Appointment Policy

Appointments:
In an effort to serve you most effectively, we see all our patients on an appointment basis. We request that you call in advance so that we can reserve time for you. The office number is 941-1414. Our receptionists are available during regular office hours to schedule appointments. Please try to allow 4 to 6 weeks for a comprehensive well visit. However sick visits can usually be scheduled within 24 to 48 hours.

Please be prepared to tell the receptionist briefly the nature of your visit so that the appropriate appointment time can be given to you. They have been instructed to ask about your child’s medical problems so that we can effectively schedule your visit to allow proper time to address your concern.

If your child is a new patient to our practice, please plan to arrive 15 to 20 minutes early so that you can fill out registration and history forms. We will try to notify you a day or two in advance to remind you of your appointment. If you find that you cannot keep your appointment, please call as far in advance as possible so that we may give that time to someone else.

We make every attempt to honor your time commitments and request that you extend the same courtesy to us by being on time for your appointment. If you find that you may need to bring another child, please call before hand to arrange this. Otherwise, we will be glad to prioritize your child as a walk-in patient.

A special word about walk-in and work-in patients:
Although we encourage you to make appointments, we realize that emergencies do arise. In cases of emergencies, we will be glad to have you come right in. However, walk-ins that are non-urgent will be seen after regularly scheduled patients. The priority in which patients will be seen are as follows:

– Scheduled Appointments
– Same Day Appointments
– Late For Appointments
– Walk-In Patients

Insurance and Legal Forms:
Metro Pediatrics, P. C. is committed to offering affordable health care. To control costs, we request payment at the time services are rendered for all co-pays, deductibles and co-insurance. For your convenience, we accept Discover, MasterCard, VISA, debit cards, and checks.

We participate in most HMOs, PPOs and insurance plans such as Medicaid, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Cigna, Health Choice, Aetna, Viva, Healthsprings and a host of other plans. Our experienced staff can assist you with insurance questions and will file claim forms for participating patients.

Insurance cards will need to be seen at the start of every visit. While this may seem inconvenient, it is important for us to maintain correct billing information on each patient. Medicaid mandates that you also present your card on each visit to verify eligibility.

Patients are required by contract to pay the co-payment amount at every visit. We are likewise contractually obligated to collect it. To allow you to leave immediately following your visit, we will be asking for your co-payments at registration before your visits.

In all instances except in the case of HMO’s and PPO’s and Medicaid for which we have contracted coverage, you are ultimately responsible for your medical bills.

Please be assured that any release of medical information to attorneys and insurance companies require your prior authorization. There is a charge for filling out statements and copying records for these entities.

Telephone Calls:
Our telephones are answered 24 hours a day. Our staff answers the phones during the regular office hours and an answering service answers all calls made after reglar business hours. Please call during the regular office hours for routine medical questions, medicine refills, and appointments.

All of your telephone calls are documented in your child’s chart and forwarded to the doctors to review. The staff is trained to answer many of your questions. If you do need to talk with one of the doctors, the staff will get the preliminary information and the doctor will return your call at the earliest opportunity, dependent upon the urgency of your need.

If calling after regular business hours, the answering service will forward your messages to the doctor on call. Your call will be returned in a timely manner. Usually the answering service will call back in approximately 30 minutes to see if we have returned your call. Again, please call during the regular office hours for non-urgent concerns

Emergency Care:
We are aware that emergency situations arise and we will do our best to respond to your concern promptly. In the event of an emergency, please contact us through the office number 941-1414, which is answered 24 hours a day. We will be in touch with you as soon as possible to provide you with instructions on what to do. If the situation is extremely urgent you may go to Children’s Hospital (939-9175) or to the nearest facility and ask them to contact us. IN ALL BUT EXTREME EMERGENCIES, PLEASE CALL US FIRST.

Fees and Payments:
We make every attempt to practice cost efficient medicine. In order to accomplish this, we ask that you please pay for services rendered at the time of your child’s visit. This applies to the payment of your co-pay as well. We realize that special circumstances may arise; therefore, please make prior arrangements with our Business Office. For larger bills, such as hospitalizations, not covered by your insurance, arrangements may be made for payment. You have the opportunity to make payment by major credit cards as well.

Our fee schedule is available upon request. We do employ a collection agency for past due accounts over 60 days.