Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Our Policies The CARITHERS  Pediatric Group Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 1. HIPAA Notification  Our practice has implemented the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act to protect the privacy of the patient’s health information. In your absence we will request from the person with your child some form of photo ID for comparison to your child's patient profile that you have completed giving specific persons permission for Consent for Treatment and Patient Health information. If the person with your child is not listed on the Patient Profile, our office will be contacting you. As well, anyone other than the parent picking up prescriptions, forms or any other information on your child will also need to present photo ID. 2. Current Information As a patient at The Carithers Pediatric Group you are required to notify our staff of any changes in your patient information, such as insurance, benefits, employer, patient name, home address and/or contact numbers. You will be asked to present your current insurance cards at each appointment. 3. Payment at Time of Service  If your insurance plan requires you to pay a co-payment, it will be collected during check-in. Patients that fail to bring their co-pay on two or more occasions may be required to reschedule their non-urgent appointment. If you are a self-pay patient or your insurance information cannot be verified prior to your appointment, you will be required to pay in full at the time of service. If your insurance plan requires payment of an annual deductible and/or co-insurance (i.e. 80/20 plans), payment will be calculated and due at check out. We accept cash, personal checks, MasterCard, Visa and American Express. Patient payment plans are also available if needed. Payment plans are available by contacting our billing office prior to your appointment. INSURANCE CARD MUST BE PRESENTED AT EACH VISIT. 4. Claims Filing As a courtesy to our patients, we file claims with your insurance company. You will be responsible for timely payment of any patient balances as directed by your insurance. You will also be responsible in the event that the claim is disputed or unpaid. 5. Patient Billing and Collections  Patients that receive a statement from our office are expected to remit a full payment upon receipt, unless previous payment arrangements were made with our billing office. If your account must be referred to an outside collection agency for non-payment, a fee will be added to your account to cover the expense incurred from the agency. The percentage varies based on the age of the outstanding balance. Patients in collection must make payment arrangements prior to scheduling another appointment with our office. If you receive a billing statement that you do not understand, please contact our office for assistance so that the account can be resolved. 6. Triage Calls One of our many services provided is complimentary telephone advice given by experienced pediatric nurses. During the hours of 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Monday thru Friday, our staff provides this valuable service. Please be aware our website provides helpful information on emergency guidelines regarding common illnesses. 7. No-Shows  For patients that fail to come to their schedule appointment and do not notify our office 24 hours in advance of the need to cancel the appointment, a $25.00 No-Show Charge will be added to their account. This charge will be the patient's responsibility; insurance companies will not pay this charge. Please notify our office if you cannot keep your appointment, so other patients in need of medical care can be seen. 8. Late Policy  You have the responsibility to arrive at our office at your scheduled appointment time. The Carithers Pediatric Group reserves the right to reschedule patients that show up 20 minutes late for their appointment. 9.  Letter/ Forms Completion We will gladly fill out required forms for your child at his or her well check up at no charge. However, if you need any forms/ letter completed outside of your scheduled well child appointment, there will be a $5.00 fee per child. 10. Immunization Policy It is our practice’s philosophy that it is incumbent upon us as pediatricians to protect both the individual patient, as well as our patient population as a whole, from contagious disease. We advocate following the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for immunization of children. Unimmunized children are at risk for contracting contagious disease, which can be debilitating and life threatening. These unimmunized children in our waiting room may expose our patients to serious disease such as measles, whooping cough and bacterial meningitis. It is our policy that parents who have concerns about immunizations be allowed to consider benefits of immunizations. If after a six month period, the parents choose not to immunize their children, we ask that these parents seek medical care elsewhere with physicians whose medical philosophy is compatible with their own.