History

Deborah Varnam, FNP-BC is the former owner of Varnam Family Wellness Center. Ms. Varnam restructured the practice in 2015 and is now operates with a Practice Service Organization, Raleigh Durham Medical Group, PA. Raleigh Durham Medical Group now handles many of our administrative functions allowing Ms. Varnam FNP-NC to focus on patient care. Ms. Varnam provides quality, comprehensive health care to the patients of Seaside Wellness of Shallotte.

Patient Centered Medical Home

At Seaside Wellness of Shallotte you can expect to receive care that is based on the Patient Centered Medical Home model of care. This means that you will receive care that is carefully designed around evidence-based practice guidelines to assist you in reaching your best possible health status. It also means that we are committed to providing you with the health education and support needed to help you manage any chronic conditions that you have on a daily basis. At Seaside Wellness of Shallotte, you will be a partner in your health care and will be involved in every decision regarding your plan of care.

The selection of a primary care provider is a very important part of Patient Centered Medical Home and is one of the keys to providing you with the most coordinated care possible. Your provider and the health care team that surrounds them will work hard to know you as a person and to coordinate all aspects of the care that you receive both at our offices and through other health care providers. If you have not selected a primary care provider, you will be asked to let us know which provider you would like to choose as your primary care provider. In a Medical Home your primary care provider is the hub of your medical care.

Health Promotion and Prevention of Illness

One of our foremost goals for your care is to promote health and prevent illness. As we discuss your health we will make evidenced based recommendations to keep you healthy. In the event of an existing illness, we strive to prevent worsening of your illness and complications. As we make recommendations, be aware that many preventive tests are fully covered by your insurance company. Also, be honest with us about what you do or don’t want to do as relates to prevention and your health in general. Honesty creates a strong provider-patient bond and yields the best results for your health.

Medications & Refills

If you take medications, please bring your bottles so that we can accurately record your medications. Please include any over-the-counter or herbal medications or supplements that you take. When you need a medication refill please call your pharmacy to request a prescription refill. The pharmacy will then contact our office and we will approve your refill within 2 business days of receiving the request from your pharmacy. Prescriptions are sent electronically (with the exception of controlled substances) to the pharmacy of your choice. If you need a refill for a controlled substance, please ask your pharmacy to send that to us; however, some pharmacies are not able to do this. If your pharmacy says they cannot send the request electronically. Please call us and leave a message on the medication refill line.

Telephone Calls and Communication

We strive to be available to serve you always. All calls to our office are based on urgency of the call and all calls will be answered within 24 business hours. Any non-urgent requests for information can be made through our patient portal. All portal messages are answered within 24 business hours. Please do not utilize the portal for urgent or emergency messages.

Same Day Appointments

We realize that acute illness does not make an appointment with you ahead of time. We want to be here for you when you are suddenly sick! An urgent care visit is often more costly and they don’t have all your information, we do. Please call us as soon in the morning as you are aware that you will need to be seen. We save several appointments each day for same-day visits. Most times, you will be able to come in the same day.

After Hours Availability

During hours that our office is closed, you can reach one of our providers through our after-hours phone. Please call 910-754-2273 and listen to the message for the on-call number. Please be aware that we can consult with existing patients after hours; however, we are not able to provide after-hours consultations to new patients. We do not call in refills of medications after-hours.

Care by Specialists

We are concerned for your overall health. Any care that you receive at other locations should be incorporated into your overall plan for health and well-being. In order to provide you with the best care possible it is important for us to understand all aspects of your care. Sharing information about visits to other providers will allow us to coordinate your care across sites and specialties. Please let us know at each visit if you have had a visit to a hospital, emergency room, urgent care or specialty provider. If possible, please bring information about this care to your visit so that we can incorporate the information into your record and your treatment plan. Please also bring the results of any testing that is completed outside of our office, to include eye exams and podiatry exams if you have diabetes, so that we can include this information in your complete medical record.

The Clinical Summary

As a patient you will receive a Clinical Summary containing information about your visit each time you leave our office after a visit. The Clinical Summary will provide you with a record of the care that you received at that visit. Depending on your healthcare needs, it may also contain a copy of the care plan that you have developed with your provider. We urge you to create a folder in which to store these Clinical Summaries and other important papers that you will receive from your health care team such as copies of your lab results and your current medication list. This will allow you to store all of your personal medical information in one place. Bring this folder with you to your appointments with your providers so that you can add your current information and keep it up to date. If you ever have the need to see a provider outside of Seaside Wellness of Shallotte this folder can provide important information about your health care that the outside physician & care team may not otherwise have access to.

Patient Portal, Patient Fusion

At Seaside Wellness of Shallotte we realize that your healthcare does not stop when you leave our office. For this reason we have created a patient portal to help you manage your care in between visits to our office. We ask all patients to sign up for their portal at the end of their first visit. The portal is featured on our website and provides a way for you to access your information at all times. The portal, Patient Fusion, will allow you to access your lab results more quickly, see historical information, and have access to all of your visit information in one place from anywhere that you have an internet connection, including your smart-phone. You can also utilize Patient Fusion to request appointments and to ask your provider routine questions through secure messaging. At your initial visit to Seaside Wellness you will be sent an email inviting you to utilize the patient portal. We will print access codes and give to you at your visit. You will need the email and access codes to set up your account on Patient Fusion.

Emergency and Hospital Admissions

If you must be seen in an emergency room/urgent care center, or if you are hospitalized for any reason, please call us the next business day to schedule a follow-up visit so that we may update your plan of care with any new information about your health.

Coordination of Care

Coordination of care is very important in a medical home model of care. Included in this packet you will find a specialist agreement. We ask that you share this agreement with any specialty care providers that you receive care from so that records can be shared between our offices. We have also partnered with certain behavioral health care providers in the community to ensure that care planning is coordinated for our patients receiving services. If you currently receive care from a behavioral health provider, please let us know so that we can connect to coordinate your care.

Social Media & Personal Emails

Seaside Wellness of Shallotte has a Facebook page! We communicate health tips, inclement weather closing, emergency closings, changes in hours and more on this page. If you are on Facebook, friend or follow us! Social media and personal emails are not secure ways to communicate regarding your protected health information. Our employees have been instructed not to respond to requests made on their personal social media pages or emails. This is our way of respecting your health information enough to protect it.

Thank you for choosing Seaside Wellness of Shallotte for your healthcare, we look forward to partnering with you to help you achieve your greatest health status possible.