Appointments:
Appointments can be made during regular business hours. If you are unable to keep your appointment, we ask that you be considerate of other patients who may need to be seen by canceling as soon as possible. We will bill you a cancellation fee for a missed appointment without proper notification. If you arrive late for your appointment, we will make every attempt to work you in, however your appointment may have to be rescheduled. You will recieve an email sent immediately the day you make your appointment. The email will serve as a reminder for the appointment. The email will also have a link to your personal demographics on our web portal in case you are a new patient or if you need to update your medical history or demograpics. You do not need to visit the link to the portal if your demographics are up to date. You will also receive a call from our Automated Voice Messenger 3 days before your appointment and again the day before your appointment. At the time of your call from our Automated Voice Messenger, you will be given the opportunity to cancel your appointment if there is a need to do so. You may change, cancel, or request appointments from the patient portal.

Telephone Calls for the Providers or Nurse:
Our trained staff accepts all calls from patients, enabling the Doctor to spend more time with the patients in the office. A nurse will return all calls received before 4:00 pm by the end of the day. Calls received after 4:00pm will be returned by the end of the next business morning. You will be given the opportunity to leave a message. You may also use the patient portal for communication ith our office.

After Hours Emergency Calls:
Our providers are always available after office hours for emergency calls. Click the contact page to refresh your memory as to our policy for after hours calls. Needless to say, if you feel that you have a potential life-threatening situation do not waste valuable time attempting to call our office, CALL 911.

Prescriptions:
Your medical record is needed to determine whether a refill can be safely issued, therefore refills cannot be approved after normal business hours. During your visit your Doctor will give you prescriptions in amounts to last until you need to be seen again, usually every 3 months for Chronic Disease Management. These follow up appointments are scheduled so that your provider can monitor your condition and adjust medications accordingly. To ensure appointment availability, please make your next appointment at the time of your current visit or at the time you obtain your last refill. In special situations, prescription requests received after 4pm will be processed by the end of the next business day. If you do find yourself in need of more medication prior to your appointment, please call your pharmacy, who either fax or issue an electronic refill requests. Limited refills may be given to allow time for you to make your appointment. NARCOTICS WILL NOT BE RFILLED AFTER HOURS OF BY PHONE OR FAX REQUEST

Referrals:
Some managed care plans require your primary care doctor to obtain authorization to be referred to another provider. If your managed care plan requires this, we will obtain authorization from your insurance company within 3 business days. Please do not make an appointment with the specialist until you have received a call from our referral department. You may request a referral by phone or through the patient portal. In most cases, you will need to be seen in the office prior to any referral in order to document your need for the referral for your insurance company. The majority of the time, the insurance company will deny the referral without the needed documentation.

Outpatient Procedures:
We will obtain authorization from your insurance company and will either schedule your appointment or you may schedule the appointment at your convenience. If any lab or pathology is required as a result of your procedure, these results should be available to us within 3 to 5 business days after your procedure.

Lab Results:
We DO NOT call to notify you of lab results, except in the case of patient's who do not use the internet and there are abnormalities which would create a need to alter your treatment plan. Those patients who have internet available should check our secure and private Patient Portal. Lab results, both normal results, and any results with may necessitate a chenge in your tratment plan will be found on the PORTAL. At present, iIf you do not use the internet, any lab results which require a change in your medication or tratment plan will be provided to you by a telephone call from our office. We are in the process of upgrading our lab result retrieval system to allow you to use the telephone to obtain results and recommendations. This program should be implemented within a month.

Managed Care:
We accept dozens of insurance plans with various deductibles, co-pays, and coverages. We cannot know all of the coverage limitations and rules of your plan. It is important that you read and understand the provisions of your insurance .

Co-Pays:
All co-pay payments are due at check in. Please bring your insurance card to every visit.

Responsibility for ensuring Insurance Coverage:
You are responsible for ensuring that we are providers on your insurance plan and for knowing what services you have coverage for including but not limited to office visits, labs, x-ray, procedures, physicals, immunizations, etc. You will be responsible for paying for all services not covered by your insurance plan.

We do not file charges for Motor Vehicle Accidents, Third Party Liability, or Workman's Compensationtion

HIPPAA Privacy Policy
This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully. If you have any questions about this notice, please contact : Billie Weatheread, Medical Records Custodian, at 972-636- 9577.

This notice describes the privacy practices at our office. We are required by law to:
*Maintain the privacy of protected health information
* Give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices regarding your health information
* Follow the terms of the notice currently in effect.

How we may use and disclose your health information?
Described as follows are the ways we may use and disclose your health information. Except for the following purposes we will use
and disclose your health information only with your written permission. You may revoke such permission at any time by writing
to Ronald W Jones.
Treatment. We may use and disclose your health information for your treatment and to provide you with treatment- related health care services. For example, we may disclose your health information to doctors, nurses, technicians, or other personnel,including people outside our office, who are involved in your medical care and need the information to provide you with medical care.
Payment. We may use and disclose your health information so that others or we may bill and receive payment from you, an insurance company, or a third party for the treatment and services you received. For example, we may give information to your health plan so that they will pay for your treatment.
Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose your health information to evaluate and improve our medical care and to operate and manage our office. For example, we may use and disclose information to a peer review organization or a health plan that is evaluating our care. We may also share information with others that have a relationship with you for their health care operation activities.
Appointment Reminders, Treatment Alternatives, and Health- Related Benefits and Services. We may use and disclose your health information to contact you and remind you of your appointment, to tell you about treatment alternatives or health-related benefits and services you could use.
Individuals Involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care. When appropriate, we may share your health information with a person involved in, or paying for, your care (such as your family or a close friend). We may notify your family about your location
or condition or disclose such information to an entity assisting in disaster relief.
Research. We may use and disclose your health information for research. For example, a research project may involve comparing the health of patients who received one treatment to those who received another for the same condition. Before we do so, the project needs to go through a special approval process. Even without special approval, we may permit researchers to look at records to help identify patients who may be included in their research, as long as they do not remove or copy any of your health information.
As Required by Law. We will disclose your health information when required to do so by international, federal, state or local law.
To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. We may use and disclose your health information when necessary to prevent a serious threat to the health and safety of you, another person, or the public. Disclosures will be made only to someone who can prevent the threat.
Business Associates. We may disclose your health information to our business associates that perform functions on our behalf or provide us with services if necessary. For example, we may use another company to perform billing services on our behalf. All of our business associates are obligatedto protect the privacy of your information and are not allowed to use or disclose the information for any other purpose than appears in their contract with us.
Military and Veterans. If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release your health information as required by military command authorities. If you are a member of a foreign military we may release your health information to the foreign military command authority.
Worker's Compensation. We may release your health information for worker's compensation or similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness.

Site Disclaimer
This web site and all of its links to other external resources is a public web service designed for the exchange and  review of information. Internet resources are not a substitute for the relationship and communication between patient and physician. For more information and further reference regarding internet resources please refer to the following:  American College of Physicians - How physicians can work with patients who go to the Internet for medical information.

Due to ongoing changes in healthcare and the potential of human error, neither Dr. Ron Jones, Royse City Medical Center or Tri-County Pain Management Centre, nor any other party or individual associated with the development and maintenance of this website warrants that the information contained herein is in every respect accurate or complete, and they will not accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. In addition, neither Dr. Ron Jones, Royse City Medical Center or Tri-County Pain Management Centre, nor any other party or individual associated with the development and maintenance of this website warrants that the information contained at linked external internet sites, to be in every respect accurate or complete, nor will responsibility for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information. Readers are strongly encouraged to consult with their physician regarding any health related questions and/or concerns.