"Introduction to the Carolina Center" - Group Orientation for Everyone.

What is the purpose of the Group Orientation?  

In 2011 we recognized the need to implement an orientation procedure for our new patients in order to provide important information even prior to the initial visit.  As this process evolved, it also became clear that these sessions would be of value to our established patients as well as prospective patients who wish to know about our facility.  While some of the procedures we follow are familiar to many of our current patients, there is much that is new, and this is a great opportunity to better understand these procedures.  We invite everyone to attend the Group Orientation sessions as we believe the information provided will be very valuable and even help established patients to get more out of their experience at the Carolina Center.  

What will I learn during the Group Orientation?

During the Group Orientation experience, you will learn the following:

•     What makes the Carolina Center for Integrative Medicine unique compared with conventional medical facilities;

•     How we approach health and disease at the cellular and molecular levels, rather than the more conventional emphasis on organ systems;

•     How we evaluate health status using a variety of labs and testing techniques;

•     The diverse ways that we as a staff are committed to supporting you;

•     The various treatment modalities we utilize to help our patients achieve their goals;

•     How we utilize diet and nutrition as the foundation of our programs, giving specific instructions as to how to adjust your diet to eliminate any food sensitivities or allergies;

•     How our practice operates with explanations about how to schedule appointments, how to contact us if you have questions, how to maximize reimbursement from your insurance company, and other information about our office policies and procedures;

•     What to expect after starting your treatment plan—for example, what the subsequent 6 to 9 months will be like, and potential timetables for accomplishing your goals.

Is nutritional guidance part of the Group Orientation? 

Yes.  The most take-home information in this regard will be details on how to follow and Elimination Diet.  This diet is designed to remove the foods that most commonly cause adverse physiological effects; implementation of this regimen even for a couple of weeks can lead to dramatic health benefits.  For our incoming new patients, our goal is help them launch their healing process so that, by the time of their initial office visit, benefits already will have been realized.  Many of our established patients have not explored this dietary direction in addressing their health issue, and this is a great chance to get everyone on this path. 

When are the Group Orientation meetings, and is there a charge?  The “Introduction to the Carolina Center’ Group Orientation sessions are held approximately every two weeks, varying between Tuesday evenings and mid-day on Thursdays and Saturdays and they are open to the public at no charge.  Seating is limited with incoming New Patients being given first priority.  We do require registration for this event in case there are changes to the schedule, and we need to contact you.  If you would like to attend, please contact our Presentation Coordinator Angel Getz at angel@carolinacenter.com. 

Information About Office Visits

Once stable and in maintenance, we request that you maintain regular follow-up visits at least every six months.  We understand that many primary care physicians are only concerned about an annual check-up; thus patients often assume that is all they will need at the Carolina Center.  However, because we embrace a more proactive and preventive approach to medicine, we would like you to be seen every six months to ensure that we are staying on top of risk factors and adequately monitoring your health.

Any patient who has not been seen in-person in at least three years must come back in as a New Patient, completing a new Registration and Medical History Form and undergoing a Comprehensive New Patient visit.

General Office Policies and Procedures

Once a year, we ask our patients to review of our General Office Policies and Procedures  which outlines our operational policies encompassing the full scope of issues regarding fees, office visits, insurance and many other topics pertinent to our practice.   We ask all patients to sign and Acknowledgment of Policies form indicating that they have reviewed this information.  

Click this link - General Policies - read carefully, then print and save for your records.

Once you have read the General Policies, then click this link - Acknowledgement of Policies  – please read and initial each box, electronically sign and date the form at the bottom, then use your “save as” function to save the document to your computer. 

Please then e-mail it as an attachment to Marketta@carolinacenter.com so we can put this in your chart.  Thank you very much for your cooperation.