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Office Policies

Office Policies


These office policies for the Full Circle Center for Integrative Medicine all support the underlying goal to cultivate truly patient-centered collaborative care in a vital and sustainable practice. For this reason please take the time to read through them and do contact us if you have any questions or concerns. As the practice evolves, these policies may change in order to better achieve our underlying goal; all registered patients will be informed of any major practice changes via e-mail or postal mail and through updates on the practice website.
- Connie Basch, MD



Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Policies are explained in this PDF and are available in paper copy at the office if you request them.
Notice of Privacy Practices
Acknowledgement of Receipt of Notice of Privacy Practices

Scheduling Appointments


Dr. Basch is committed to providing excellent access to her patients through scheduled appointments, same-day appointments, and virtual office visits through either telephone or internet; with rare exception, this will mean that any registered patient will be able to be seen within 24-48 hours of his or her requested appointment.
Coming soon: For all patients with access to the internet, appointments may be scheduled through a secure link on the office website. For same day appointments, or if no convenient appointment is available online, patients may call the office at 707-840-4701 and Dr. Basch will try to accommodate their needs.

Late Policy


Dr. Basch respects the value of your time and makes every effort to keep on schedule. In order to help her do this, please note that your appointment time will not be extended due to a late arrival.

No-Show Policy


Please know that your appointment time is reserved especially for you, so in respect to other patients, please call at least 3 hours in advance if you will be unable to keep your appointment. This allows us to offer that time to another patient. If a patient fails to show up for their appointment or cancels with less than 3 hours notice, there will be a $40 “no-show” fee. A pattern of repeated failures to keep appointments may result in dismissal from the practice.

After Hours Concerns


If you have a medical emergency, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room. For all other urgent concerns, and once you are an established patient and have been seen at least once, please contact Dr. Basch at 707-840-4701. Calls to this phone number have the option to go directly to voicemail when the office is closed; Dr. Basch will be paged to notify her that a message has been recorded, and your call will be returned within 5-15 minutes. Most importantly, never delay emergency treatment. In our area, occasional power or internet outages can make most phone systems unreliable at times; if you do not receive a reply that you are expecting, you may call and leave a second message, but if she fails to return the call please proceed to the emergency room or other appropriate setting to have your problem addressed.

If you wish to leave a message about routine matters that can wait to be addressed on the next working day, please use our Patient Portal or call 707-840-4701 and follow the voice mail tree to leave a routine message.

Email Policy


E-mail is a convenient and efficient way to communicate non-urgent requests, questions, and messages that you may have for Dr. Basch. However, while the security and confidentiality of email is comparable to other forms of communication, there are some special conditions that apply to e-mail.

  • If your email address is through your employer, your employer may own all emails sent to that address.
  • If your family shares your email address, other family members may see your messages.
  • If you use an Internet service provider, there is a small risk that messages may be intercepted by others (“hackers”).

The following subjects are rarely appropriate for standard e-mail:

  • Any urgent medical problem or emergency (difficulty breathing, bleeding, etc.)
  • Mental health issues
  • Alcohol and substance abuse problems
  • HIV and other sexually transmitted infections

Dr. Basch does not control the security of incoming email messages from patients. Patients who choose to email personal health information do so at their own risk. Please keep in mind that although email is a very effective tool, it is not a substitute for personal visits for examination and counseling with your doctor.

Virtual Office Visits


Virtual office visits may be through either the telephone or internet. They can be used for new or existing problems, which, in Dr. Basch's professional opinion, may not require face to face care. You need to have been seen in person at least once in the past year in order to qualify for a virtual visit. Examples include routine follow up on chronic medication conditions such as cholesterol or thyroid problems, or acute problems such as uncomplicated sinus or urinary tract infections. They are NOT SUITABLE for severe issues such as trouble breathing, severe bleeding, chest pain that you think might be a heart attack (Call 911 now if you have any of these issues!). These visits also are not covered by insurance. For most issues, the charge will be $30. For more information or to schedule a virtual visit, see our [Virtual Visit?|Virtual Visit Page].

Medical Records Release


Upon request with an appropriate HIPAA-compliant form, a paper or electronic copy of all or a portion of your medical records can be provided to you or another doctor. For paper copies, there will be a $10.00 charge plus a fee of $0.25 per page. For a CD copy there will be a $10.00 flat charge.

