Frequently asked questions

Appointments can be requested online through the booking form on this site, which takes about three minutes and carries no charge, or by calling (713) 597-5131. The online form asks for the specialty and location first, then lets you choose a specific clinician. Requests can be made for any of Remix Medical's seven Texas locations or for a telehealth visit.

Yes. Same-day appointments are available at Remix Medical, though availability depends on the specialty and the location. Calling (713) 597-5131 is the fastest way to find a same-day slot, since the scheduling team can see openings across every office. For patients anywhere in Texas, a telehealth visit is often available sooner than an in-person appointment.

The online form submits a request, not a confirmed booking. A member of the Remix Medical scheduling team reviews it and contacts you to confirm a date and time, verify your insurance, and collect anything needed before the visit. There is no charge to request a time. If you need to be seen quickly, calling (713) 597-5131 is faster than waiting for a callback.

Call (713) 597-5131 to cancel or reschedule any Remix Medical appointment. Giving as much notice as possible helps the office offer the slot to another patient who needs it. Upcoming appointments can also be reviewed in the athenahealth patient portal, linked from the top navigation of this site. If you are running late rather than cancelling, call ahead anyway.

Preparation for a first visit is mostly logistics. Plan to arrive early enough to finish intake paperwork without cutting into clinical time, and bring your insurance card and photo ID. Call (713) 597-5131 in advance if you want coverage verified before you come in. Send prior records, labs, or imaging through the Send a Document option under Support so your clinician has your history at the visit rather than reordering tests that already exist. Setting up the athenahealth patient portal beforehand means results are visible to you as soon as they are back.

Bring the actual pill bottles rather than a written list, because the list is usually out of date. Bring the names of every clinician you currently see and what each one manages, any lab or imaging results from the last two years, and your family history including the ages at which relatives were diagnosed. Also bring the two or three things you actually want addressed, written down — visits drift, and a written list is the most reliable way to make sure your real concern gets discussed.

Bills can be paid online through the athenahealth patient payment portal, linked from the Pay Bill option in the top navigation of this site. Payment can also be made by phone at (713) 597-5131 or in person at any Remix Medical office. Billing questions can be routed to the billing team through the Support option in the site header.

Remix Medical is in network with most major commercial plans, Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and Texas Medicaid. If a plan is out of network, the benefits team will tell you before the visit rather than after. Out-of-network patients can still be seen on a self-pay basis, and a written cost estimate is available in advance. Call (713) 597-5131 to verify coverage.

Yes. Patients who are uninsured or paying out of pocket are entitled to a Good Faith Estimate of expected charges under the federal No Surprises Act, and Remix Medical provides one on request. Details are on the Good Faith Estimate page of this site. Insured patients can have the benefits team verify coverage and expected cost-sharing by calling (713) 597-5131.

Possibly. Work performed by an outside laboratory, imaging center, or pathology group is billed by that facility directly, separate from the Remix Medical visit charge. Services performed inside a Remix Medical office appear on the practice's bill. If you receive a bill you do not recognize, the billing team can identify where it came from — reach them through the Support option in the site header.

Yes, and more than most people expect. In-network care is billed at rates your plan already negotiated; out-of-network care is not, and the difference usually lands on you. Verify at the plan level rather than the carrier level — a practice can participate in one Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas product and not another, so "we take Blue Cross" is not actually an answer. Remix Medical's benefits team verifies specific plans by phone at (713) 597-5131, usually in under a minute, and will tell you before the visit if a plan is out of network rather than after.

Most plans cover an annual preventive visit and a defined set of screenings with no cost-sharing, which the Affordable Care Act requires of non-grandfathered plans. Medicare covers an Annual Wellness Visit on similar terms. The common surprise is that a preventive visit can turn diagnostic mid-appointment: if a new problem gets evaluated or an existing condition gets managed during the same visit, that portion may be billed separately. Ask at check-in how a mixed visit will be coded. Remix Medical's benefits team can confirm your coverage at (713) 597-5131.

Yes. Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the country and most Houston practices see self-pay patients. Ask for the current self-pay rate for a new-patient visit and for any labs before you book, since laboratory charges are often billed separately from the visit itself. If you do have coverage, confirm the practice participates in your specific plan rather than just the carrier — carrier and plan are not the same thing.

