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We provide a comfortable atmosphere for children's doctors in Colorado Springs and have a very friendly staff that is here to serve your Childs� health needs. Call 596 4502 for an appointment.
APPOINTMENTS
Our office runs solely on appointments. We cannot accommodate walk-ins! The number one reason children's doctors run behind is due to patients not checking in on time. Please arrive 15 minutes early.
Thank you.
Sick Child � We do our best to schedule same-day sick appointments for your child�s immediate problem. Our phones come on at 8:00 a.m. and it is best to call then as these appointments fill up quickly. Other medical concerns and/or consultations for children's doctors in Colorado Springs must be prescheduled in order to provide adequate time. Please call us as early in the day as possible to schedule an appointment for your sick child. We are happy to schedule for multiple siblings, just let us know at the time of the phone call. Some days are busier than others, and we may not be able to accommodate your schedule. If our schedule is full, we will refer you to an urgent care facility in accordance with your insurance. Please remember, our receptionists do not have the medical or legal authority to refer you to an after hours facility or the emergency room. You must speak with a nurse/medical assistant.
Well Child � Our busy seasons for physicals/well child exams are summer and fall. We normally schedule 2-3 weeks in advance for the physicians and 1-2 weeks in advance with the nurse practitioner. Please allow for this when you are scheduling. Appointments for 2 children
(established patients only) are more difficult to schedule, so allow 3-4 weeks when calling to schedule.
Consults (Prenatal, Behavior, Asthma, Allergy, Diabetes, etc.) � Please call AT LEAST 3 weeks in advance for these types of appointments as we only schedule them at certain times.
Accidents � We will only see established patients for auto accidents. Because Colorado is now a �torte� state, we will collect your usual co-pay and bill your medical insurance. When available, we will also collect information on auto insurance, claim number, etc. to supply to your medical insurance. For any accident we will ask you to fill out a separate sheet with information on the accident � we are required to supply this information to your insurance at the time the claim is filed. Additionally, you may later be contacted by your Health Insurance to confirm accident information. Please remember x-rays and sutures cannot be performed at our facility.
New Patient Checklist (Click here for a printable copy)
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Make sure one of our children's doctors is listed as the Primary Care Physician(PCP) with your insurance company.
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Arrive 30 minutes prior to your appointment time in order to complete the necessary paperwork.
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You must bring current shot records for any type of appointment and insurance card for first appointment or insurance information.
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Your child will not have an actual chart until the first visit. You may sign a records release at that time to have their records from a previous doctor sent to us.
Cancellations � Please call at least 24 hours in advance to cancel an appointment. Because we offer quality care by children's doctors in Colorado Springs families can depend on, we are a busy practice. Calling in advance will enable us to make use of this time for sick children.
No Shows � For each �no show� or missed appointment, you will be charged a fee of $25-75 dollars. This fee is your responsibility, not that of the insurance company. After 2 missed appointments we will send a letter reminding you of the importance of cancelling appointments. After 3 missed appointments, your children may be terminated from the practice.
DO I NEED AN APPOINTMENT?
If your child is sick and you are not sure if you need to see the one of our children's doctors, our nurses will be happy to advise you on the kind of child care Colorado Springs can offer for your specific situation (established patients only). Please follow these steps:
IF YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY � PLEASE CALL 911.
If it is not an emergency, leave a message with the receptionist detailing child�s symptoms. You will receive a return call from one of the nurses/medical assistants as soon as they are finished taking care of scheduled patients. Please be aware that if your question requires an answer directly from a children's doctor it may take more time.
WHAT SHOULD I BRING TO MY APPOINTMENT?
It is our policy to verify your demographic and insurance information at each and every visit to help insure your claims are processed quickly and correctly. Although it may seem burdensome to you, it is extremely important to our billing process.
Please present your insurance card and co-pay at sign-in for each and every visit. There is a $15 fee for non-payment of co-pay at the time of service. If you do not have a current insurance card, you will need to get all billing information prior to your appointment in order for us to bill your visit. Unless we have the card or the billing information your account will be considered private pay. If any information has changed since the last visit (insurance, address, phone number) you must fill out an information form to update our records. Please help us by informing us of any change as soon as possible.
CAN I JUST HAVE A PRESCRIPTION?
Antibiotics are powerful medications for specific infections and can sometimes be overused. It is our physicians policy not to prescribe medications over the phone if we have not seen your child for the specific illness/problem.
