Policies

Appointments

We understand that emergencies happen now and then, making it impossible to keep your obligations. We try and keep our schedule open to children who need acute care, and an expected cancellation can mean that another sick child must wait longer to be seen than what was really necessary.

For this reason, we have enacted a “no-show policy.” If you are unable to keep you child’s appointment and did not give us 24 hours notice, you will be charged $20 and may be denied services until that fee has been paid.

After 3 no-shows in a row or 5 total, your family may be dismissed from our practice. These occurrences are counted per family, not per child.

We also understand that it’s not easy getting your child to appointments on time. One of the keys to reducing wait time is to recognize when a late patient must be rescheduled. We want to treat every family fairly, and no one should have to wait extra time because the patient before them was late. If you are more than 15 minutes late to your child’s appointment, you may be asked to reschedule.

Billing

As a courtesy, The Pediatric & Adolescent Center bills your health insurance on your behalf.

  • Co-Pays – Insurance co-pays are due upon Check-in. This simplifies the office process and ensures the financial obligation has been met at the time of service as your insurance company requires.
  • Insurance Card – It is critical that the most current insurance ID card is brought to every appointment
  • Secondary Insurance – If you have more than one insurance plan, we must have all information at the time of service to ensure they are billed in the correct order. If the secondary policy is billed as primary policy, they both will automatically deny the claim.
  • Auto – We do not bill auto insurance for visits and medical care related to an auto accident. Payment will be required at the time of service, and we will provide the paperwork needed for you to submit to the auto insurance for reimbursement.
  • Combined Visits – If you are scheduled for a well child exam, and other health concerns are discovered and/or treated, your insurance company may consider these two separate visits, which could result in a copay or balance due.
  • In Office Procedures – Some routine procedures done in the office are billed separately and may not be covered by your insurance plan, such as hearing tests, vision screenings, nebulizer treatments, developmental screenings, immunizations, strep tests, urine testing, and wart treatments.
  • Lab Tests – Specimens taken in our office will need to be sent out to a lab for further testing and will incur a separate charge from the lab. Ex: Urine, Strep testing, flue testing, RSV testing, Cultures of any kind.
  • Balances – All accounts with a balance more than 90 days past due will be terminated from the practice and the balance will be sent to a collection agency. All accounts sent to collections are automatically charged an additional 33% and are terminated from the practice.

Vaccines

Our Medical Professionals here at The Pediatric & Adolescent Center firmly believe in the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent serious illnesses and save lives. We also firmly believe in the safety of vaccines. All physicians and staff provide vaccines on schedule to our own children. Our office follows the vaccine schedule outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and The American Academy of Pediatrics which has been scientifically tested for safety and efficacy.

We will be happy to provide information to help you understand the science behind vaccines, but we have a commitment to our patients to keep them safe and provide the best pediatric care available. This includes vaccinations on time, according to the CDC/AAP schedule. We do not believe in a safe “alternative” vaccine schedule. We will not be able to serve as the Physician of any children that are not following the CDC/AAP vaccine schedule.

While we highly encourage them, the only vaccines we do not require are FLU, COVID & HPV.