trask PA-C
This is your first missed appointment in the last year. Please call to reschedule this as soon as you are able to do so and make sure you are up to date with all your necessary labs and prescription refills.
This is your 2nd missed appointment the last year.
You've had 2nd last minute cancellations in the last year.
When you miss appointments, we are not able to provide you the care you need. Canceling last minute means it is difficult for us to use this same time to provide care for others in need. Please respect your health and our other patients by attending future booked appointments. If you miss another appointment within the next year we will no longer be able continue providing you health care.
You have missed 3 appointments in the last year. We will take care of your medical needs for the next 30 days but at this point we are no longer able to provide continuing care for you.