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General

DOES THE STAFF SPEAK SPANISH?

Most of the medical staff at BECKER PEDIATRICS is bilingual.

HOW CAN WE MINIMIZE WAITING TIME?

Long waits in doctors offices are frustrating for us as well as for you. We realize your time is valuable too. We will try to avoid this problem in the following ways.

If you are going to be a "walk-in" "same day" patient, PLEASE CALL US AHEAD OF TIME SO WE MAY PULL THE CHILD'S CHART AND VERIFY INFORMATION UPON ARRIVAL.

If you have more than one child who needs to be seen, please make appointments for each child so each can receive the appropriate time and attention. In spite of our good intentions, excessive waiting periods sometimes occur. Please bring it to our attention if your waiting time exceeds 30 minutes. The doctor is sometimes called upon to care for a critically ill child in an emergency situation and this, of course, takes our top priority. We will let you know immediately so other arrangements can be made.

WHY DO YOU ALWAYS ASK ABOUT MY INSURANCE OR ADDRESS INFORMATION ON EACH VISIT?

During each visit BECKER PEDIATRICS staff verifies that your insurance and address information is correct. If there is a change to your insurance policy we may be able to inform you so that you can contact your insurance company to have any medical coverage errors corrected. This may help you avoid having to pay for services that are not covered by your insurance plan. For example, some insurance companies may pay only a percentage for a visit or not cover a "well child appointment" after the child is six (6) years of age.

It is the parent's responsibility to contact their insurance company for corrections to avoid having to pay. We also ask that all co-payments or deductibles be paid during each patient visit. Address and telephone information is important if the doctor or medical staff must call you about test results or to further explain your child's treatment. You can help us by notifying us of changes and by having your share of any payments ready during the check-in process. We accept cash, checks, and most major credit cards.

IF I HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR MY OFFICE VISIT AND NOW HAVE INSURANCE COVERAGE, HOW CAN I GET A REFUND?

Please call or stop by our office as soon as you receive your child's insurance information. We will verify the child's eligibility for the date of service you are requesting a refund for and once verified we will send the claim to the insurance. Most insurance companies take about 2-4 weeks to process claims (smaller insurance companies can take 30-45 days), and once we receive the payment from the insurance here in the office we can issue a check for the amount paid, less any deductible, co-pays and co-insurance amounts if they apply.

Note that even if you paid cash or credit card all refunds will still be issued via check, so please have us make the check payable to the parent that has a valid I.D. to be able to cash it BECKER PEDIATRICS is not responsible for claims denied because the window for billing the insurance company has expired (most insurance have a 3 month window to bill the claim from the date of service, full Medical patients have 6 months) due to the parents not notifying us on time. The parent or guardian of the child is responsible for supplying us with the correct information in a timely manner. If there are any billing problems that are beyond our control the money cannot be refunded. We recommend calling us 2 weeks after you have put in your request to check on the status of the claim.

WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON ISSUES THAT CAN CAUSE MY CLAIM TO BE DENIED?

  1. The child's name or date of birth is incorrect with the insurance. (If this is the case you need to contact your insurance right away to update any errors.)

  2. Additional information is needed from the member to process the claim. (Contact your insurance to see what information they need from you, i.e. "coordination of benefits", "custody information" or "accident / Injury report")

  3. There is a third party liability or another primary insurance that covers the child. (If you have dual medical insurance coverage for the child, such as coverage under the father, and a different company under the mother, or you may have a commercial insurance and Medicaid coverage, you need to furnish us with all insurance information so we may bill the correct primary insurance company.)