Patient Care
General Medicine Patient Care
Welcome to the UTHealth Houston General Medicine Center. Our pledge is to provide you with the highest quality medical care available. We offer not only a highly qualified staff of specialists but also the most technologically advanced equipment and resources. The Division of General Medicine at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann Hospital work together to provide the latest in patient care, medical teaching, and clinical research. The McGovern Medical School is one of the nation’s top ten in educating and training primary care physicians. Memorial Hermann Hospital is the cornerstone of the Texas Medical Center, the largest and most comprehensive health establishment in the world.
Memorial Hermann Hospital provides the most modern services and is renowned for trauma care, interventional cardiology and organ transplantation, as well as having one of the finest burn centers in the nation. As a patient in the UTHealth Houston General Medicine Center, you will have full access to a wide range of facilities dedicated to improving your health. This brochure details information that you may want to know as a patient.
About Our Doctors
The UTHealth Houston General Medicine Center is a state-of-the-art facility staffed by specialists in internal medicine who are prepared to offer you quality medical care that is both convenient and cost-effective. Physicians at the center are either board-certified or eligible for certification in internal medicine. Some have additional subspecialty board certifications or eligibilities in such areas as infectious diseases and geriatrics. To qualify for board certification, physicians must complete an accredited internal medicine residency program over a three to four-year period after medical school and pass a comprehensive certifying examination. To qualify for board certification in an internal medicine subspecialty, physicians must take an additional two to four years of training in a fellowship program and pass another certifying examination. Our internal medicine physicians are experts in the field. Not all practicing internists in Houston are board certified in Internal Medicine.
About our Resident Physicians
As full time faculty at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, our physicians serve as role models to medical residents and students in addition to being involved in teaching and research activities. Resident physicians are doctors who have completed medical school and are continuing their three to four-year specialty training in internal medicine. All of our residents are personally supervised by a faculty physician who reviews each case. Medical students, in their two years of medical school, also work in the clinic. If you are being seen by a medical student, you will also be seen by a faculty physician. If you are being seen by a resident, a faculty physician is always available and familiar with your case. By involving both the residents and medical students in patient care at the UTHealth Houston General Medicine Center, you can be assured that your health needs are thoroughly reviewed and are used to teach the next generation of physicians.
Prescription Refills
To refill prescriptions, have your pharmacist phone 832-325-7100 on weekdays. Plan ahead so as not to run out of medicine on Fridays, weekends, or holidays. Ask your physician how many months’ supply you may have with refills. Read the pharmacy label for the number of refills remaining.
Laboratory and Diagnostic Results
Laboratory or other test results requiring immediate follow-up will be handled by your physician or nurse. Our nurses do not routinely give test results over the phone until they have been approved for release by your physician. If you do not hear from us, the laboratory reports are likely normal and will be explained to you at your next follow-up visit. If you would like the results sent to you before your next visit, ask your nurse to send them to you.
Ancillary Services
The center offers a dietician for special dietary instructions, a diabetic nurse educator to review the treatment of diabetes and a podiatrist. Our podiatrist visits our center several times a month. Your physician can make the referral. In addition, a wide range of specialty services are available through Memorial Hermann Hospital and McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, covering all aspects of medical care.
In the Event of an Emergency
In the event of an emergency, contact the faculty physician on call at 832-325-7100, or go directly to the Memorial Hermann Hospital Emergency Center. The Memorial Hermann Hospital Emergency Center is one of the foremost trauma centers in the nation, and one of the designated Level 1 Trauma Centers in southeast Texas. Please give the triage nurse in the Emergency Center your physician’s name so your physician can be contacted about your visit. The Emergency Center has its own staff of specialists trained in emergency care.
Payment and Billing Procedures
The UTHealth Houston General Medicine Center accepts a wide range of insurance plans, Medicare and Medicaid. Co-payment charges may be made by check, Visa, MasterCard, American Express or cash. Co-payments are expected at the time of service. Financial counseling is available for those who need it. For financial counseling, please call 713-704-1402 or stop by the office at suite 160 in the UT Professional Building. For questions about insurance pre-certification for Hermann Emergency Center admission, in-patient admission, day surgery, or admission to the observation unit, please call 713-704-5948.
Parking
The UTHealth Houston General Medicine Center is conveniently located in suite 600 of the UT Professional Building at 6410 Fannin Street. Parking is available in the Hermann Professional Building Garage which has entrances on both Fannin and Main streets. Valet parking services are also available. The Hermann Professional Building, in addition to housing a full range of subspecialty and laboratory services, has an apothecary for prescriptions, and restaurant facilities on the ground floor.
Questions
We hope this answers your questions. If not, please ask your physician or nurse, or contact our clinic manager at 832-325-7100. We appreciate the opportunity to provide your medical care and look forward to helping you achieve and maintain your good health.