Policies
We take care to assure your visit to our office is a pleasant, efficient and productive environment. Care is taken to coordinate with the needs of our patients. We do not overbook patients and careful attention is given to adhere to the scheduled time. We do ask for your cooperation that if a delay occurs in your appointment time, it is because another patient requires additional care. Take comfort in knowing that the same time and attention will be afforded to you if needed.
Our office will take every effort to help remind you of your appointment date and time. We provide appointment cards at the time of your discharge in anticipation of your next appointment. We also will provide a telephone call to you days prior to your visit.
Our office will expend significant efforts in the preparation of a Providers Schedule with patients which will take hours to complete in preparation of your visit prior to your arrival. As a result, we do require a 48 hour cancellation notice during normal business hours to avoid a cancellation fee of $50.
It is the office policy, that patients who repeatedly cancel their appointments or do not show for their appointments may be discharged from the practice.
Minors do need a legal guardian present or a notarized authorization for a specified adult to accompany their child. Guardians are required to be present with all minors from the inception of the visit to the discharge process.
All patients must give authorization through a signature, allowing our doctors to provide medical care to our patients. This authorization will also provide our offices the tight to Bill your insurance company for the medical services provided to you.
Patients will be taken in the order they arrive; however a triage system is used at all times where if a patient requires more immediate medical care because of their medical need or condition, they will take priority. We hope our patients are understanding to this fact and assure all our patients will be given the same quality care that exists at our facilities.
Our office has a referral coordinator that will assist you in completing your treatment plan established by your provider. This will take time to complete but be assured our office is diligent in getting this accomplished. Please understand, that when referring to an outside office for testing or subspecialty evaluation, we are nor able to make appointments in these offices and must rely on that office to schedule and notify you of such time.
Please be aware that delays may occur that is our of our control. Such delays that may occur are: insurance denials, failure of the sub-specialist to schedule or notify the patient of such appointment, or failure to be notified of the request by the office requiring a referral. It is the responsibility of patient to notify our office or the office they were referred to if they are not notified of such referral in a timely fashion.
In this day and age of medicine, terms such as copays, deductibles, financial responsibility can be very confusing and sometimes detracts from the prime reason why you are here as a patient. We are here to help you with explanations and assist in any denials to help limit your financial liability. We understand the financial constraints in today’s society, and we are here to help.
To achieve this, we must be apprised of your insurance and plan restrictions. All patients must keep our office aware of any change in their insurance coverage and must provide an active insurance card with photo identification at all times when services are rendered. Such delay in providing this information may result in the charges being reverted to the patients responsibility.
Some insurances, especially the PPO plans require the patient to notify the health insurance company involved with direct notification that they chose our doctor as their Primary care provider. Failure to do this may result in medical claims being denied, making the patient responsible for its cost.
Patients should bring their updated insurance information at each and every office visit. They should make the office aware of any lapse in insurance or change in insurance plan. All copays and deductibles are to be paid at the time of service. If a patient has a large insurance deductible, a credit card or prepayment will be requested.
The financial policies of this office will be presented and are required to authorize our office to bill your health insurance carrier. ( Financial Agreement Policy ) A patient’s financial responsibility are usually limited to the copay which is listed on the front of their health insurance card. However, most health insurance carriers now have instituted a deductible , which is defined as an amount that must be expended by the patient in medical service costs before the health insurance will pay for your medical services, thus making it your financial responsibility. As a result, we may request a credit card on file or deposit , to cover the costs of such medical services.
With few exceptions, services are expected to be paid at the time the services were provided. Such patients responsibility may be modified once your medical claim is processed and an explanation of benefits is provided to our office by your insurance carrier. Any such discrepancy will be billed to you through our billing company in a monthly statement. All balances are to paid at the time of service. In certain situations, a payment agreement may be entered into with the patient. Patients not compliant with the financial policies of our office may result in discharge from the practice with notice.
Our office also participates with compensable injury claims, such as worker’s compensation and motor vehicle claims. Please note that such claims will require a patient to provide such additional carrier information at the time of the visit. All workers compensation claims must be filed by the patient within 48 hours of the Injury. Failure to provide this will result the financial responsibility being transferred to the responsibility of the patient. A signed “Doctors Lien” Form will be required of all patientsto ensure future payment of service.
We will provide a copy or summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your written request and signed medical release. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee. Requests for access to health information should be made in writing. Fee will not be charged to the patient for compensable injuries or disability determination.
A fee of $25 will be charged to the patient for the processing and recording.