If you have an existing prescription that requires a refill, please call your pharmacy to request the refill. They, in turn, will call our office for approval. The office will OK the refill or contact you for additional information. No refills on medications will be made by the physician who is on call for the evening or weekend. No controlled medication can be called into the pharmacy. By law, these must be written prescriptions handled only by your provider. Patients on Continual medications will require rechecks every 4-6 months as directed by their Physician.
WHAT IF MY CHILD NEEDS TO SEE A SPECIALIST?
We do have a referral department to communicate with your insurance. In order for the referral process to go smoothly, please do the following:
- You must first see one of our children's doctors for the problem.
- Know and understand your insurance.
- Which hospital(s) / laboratory / x-ray facility can you go to?
- Are you required to have a referral in order to see a specialist? To have diagnostic testing done?
- Who are the doctors / therapists / home care facilities that your insurance plan endorses?
Call for a referral and allow AT LEAST one week for processing.
Special consideration will be made in the event of an emergency. If you need to go to the ER, Pediatric After Hours Clinic, or urgent care facility, our on-call doctor can take care of referring you to the correct facility; however, you must call our office on the next business day so we can contact the insurance company for a referral.
INSURANCE AND BILLING
Your contract with your insurance company requires you to pay your co-pay at the time of service. Failure to do so is considered a breach of contract between you and your insurance provider. Please be aware that we will not normally bill you for your co-pay and there is a $15.00 finance charge if we do. We gladly accept cash, checks, MasterCard and Visa. If your insurance company requires that you meet a deductible, we will collect for services in full until that deductible is met. We will also collect at time of service, any percentage which your insurance company tells us you must pay. This co-insurance amount can be a percentage of the allowed charge. When payment is received from insurance, we will discount any amount our contract requires. You may then owe a small amount or have a small credit at your next visit. If your family is covered by two insurances (i.e. both parents work and both have insurance), the second insurance often does not pay the portion which the first insurance makes due from you (for example co-pay or co-insurance). Our policy is to collect the lesser of the two insurance�s patient obligation at the time of service. Again, after both insurances have addressed the claims, you may owe a small amount or show a small credit. State law governs which insurance is primary and which is secondary, this is not a choice which you can make, nor one which we can make. Please check with both insurances if you are in doubt. You must disclose all insurances that covers your child(ren) at the time of service.
Be aware of your insurance coverage. Some insurances do not cover well child exams and immunizations, yet these services can be quite expensive. Feel free to discuss with us payment options and other options for immunizations if your coverage presents a problem. Currently, the practice accepts most insurances and is accepting new patients. Our practice is closed to new Medicaid patients and if your child is covered by this or expects to be in the future, you must let us know, even if Medicaid will be secondary.
If you receive a bill and have questions, please call our billing office between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., M-F (596-6550). Please understand that it is your responsibility to know your insurance coverage. Call us as soon as your insurance information changes. If we don�t have current information, claims may be denied and you will be held responsible for payment. Only custodial parents will be entered as responsible parties for minors despite divorce decrees or judgements. As you can understand, we are unable to become involved with these sensitive issues. If your account is past due and is sent to collections, your children are terminated from the practice. We make every effort to contact you before resorting to collections; please keep us advised of new phone numbers or address changes.
MEDICAL RECORDS
To Another Doctor � Please sign a records release for outgoing records in our office. We will make a summary of your child�s chart and send them to the new physician free of charge as a professional courtesy. Please allow four weeks for the entire process.
To Hand Carry � Or if the entire chart is requested to be sent to another doctor for change of PCP, our fees for releasing patient records are $12 for the first 10 pages, and $0.25 for each additional page. We will send you a statement for the copied records. If records are needed �immediately,� an extra fee of $5.00 will be added for priority mail status or more immediate pick up. If records are picked up at the office the fee must be paid at that time. Please keep in mind it takes up to four weeks for records to be copied and mailed. Immunization records are always available from your child�s chart at no charge. Any fees incurred are the responsibility of the parent/guardian or patient if over eighteen years old.
From Another Doctor � Please sign a records release for incoming records in our office. If we receive them before your child has an appointment, we will hold the records for up to a year.
RECORD STORAGE
We will hold records as active for 3 years with no visits. After 3 years, they are placed in storage. We can retrieve records from storage on a weekly basis. Please remember to take your child�s shot records with you when you leave the practice for any reason.
Click Here for a printable copy of ALL of our office information.
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