Current Patients
Scheduling Appointments
Once you have enrolled as a practice member through PayPal subscription, you will be given a username and password to log in to Empower where you can schedule your own appointments. Please note during the pandemic self-scheduling is temporarily disabled. Please contact the office directly by phone to schedule.
Enter Practice Fusion Patient Portal Here
The patient portal is a convenient way to contact me with non-urgent questions and view your health records. Test results and visit summaries are visible here. If you are unable to access your portal account, please email for help. If you have a pressing need that is time sensitive but not urgent, you can call (404) 981-6278 or email mpblackmd@empowerdecatur.com that you need the first available call back. For example use a subject line, "Please see message from Jane Smith ASAP Thanks!" . This will help us prioritize your need when I log in to the portal or email inbox.
For Urgent Medical Issues
If you have an urgent medical issue, please do not use the portal as we may not check it for a few hours or until the next business day. Call the direct patient care number given at your initial visit. Even if there are no appointments available in the online schedule, we leave room in the schedule to work in urgent issues the same or next day whenever possible. Note that phone calls may interrupt other members' visits during the day. Email is also a very quick way to reach your physician if your concern can wait until breaks between visits.
Medical Emergencies
Please remember that for a medical emergency you should call 911 and/or go to the emergency room. Please never, ever use the portal to ask whether to go to the ER. If you aren’t sure and have to ask, call the member phone number. If there is no immediate answer, go ahead and proceed directly to the ER. Leave an email or voicemail so we know you are en route and can reach you as soon as possible.
If You are Hospitalized or See Another Provider
Please request that provider - emergency room, specialist, urgent care, or hospital - give you a copy of your medical record before you leave the office. This may include your test result, copy of your lab work, ER or Hospital progress note, hospital discharge summary, or test report. A "depart summary" is not the same as your actual medical record. You may need to spend time going to the hospital medical records office to sign a release and wait for print outs or a disk to be burned with imaging files. This is time well spent and critical to getting the very best healthcare. Medical records may also be faxed to 888-213-8479 but note that faxing of medical records is unreliable and getting paper records for your own file is much better.
Before Every Visit
Log in to your patient portal. Review your medication list and allergies to confirm that they are correct an up to date. Please bring all your medications, in their pill bottles, to each visit. If you have high blood pressure, bring your home blood pressure log. If you have diabetes, bring your home blood sugar log. Lastly, if you have been seen by any care provider other than me, bring your medical records (including copy of progress note, hospital discharge summary, test result or radiology reports) to your office visit for review.
After Every Visit
Log in to your patient portal to review your visit summary. Review your medication list to confirm any changes we discussed were fully recorded. Call immediately to schedule any consultant appointments we discussed, and note the date your next follow up appointment with me is due on your personal calendar. Set your phone to remind you the day or week before if needed! The patient portal will also send reminder emails for your appointment.
Ways to Make the Most of your Membership
*Please be present & punctual for your appointment. This allows us to give you the full attention you deserve at each visit. It is helpful to other practice members who are scheduled or trying to schedule an appointment.
*Be courteous. A great patient-physician relationship is built on trust with no room for cursing, threatening or intimidating behaviors.
*Be respectful. For non-urgent issues please call during business hours, send an email or portal message. After hours calls should be reserved for urgent medical issues that can't wait until the next day.
*Be curious. Please bring thoughts, questions and articles related to your health you would like you discuss.
*Be organized. If you receive medical care from another physician, care provider, ER, urgent care center or hospital: before leaving always request a copy of your medical records be given directly to you including a disk with any imaging studies, your visit progress note or radiology reports or test results. It is very difficult to obtain medical records by fax, and much better for your to request your own copy. A “depart summary” is a generalized document and is not the same thing as a copy of your medical record. Empower Family Medicine is about helping you take charge of your health, and compiling your own medical record is an essential key to success.
Once you have enrolled as a practice member through PayPal subscription, you will be given a username and password to log in to Empower where you can schedule your own appointments. Please note during the pandemic self-scheduling is temporarily disabled. Please contact the office directly by phone to schedule.
Enter Practice Fusion Patient Portal Here
The patient portal is a convenient way to contact me with non-urgent questions and view your health records. Test results and visit summaries are visible here. If you are unable to access your portal account, please email for help. If you have a pressing need that is time sensitive but not urgent, you can call (404) 981-6278 or email mpblackmd@empowerdecatur.com that you need the first available call back. For example use a subject line, "Please see message from Jane Smith ASAP Thanks!" . This will help us prioritize your need when I log in to the portal or email inbox.
For Urgent Medical Issues
If you have an urgent medical issue, please do not use the portal as we may not check it for a few hours or until the next business day. Call the direct patient care number given at your initial visit. Even if there are no appointments available in the online schedule, we leave room in the schedule to work in urgent issues the same or next day whenever possible. Note that phone calls may interrupt other members' visits during the day. Email is also a very quick way to reach your physician if your concern can wait until breaks between visits.
Medical Emergencies
Please remember that for a medical emergency you should call 911 and/or go to the emergency room. Please never, ever use the portal to ask whether to go to the ER. If you aren’t sure and have to ask, call the member phone number. If there is no immediate answer, go ahead and proceed directly to the ER. Leave an email or voicemail so we know you are en route and can reach you as soon as possible.
If You are Hospitalized or See Another Provider
Please request that provider - emergency room, specialist, urgent care, or hospital - give you a copy of your medical record before you leave the office. This may include your test result, copy of your lab work, ER or Hospital progress note, hospital discharge summary, or test report. A "depart summary" is not the same as your actual medical record. You may need to spend time going to the hospital medical records office to sign a release and wait for print outs or a disk to be burned with imaging files. This is time well spent and critical to getting the very best healthcare. Medical records may also be faxed to 888-213-8479 but note that faxing of medical records is unreliable and getting paper records for your own file is much better.
Before Every Visit
Log in to your patient portal. Review your medication list and allergies to confirm that they are correct an up to date. Please bring all your medications, in their pill bottles, to each visit. If you have high blood pressure, bring your home blood pressure log. If you have diabetes, bring your home blood sugar log. Lastly, if you have been seen by any care provider other than me, bring your medical records (including copy of progress note, hospital discharge summary, test result or radiology reports) to your office visit for review.
After Every Visit
Log in to your patient portal to review your visit summary. Review your medication list to confirm any changes we discussed were fully recorded. Call immediately to schedule any consultant appointments we discussed, and note the date your next follow up appointment with me is due on your personal calendar. Set your phone to remind you the day or week before if needed! The patient portal will also send reminder emails for your appointment.
Ways to Make the Most of your Membership
*Please be present & punctual for your appointment. This allows us to give you the full attention you deserve at each visit. It is helpful to other practice members who are scheduled or trying to schedule an appointment.
*Be courteous. A great patient-physician relationship is built on trust with no room for cursing, threatening or intimidating behaviors.
*Be respectful. For non-urgent issues please call during business hours, send an email or portal message. After hours calls should be reserved for urgent medical issues that can't wait until the next day.
*Be curious. Please bring thoughts, questions and articles related to your health you would like you discuss.
*Be organized. If you receive medical care from another physician, care provider, ER, urgent care center or hospital: before leaving always request a copy of your medical records be given directly to you including a disk with any imaging studies, your visit progress note or radiology reports or test results. It is very difficult to obtain medical records by fax, and much better for your to request your own copy. A “depart summary” is a generalized document and is not the same thing as a copy of your medical record. Empower Family Medicine is about helping you take charge of your health, and compiling your own medical record is an essential key to success.