Choosing a Health Center Team

As a GVHP member, you choose a GVHP Family Practice Office that works best for you. Your GVHP Family Practice Office is the first point of contact for you and your familyÕs health care needs.

Each GVHP Family Practice Office has a complete team of healthcare professionals. This includes Family Practice Physicians (MDs or DOs), Physician Assistants (PAs), Nurse Practitioners (NPs), nurses, Health Counselors in Behavioral Health and Nutrition. Patient Care Coordinators at your Health Center are there to help you schedule visits with the right team member. Even though you see other practitioners, your GVHP Family Practice Office physician knows about all the medical care you and your family receives. (See GVHP's Team Approach to Health Care.)

You must choose a GVHP Family Practice Office when you join. Each member of your family may choose his or her own GVHP Family Practice Office. You may also change GVHP Family Practice Offices whenever you choose. However, we encourage you to work closely with your GVHP Family Practice Office team. It is important to get to know them. And, it is just as important that you let them get to know you. Remember you are now part of a team. Everyone, including you, is working together to keep you healthy.

Your Certificate of Coverage gives more information about this. (See ARTICLE IV: Member Rights and Responsibilities for this and other membership information. )

GVHP Family Practice Hours

GVHP Family Practice Office staff spends a lot of time getting to know their members. One of the things they have learned is that members need lots of flexibility for scheduling appointments and receiving care. So, GVHP Family Practice Offices have developed flexible schedules that include early and late hours on several days of the week.

Generally, regular office hours at your GVHP Family Practice Office are from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday. Some GVHP Family Practice Offices offer appointments starting at 7:00 AM as well as evening hours until 8:30 PM.

After Hours Care

What should you do if you have an emergency? What should you do if you have an urgent problem and your GVHP Family Practice Office is not open? GVHP offers an after-hours service. All you need to do is call your GVHP Family Practice Office phone number. Someone is available at this number 24 hours a day. You can find this number on the front of your membership card or under Health Center Locations in this section of your handbook.

When you call the after-hours number, a GVHP Family Practice Office medical staff representative will return your call within 15 minutes. The GVHP Family Practice Office medical staff representative will call within fifteen (15) minutes. The GVHP Family Practice Office medical staff representative could be either a physician or nurse and will tell you what to do next. For urgent conditions, you could go to the GVHP Urgent Care Center (UCC), located at the Leonard Street exit off East 96. (See additional information about Urgent Care.) For life threatening situations, go to the nearest emergency room or call 911. (See additional information Emergency Care.)

GVHP Family Practice Office Locations

GVHP Family Practice Offices are easy to find and use. Here's a listing of the GVHP Family Practice Office closest or most convenient for you. See also the GVHP Service Map in this section of your handbook.

Grand Valley Health Plan maintains staff privileges at the following JCAHO accredited hospitals: Spectrum Health - Blodgett and Butterworth (downtown), St. MaryÕs Hospital

All About GVHP Family Practice Office Appointments

Always call your GVHP Family Practice Office for an appointment. Tell the GVHP Family Practice Office why you need an appointment. The GVHP Family Practice Office will schedule your appointment based on your needs and the following standards:

• GVHP Appointment Standards: Access, or being able to get care, is important to you and to us. GVHP has appointment standards to meet your health care needs. These standards come from the input of our health care practitioners. They also meet the requirements of our accrediting body, the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA).

  Visit Type	Standard
  Preventive or non-symptomatic office visits	21 days
  Routine or symptomatic office visits	2 days
  Urgent care office visits	24 hours
  Behavioral Health Emergent - life threatening	Immediately
  Behavioral Health Emergent - non life threatening	Within 6 hours
  Behavioral Health urgent	Within 48 hours
  Behavioral Health routine office visit	10 days

• Urgent Problems: Our goal is to schedule urgent problems for the same day. Most likely you will talk with a nurse. Together you will determine the right treatment plan. This includes the right time and right practitioner for your care. Nursing guidelines are in the Helping You Help Yourself Handbook. If you do not have one, call or stop by your GVHP Family Practice Office. The Handbook is also available online.
• Non-Urgent or Routine Problems: Our goal is to schedule non-urgent problem within 48 hours (two days). Again, a nurse may help you with scheduling the right time for your visit.
• Preventive Care: Our goal is to schedule preventive care appointments to meet a standard of 21 days. Preventative care means health assessments (physicals) or well-child exams. Some types of medical conditions require attention at specific times (for example, scheduled follow-ups, OB visits, chronic conditions, etc.). We schedule appointments according to need.
• Access: We are using a scheduling method that will help make it easier and faster for you to schedule appointments. This new system is called Access. With Access most appointments can be scheduled either the same or the next business day (even preventive care)! Some appointments will be held for scheduling at a later date. Access appointment scheduling often allows us to exceed GVHP appointment standards. Please ask your GVHP Family Practice Office for more information on how Access works.
• Consistent Practitioners:Your Patient Care Coordinator will schedule you with the first available practitioner. You are always free to ask to see the same practitioner for your care. Depending on whom you wish to see, the wait time for your appointment may change.
• Wait Times: We know how valuable your time is. The staff at your GVHP Family Practice Office will try to keep your wait time to 15 minutes or less. If you wait longer, please tell the Patient Care Coordinator.
• Canceling Appointments: If you must cancel your appointment, please call your GVHP Family Practice Office as soon as possible for the same day / next day scheduling and for those appointments scheduled beyond the next day, please give at least a 24 hour notice. This lets us schedule another member for that time.
• Late Appointments: If you are more than ten (10) minutes late, your appointment may be given to the next patient. We do this so that you and others will not be kept waiting. We will offer you other options depending on your appointment needs. These may include rescheduling, waiting until the next available appointment, or working you into the schedule. In most cases, it may require additional waiting time on your part.

Checking-In For Your Appointment

Always check-in when you visit your GVHP Family Practice Office. You will be helped by your Patient Care Coordinator. Be ready to show your GVHP membership or ID card. You will be asked to confirm certain information. This includes your address and telephone number. We will ask if you have other insurance. Please be patient when we ask. We need to have the most up-to-date information about you. We need this information so we can stay in touch with you and process your claims accurately and in a timely manner. .

You are responsible for your office visit copayment. This is due at the time of service. Office visit copayments are required for every visit with a Family Practice Provider, Wellness Counselor and/ or mid-level Practitioner. Please remember: Your copayment is your responsibility.

If you are a new member, you will also be given information to complete at the time of your first visit. This information is needed to set up your medical records. Ask about a GVHP Family Practice Office orientation at your first visit. We want you to know all about us.

Physical Exams and Immunizations

Your GVHP Family Practice Office works with you on your health care needs. There are several ways we do this. Your GVHP Family Practice Office helps you know how often you need a physical exam. We tell you about preventive screening services. For example, we let you know when you need a mammogram. Immunizations are also important in keeping you healthy. Your GVHP Family Practice Office helps here, too. To learn more about immunizations, check your Helping You Help Yourself Handbook. For information about physical exams, see Understanding Preventive Health And Wellness