Washington Park Medical Center Policy
Dear valued patients,
Thank you for choosing Washington Park Medical Center. We realize that you have a choice in selecting healthcare and are honored that you have chosen us. Our entire staff is committed to providing our patients with the highest quality of care possible. In doing so, we would like to provide you with some information regarding our office policies. Please feel free to speak with any of our staff if you have questions concerning our policies.Office Hours – Our office is open from 8:00AM to 5:00PM weekdays, except for Thursdays in which clinic hours are from 8:00AM to 12:00PM. We have an answering service that will answer your calls before and after our scheduled office hours. In the event your call is an emergency, please call 911 for assistance.
Insurance Your insurance policy is a contract between you and your insurance carrier, Washington Park Medical Center is not a party to that contract. We must emphasize, that as your healthcare provider, our relationship is with you and not your insurance company. Please understand the benefits your insurance provides, it is your responsibility to know what services are covered. As a courtesy, we will bill your primary insurance if possible. You are responsible to pay, at time of service, any co-pays, deductibles, co-insurance, and any non-covered services, as stated in your insurance contract. If we are unable to verify your insurance coverage before your appointment, you may either reschedule your appointment or be held responsible for all fees accrued. If your insurance company does not pay your claim within 60 days, the charges will be your responsibility.
Managed Care: If you have a Managed Care insurance plan (i.e. HMO) it is your responsibility to make sure that your PCP is a provider at Washington Park Medical Center. If your insurance card does not list us as your Primary Care Provider (PCP) and denies payment, we will bill you for all services. Medicare: We have a “Non-Assigned” contract with Medicare. This means any checks issued by Medicare will be mailed to the patient. The patient is responsible for paying the entire billed amount.
Secondary Insurances: As a rule we do not routinely bill secondary insurances. Your secondary insurance company will be willing to help you with your billing questions. We will only bill your secondary insurance if you send us your primary insurance’s explanation of benefits. In order to bill your insurance you will need to present your current insurance card at every appointment.
Worker’s Compensation (L&I claims): Patients must provide us with the name, contact number, and billing address for verification prior to the appointment. If you are unable to provide this information you will be seen as a self pay patient and full payment is expected at the time of service.
Motor Vehicle Accidents (MVA): Patients must provide us with the name, contact number, and billing address for verification prior to the appointment. If you are unable to provide this information you will be required to pay in full at the time of service. Payment from the Auto Insurance must be received within 60 days from the date of service.
Financial/Payment Policy
Payment is expected at the time of service. If your insurance policy denies payment for any service rendered, we will bill you for those charges. It is our policy that payment arrangements are made with our Billing Dept. prior to scheduling appointments or that the account is paid within 60 days. We require that all patients provide their social security number to us, to be kept on file for billing purposes only.
Payment: Any co-pay, coinsurance, and/or deductible are expected to be paid at the time of service. For your convenience, we accept cash, checks, credit, and debit cards. Co-pays not paid at time of service will be billed with an additional $10.00 fee. Returned checks will be assessed a $25.00 fee and must be resolved within 5 days.
Past Due Accounts: We will work with patients to collect unpaid balances, arranging a payment plan if necessary. Unless other arrangements are made with the Billing Dept. accounts delinquent past 90 days will be forwarded to a collection agency. Patients who are sent to collections may be dismissed from Washington Park Medical Center. Rebilling: We ask our patients to review the insurance information we have on file at each appointment. Any inaccurate information that results in rebilling will incur a $10.00 fee. Release of Medical Records: You must complete an “Authorization for Release of Medical Information” form prior to your records being copied. The fee will depend on the size of your chart, requests are usually handled within 10 business days but full payment needs to be made prior to releasing medical records.
Forms/Letter: We will be happy to complete forms and write medical letters for you upon your request. The fee for this service varies depending on the form, but most forms do not exceed $25.00 per form, and payment is collected when you pick up the form(s). Please allow 10 business days for us to complete the form. Refunds: Overpayments, credits, and unapplied credits on a patient account will be refunded upon request within 30 days.
Missed Appointments/Late Cancellations
Broken appointments represent a cost to us, to you, and to other patients who could have been seen in the time set aside for you. We require 24 hours notice for cancellation of appointments. Any missed appointments without proper cancellation notice will be charged a NO-SHOW FEE. Should you miss more than two appointments and fail to cancel in advance, you will be charged $70.00. It is your responsibility to be aware of your appointment. Multiple missed appointments may result in dismissal from the practice.
Referrals
Many specialists require us to send chart notes before they will schedule an appointment. Most insurance referrals to specialists have to be cleared first by the insurance companies. This can take around 7-10 days to complete. If you do not hear back from us within 14 days with an appointment time, please give us a call. The only exception is emergent consults, which can be expedited.
Lab Work
Your lab results will be available in your Web Portal Account 2-3 days after your blood draw. You will receive an email from us to login to your account. If you don’t have a Portal Account please contact our office. To login to the Web Portal go to www.washingtonparkmc.com.
Prescription Refills
The most efficient method is to call the pharmacy and ask them to send a request for your medication refill. Requests can also be made through the Patient Web Portal for non pain medications. Requests are usually handled within 24 business hours. Processing time may vary depending on the availability of the doctor; it is your responsibility to advise our office a week prior to medication needing refilled to allow a review for each request prior to completion for your safety.
All patients need to be seen yearly. Some medications or conditions require more frequent visits.
Pain medications require an appointment in order to be refilled.
