Billing & Questions
General Information...
As your Medical Home we not only provide excellent pediatric care, but we will also do our best to work with your family to understand the complexities of medical billing and insurance. There are hundreds of health insurers encompassing even more insurance plans. Ultimately, you are responsible for knowing what is and is not covered under your specific plan. If your plan requires a Primary Care Physician (PCP), please make sure that it is one of our providers or our practice before receiving services in our office. Our financial policy is designed to make the billing process more efficient so that we may continue with exceptional pediatric care. As with any business, we require prompt payments to continue to offer exceptional service. Let us know how we can best help you.
Insurance Information...
We participate with a wide variety of insurance plans. In order to file claims with your insurance company, we require a copy of your current insurance card. Please notify us if your insurance changes. We are always evaluating new plans offered to our community. Let us know if you don't see your plan.
Do we participate with your plan?
Charges...
We have developed our fee schedule to be consistent with usual and customary charges in our community. Most insurance plans have a negotiated fee schedule with our office. This reduced fee schedule is what would be your responsibility until you reach your deductible or for calculating co-insurance amounts. Our negotiated fees with your insurance company represents a contract we have with them. This prohibits us from further adjusting or discounting deductible, co-payment or co-insurance amounts. We offer a prompt-pay discount for our self-pay patients and payment plans if needed.
There are certain charges that your insurance may not cover or may be deemed deductible amounts. These are often office procedures like suturing, wart removal, hearing and vision screening and after-hours, weekend, or holiday codes. If a well care visit also includes an acute care problem or issues that are outside the scope of normal preventative care, your insurance company may charge a copay or deductible for these "additional issues." It is important that you understand what your financial responsibility will be for these services. Contact your insurance company if you have questions.
After-Hours Times and Holiday Schedule
Bristow Pediatrics will charge $15.00 for any forms or letters completed outside of an office visit. Often we can get these done for you the same day we receive them. It is helpful to leave longer or more complicated forms ahead of time. Occasionally a form will require an office visit to properly complete. We are also available by phone, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for urgent medical matters at no charge.
Payment...
We require all families to leave a credit card number on file with our office. We do not keep the card number in our office, but use a gateway that conforms to banking levels of security. At no time does our staff have access to your credit card information. The card will be used to pay for the patient’s portion of services after insurance processing. After each visit, we will submit claims to your insurance company. After the claim is processed, both you and our office will receive an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from your insurance company detailing your coverage and subsequent responsibility. After we receive the EOB, we will charge the patient balance to the credit card on file. If you have questions about your medical bill, you may contact our billing office at 571-379-4246.
Your plan may require you to pay a co-payment and/or meet a yearly deductible. We expect these payments at the time of service. Please be sure that whoever accompanies your child to the office, he or she brings the payment with them. We require a credit card on file in our office to pay for the patient balance. We accept cash, checks, VISA, MasterCard, and American Express. You may also use a health Savings Debit Cards or Checks. Co-payments are a contractual obligation between you, your health plan and our practice. We are not able to modify charges for co-payments, co-insurance or deductibles. We do offer a discount for prompt payment for services not covered by your insurance.
More insurance plans are requiring higher deductibles. Read through your insurance coverage or contact your plan for information about what is and is not covered under your policy. You will be responsible for payment of services your insurance company does not cover.
No one will be denied access due to an inability to pay. We will work with self-pay patients and families experiencing financial hardship. We have a sliding scale fee system based on the Federal Poverty Guidelines. To access our sliding fee schedule please complete an application found here. Please request a copy of our complete Financial Policy.