COMPLIANCE / timing of appointments
Compliance with treatment is outlined in this document: Practice Guideline: Patient Compliance with Treatment. In addition, our practice will follow the guidelines set forth by SAMHSA in the Treament Improvement Protocol (TIP), Series 63. More specifically, patients in our practice are on an every 14 day schedule when treatment is initiated (i.e., a new patient) or when a patient returns to the clinic after a prolonged absence. The medical necessity and professional determination for this is as follows:
1) The practice outsources its urine drug testing, and we are not able to consistently achieve turn around times on this process of less than 10 days. Thus, if a patient returns to the clinic in less than 14 days, there is a high likelihood that there will be no new information available to evaluate.
2) Transportation is our single most important barrier to treatment, and this is particularly true in the many non-urban areas that the practice services. Of note, transportation, work and child care are acknowledged in the TIP, Series 63 as patient barriers, and these barriers should be considered when scheduling appointments. While mindful of the importance of vigilance monitoring during the initial treatment phase, too many appointments are a hurdle to successful treatment.
3) The practice is not aware of any medical literature that increasing the frequency of appointments upon initiation of treatment is beneficial or improves outcomes with treatment. However, all providers have the discretion to bring patients in for more appointments if medically indicated.