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Patient Information

Make or Reschedule an Appointment

Harbor Health has convenient community health center locations in Dorchester, Plymouth, and Cape Cod.

To make or reschedule and appointment, please call the community health center of your choice or speak with a Patient Access Representative when you visit the community health center.

Find a health center location

Arriving for an Appointment

Please arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled appointment to allow time for registration. Be sure to have:

  • Your insurance card or appropriate income documentation
  • A photo ID
  • Current address and phone number available

Patients are requested to have their co-pay available at the time of services rendered. The co-pay amounts are located on the patient’s insurance card.

Bring a current list of prescription medications so that your provider has the most up to date record. Also bring a list of any health concerns that you wish to discuss with your provider.

New Patients: Please arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment. Click here to print out our new patient packet prior to your first visit.

Once registered and to expedite treatment, please have your medical records sent to the health center.

Canceling an Appointment

We understand that sometimes it is not possible to keep an appointment. If you are unable to keep your appointment, please let us know at least 24 hours in advance of your scheduled appointment.

Insurance Information

The health centers accept most insurance plans including but not limited to:

  • Neighborhood Health Plan
  • Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts
  • Tufts Health Plan
  • Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
  • Boston Medical Center HealthNet
  • Network Health
  • United Health
  • Mass Health
  • Medicare

If you do not have health insurance our Financial Counselors can help you apply for:

  • Health Safety Net
  • MassHealth and other state programs

Please click here for more information about financial assistance.

Prescription Medications

Individuals and their families who can not afford medication may be eligible for low-cost or no-cost prescriptions. For more inform, please talk with your provider so that we can assist you in accessing prescription medication.

Prescription Refills

To expedite your request, we ask that you contact your pharmacy. Your pharmacy can submit a prescription refill directly to your provider. If you are unable to contact your pharmacy, please contact your health center or send a message through the MyChart patient portal about the refill request. 

For your convenience, we have pharmacies located at Harbor Community Health Center-Hyannis, Daniel Driscoll -Neponset Community Health Center, and Geiger Gibson Community Health Center. You can give us a call and we can transfer your prescriptions for you. Learn more about our pharmacy services

Whenever possible, check your medication supply before coming to your regularly scheduled appointment to ensure that there is no interruption in your medication.

Referrals

Many insurance plans, especially those that are known as managed care plans, require referrals. Referrals must be obtained for any services other than those offered directly by your primary care provider. You will need to request these referrals as soon as possible after an appointment is made for a test or with a specialist.

Each insured person must choose a primary care physician which provides access to all other healthcare needs of the insured through referrals. Without referrals, the insurance will not pay for the visit and the cost may become your responsibility.

To ensure the process is easier for you, please follow our referral process below:

  1. Read your insurance plan and become familiar with it. Contact the insurance company with questions.
  2. Consult your primary care provider when you have any medical problems to get referrals to specialists or tests.
  3. Your provider will send a referral request to our managed care team for processing.
  4. Once the referral is completed, it will be faxed, telephoned or mailed to the physician, institution or another provider for action.

To contact the referrals department, please call (617) 533-2258.

When the Center is Closed

If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please call 911, your local emergency response number. If possible, go the emergency room at the hospital nearest you.

For all other health concerns, call the health center number and you will be connected to the health center’s answering service who will forward all calls and concerns to the provider on-call. You will be asked to provide your name, telephone number and a description of your medical concern. If you do not get a response within an hour, please call again.

Medical and Dental Records

Harbor Health maintains a health record for each of its patients. The record contains a history of the healthcare provided by Harbor Health. The health record includes medical and/or dental care information. In some cases, it will contain information that has been transferred to us by another provider.

Health records are confidential and are the property of Harbor Health. Patients have the right to request a copy of their health record and to inspect that record.

Harbor works with ScanSTAT Technologies to manage health record requests.

Proper authorization must be on file. One of the following methods may be used to request the record.

  1. The patient, legal guardian or legal representative can complete a Health Record Release Form during a visit with a provider.
  2. The patient can sign a release of information at another facility or provider and have the request sent to Harbor.
  3. The patient, legal guardian or legal representative can complete a request online by clicking here or visiting scanstat.com/patient-record-request.

The authorization must be signed in the following manner:

  1. By the patient, legal guardian or legal representative.
  2. By the parent, if the patient is under 18 years of age and not labeled *emancipated, enumerated or mature minor.* Parents without legal custody of their children do have the right to the medical information about his/her child unless otherwise mandated by court order.

Affiliated Hospitals

Harbor Health’s providers are affiliated with Carney Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Tufts Medical Center, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, South Shore Hospital, and Cape Cod Hospital.

We admit many of our patients in hospitals of their choice and based on insurance eligibility, including but not limited to Children’s Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Tufts Medical Center’s Floating Hospital for Children, Massachusetts General Hospital, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, and South Shore Hospital.

In case you are admitted to a hospital where your provider has no admitting privileges, your primary care provider will be in communication with the admitting physician in order to ensure a continuation of care and appropriate follow up upon hospital discharge.

Problems with Our Service

Our desire is to always provide our clients with excellent service. However, if at any time you have a less than satisfactory experience with us, whether it relates to patient care, billing, parking, access to care, or a lack of courtesy on the part of our staff, we need and want to know about it.

Your feedback matters!

To serve you better, we invite you to share any concerns and/or suggestions with any of our staff.

If our staff cannot help you, they will be able to direct you to someone who can. Formal complaints can be lodged with our administrative department and will be responded to promptly.

Harbor Health Services, Inc. also offers a compliance hotline where anonymous complaints can be filed. Our hotline is available 24 hours a day. Please call 1-833-310-0040. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

If you have a concern regarding your rights as a patient or a breach of patient information, please contact our privacy officer.

Jesse Shipley
617-533-2354
[email protected]

If you feel as though your concerns are not adequately resolved by a member of our staff, you may file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by calling 1-877-696-6775 or with the Joint Commission by calling 1-603-792-5000.