Frequently Asked Questions

Below is a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). If you do not see an answer to your question, please call us at (919) 977-0013.

What information do I need to bring to my first appointment?

Please bring with you a list of all of your medications (prescription and over the counter) or supplements and dosages that you are currently taking. To save time, you can print the patient registration forms on this website, fill them out, and bring them with you to your appointment along with your insurance card and photo ID.

Do you accept patients without insurance or those with a high deductible plan?

Yes, and payment is expected at the time of the visit.

What are your office hours?

Effective April 4, 2016, our office hours are:

Monday 11:00am - 7:00pm (last appointment at 6:40pm)

Tuesday – Friday 8:00am – 5:00pm

What holidays do you observe?

We will observe Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and the day after Christmas. 

What do I do if I need to speak to my physician after office hours or on the weekends or holidays?

For after hours emergencies, call our main number (919) 977-0013 and follow the prompts to reach the physician on call. Please restrict all after hours calls to true emergencies. In most instances, the provider on call will not send in prescription requests after hours. Please note that a $25 after-hours fee may be leveraged at the discretion of the provider.

How do I find out about the office hours in the event of inclement weather?

If our office is closed, we will put this information on our website. We will also make every attempt to notify scheduled patients if we need to close the office.

How can I find out more about the process of filing my health insurance?

Our website contains a list of insurance plans for which we are in-network providers. At the time of service, we expect payment for co-pays, coinsurance or deductibles that are not met. If the information you are seeking is not available on our website, please call us at (919) 977-0013 for additional assistance.

Whom do I contact with billing questions? 

Please call our office at (919) 977-0013 and ask to speak to the Practice Manager. 

What is the best way to get a prescription refilled?

Dr. Forbes writes prescriptions to cover each patient’s needs until the next scheduled appointment. Please be sure to schedule an appointment before your medication runs out.

We understand that there may be times when you need a prescription refill between office visits. In these situations, please call your pharmacy and ask that it send us a refill request. If you use an online mail order pharmacy, ask to have an electronic refill request sent to us.

Please allow 24-48 hours for refill requests to be processed. Refills may not always be done on the day received, so please plan ahead. Routine prescriptions are not refilled after hours or on weekends.

If you call to request a refill and are overdue for a follow-up visit and/or blood work (necessary for monitoring the safety or effectiveness of a medication), the provider may agree to call in enough medication to a local pharmacy to last until we are able to schedule an office visit. It is your responsibility to schedule an appointment before you run out of medication.

How do I get a copy of my medical records?

Medical records requests are handled by our office staff. You will need to fill out a request before records can be sent (click here for the form). To check the status of your request, please contact our office at (919) 977-0013. Please allow five business days for handling. We may charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing, labor and supplies associated with your request.

How do I get blood or test results?

If you have a follow-up appointment or a physical scheduled, you will receive your lab results at that appointment. You can also access test results by using the link on our website to our secure Patient Portal. We will provide instructions on the Patient Portal at the time of your initial visit. 

Why must I sign forms to allow my details about my care to be discussed with family members?

Our practice takes all precautions to keep your healthcare information private. We want to make sure that you control who has access to confidential information about you to ensure that your information stays protected per current HIPAA requirements.

If I leave a message when will the nurse/medical assistant (MA) call me back?

Please remember that both the physician and nurse/MA are seeing scheduled patients throughout the day. It may take time before one of them returns your call. We have a timely and efficient message system and will return calls received by 3 p.m. before the end of the day as our schedule allows. Calls received in our office after 3 p.m. may not be returned until the following business day. Please do not make repeat phone calls to the office. 

What if I have a problem and my physician is out of the office at a meeting or is on vacation?

During business hours, a nurse/MA will always be available to field emergency phone calls from patients and health care providers. After hours or on weekends, the provider on call will help you with your problem.

With which hospitals is Dr. Forbes affiliated?

Dr. Forbes’ patients can choose to receive care at any of the local hospitals. She will coordinate care with the hospitalists on staff.

Announcements

Thanks to each and every one of you for entrusting your care to us over the years!

We anticipate the Athena portal will be available through late February 2024 to handle requests for records transfer.

The simplest method is to send a portal message to Dr. Forbes with the name and location of the new practice and your request will be handled within 5 business days. If you prefer to do this yourself or wish to download records to your personal computer, simply:

Log into your portal

Click on "My Health"

Click on "Health Records"

Follow the prompts from there.

Please be aware that practices have limits on the number of documents they can receive and rarely want anything older than the past two years.

 

We believe the following practices (in alphabetical order) are accepting new patients:

Advance Care (multiple locations)

Capital Family Medicine

Duke Primary Care (multiple locations)

Family Medical Associates of Raleigh

Garner Internal Medicine

UNC Primary Care (multiple locations)

WakeMed Primary Care (multiple locations)

Wake Internal Medicine

Raleigh Medical Group (multiple locations)