Yes. Remix Medical offers telehealth visits to patients located anywhere in Texas, and telehealth is a selectable option in the online booking form alongside the seven physical locations. Video visits work well for follow-ups, medication management, lab result reviews, and new problems that do not require a physical exam. Some visits, including most procedures, still require an in-person appointment.

Yes. Remix Medical has a home care service line providing physician-led care in the patient's home, intended for patients for whom travelling to an office is difficult. Home care runs on the same shared electronic health record as the office-based specialties, so a home visit note is visible to the patient's other Remix clinicians. Call (713) 597-5131 to ask whether home care covers your area.

Yes. Remix Medical prepares Metrolift paratransit eligibility forms and disabled-person license plate or parking placard applications, and the treating physician signs them. Both can be requested through the Support option in the top navigation of this site. These are handled by the office rather than during a visit, so submitting the request in advance is usually faster than asking at an appointment.

Remix Medical uses the athenahealth patient portal, reachable from the Portal link in the top navigation of this site. The portal is where patients view lab and test results, review upcoming appointments, and message the office. Portal access is set up through the office — if you do not have an account or cannot log in, call (713) 597-5131 and the office can send an invitation.

Medical records can be requested through the Request Records option under Support in the top navigation of this site. The form captures which records are needed and where they should be sent. Recent lab and test results are also visible directly in the athenahealth patient portal without a formal request. Records requests are processed by the office rather than during a visit.

Refills move fastest when your pharmacy sends the renewal request to the office electronically, or when you request it through the athenahealth patient portal. Calling (713) 597-5131 also works. Some medications, including controlled substances, require a recent visit before a refill can be issued, so it is worth requesting several days before you run out rather than on the last day.

Use the Send a Document option under Support in the top navigation of this site. It is built for patients, referring providers, and facilities sending records, labs, or imaging for review. Sending prior records before a first appointment is worth the effort — it means the clinician has your history in hand at the visit instead of ordering tests that have already been done.

Referring providers and their staff can submit a referral through the Referrals option in the top navigation of this site. The form captures the receiving specialty, the urgency of the referral, and both patient and referring-provider details. Referrals can be marked routine or urgent. For medical emergencies, call 911 rather than using the referral form.

Remix Medical clinicians hold privileges at Houston Methodist, Memorial Hermann, HCA Houston Healthcare, Kindred Hospital, and AMG Hospital. Privileges mean a Remix Medical physician is credentialed to care for patients at those facilities. Affiliated facilities, including the dialysis units the nephrology team works with, are listed on the Affiliated Facilities page of this site.

It depends on your plan type. HMO plans generally require a referral from your assigned primary care physician before a specialist visit is covered, while PPO and most POS plans generally allow you to self-refer. Even when no referral is required, having your primary care physician initiate it usually means the specialist receives your records and the reason for the visit in advance, which makes that appointment substantially more productive.

Start with continuity rather than convenience. Verify board certification through the American Board of Medical Specialties, check license status and disciplinary history on the Texas Medical Board site, and confirm the listed specialty in the federal NPI registry — all three are free and public. Then ask the practice the question most people skip: across three visits in a year, how likely am I to see the same clinician each time?

Family medicine physicians train to care for patients of every age, children included, across a broad range of everyday problems. Internal medicine physicians train exclusively in adult medicine, with deeper preparation in complex, multi-system chronic disease. Both serve as primary care physicians for adults — family medicine is usually the better fit for a whole household, internal medicine for an adult managing several interacting conditions.

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants deliver a large share of excellent primary care, particularly preventive visits and stable chronic disease. The useful question is not credential ranking but structure — who the collaborating physician is, and at what point a case escalates to them. What is not acceptable is not being told which type of clinician you are scheduled with before you arrive.

Look them up free at certificationmatters.org, the American Board of Medical Specialties verification tool. It shows whether a physician holds active certification and with which board — for primary care, usually the American Board of Family Medicine or the American Board of Internal Medicine. The Texas Medical Board separately publishes license status, medical school, training, and any disciplinary action for every physician licensed in the state.

Switching is mostly paperwork, and none of it requires your current physician's permission. Confirm the new practice participates in your specific plan, book a first visit, and have your records transferred — Remix Medical patients can request records through the Request Records option under Support, and incoming records from a prior office can be sent through Send a Document. Book the new visit before you leave the old practice rather than after, so there is no window where nobody is managing your prescriptions or chronic conditions.