Medication Refills


Because Dr. Basch writes prescriptions with a sufficient refills to last until she would next like to see her patients for follow-up, please schedule an appointment (either in-office or in certain circumstances virtual) when you note that you do not have any refills left on a prescription. If extraordinary circumstances prevent you from engaging in either an in-office or virtual visit, please contact Dr. Basch during normal business hours so that something can be worked out.

Pharmaceutical Samples


Prescription samples are marketing tools that have the unfortunate effect of costing patients and the health care system more money over the long run and will not be available in this office. Instead, every attempt will be made to prescribe the best medication that costs the least amount of money for patients. Short-term prescriptions can be written if you would like to try a medication only for a short period of time.

Controlled Substances Prescriptions (including benzodiazepines, opioids, and stimulant medications)


Due to the detrimental effect that abuse and diversion of controlled substances can have on a patient’s health and on the physician-patient relationship, patients who require controlled substances for longer than four weeks will be required to sign a “Controlled Substances Prescribing Contract” which outlines the expectations for both the patient and the prescriber (Dr. Basch). These expectations include agreeing to receive their controlled substance prescriptions solely from Dr. Basch and to use a single pharmacy for refills. Any patient who joins the practice and is already using controlled substances will be expected to provide medical documentation for their use prior to receiving a new prescription from us and will be asked to submit a urine sample for chemical dependency screening. If results of the screening identify illicit substances or do not identify an expected prescribed medication, Dr. Basch will not take punitive action, but will arrange for appropriate medical management of substance abuse problems as indicated. Controlled substances for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and similar conditions are generally prescribed only after appropriate psychological and/or psychiatric evaluation.

Maternity Care


Dr. Basch will NOT be providing maternity services, so that she can spend some uninterrupted time with her son.

Inpatient Medical Care


Dr. Basch has admitting privileges at Mad River Community Hospital. In the event that a patient requires admission to the hospital, she will manage their inpatient care when at all possible, but in the event she is not available, patients will be under the care of the team of Hospitalist Physicians on staff at Mad River. Dr. Basch will work closely with these physicians to coordinate your care. She will take care of any newborn admissions to Mad River Hospital if she is to be the child’s primary care physician.

Non-discrimination Policy

Full Circle Center does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in its health programs and activities;
Full Circle Center provides appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including qualified interpreters for individuals with disabilities and information in alternate formats, free of charge and in a timely manner, when they are necessary to ensure an equal opportunity to participate to individuals with disabilities;
Full Circle Center provides language assistance services, including translated documents and oral interpretation, free of charge and in a timely manner, when such services are necessary to provide meaningful access to individuals with limited English proficiency;
Speak to our staff to obtain the aids and services described above;
If you have had a problem with our office, you may file a discrimination complaint with the Office for Civil Rights
Filing a Civil Rights Complaint(external link)
Submit a written complaint to:
Mail to
Centralized Case Management Operations
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Room 509F HHH Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20201
or email to OCRComplaint at hhs.gov
Be sure to include:

Your name
Full address
Telephone numbers (include area code)
E-mail address (if available)
Name, full address and telephone number of the person, agency or organization you believe discriminated against you
A brief description of what happened, including how, why, and when you believe your (or someone else's) civil rights were violated
Any other relevant information
Your signature and date of complaint
The name of the person on whose behalf you are filing if you are filing a complaint for someone else

Conozca Sus Derechos
Full Circle Center no excluye a las personas ni las trata de forma diferente debido a su origen étnico, color, nacionalidad, edad, discapacidad o sexo.
Proporciona asistencia y servicios gratuitos a las personas con discapacidades para que se comuniquen de manera eficaz con nosotros, como los siguientes:
Intérpretes de lenguaje de señas capacitados.
Información escrita en otros formatos (letra grande, audio, formatos electrónicos accesibles, otros formatos).
Proporciona servicios lingüísticos gratuitos a personas cuya lengua materna no es el inglés, como los siguientes:
Intérpretes capacitados.
Información escrita en otros idiomas.
Si necesita recibir estos servicios, comuníquese con nuestra oficina.

Interpreting Services

We use a telephone Interpreter service: Languages Available(external link)