Policies and Procedures for Your Visit

Medications

Please place all prescriptions, over the counter medications, vitamins and supplements you are currently taking in a plastic bag and bring with you to each visit.

In an effort to facilitate a smooth patient flow routine prescription refills will be handled at the time of your scheduled appointment. Please make sure to advise the staff/doctor at the time of your visit that you will require a refill. We understand that at times the circumstances will require refills outside of the office visit, such refills will be handled on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and we require 48 hours/2 business days to authorize refills. Prescriptions will not be mailed.

Workers' Compensation

All patients receiving treatment under Workers’ Compensation must have authorization from the Workers’ Compensation insurance company prior to receiving treatment. Failure to obtain authorization or advise our office of treatment being related to a work injury will result in being billed directly for all medical services rendered by our office

Automobile Insurance

All services related to a motor vehicle accident must be authorized by the automobile insurance unless the automobile policy stipulated health insurance is primary. In order to verify this, we need you to provide a copy of the policy declaration page as well as your health insurance information. Any services applied to the automobile insurance deductible and co-insurance will be billed to the health insurance company if one is available however any outstanding balance related to a motor vehicle accident will be your financial responsibility. Our office does not bill attorneys, we do not accept letters of protection and we do not wait for cases to be settled.

Medical & Record Requests

We hold patient information as confidential and follow our office policy regarding communication with you, family and friends involved in your caregiving. We honor your written restrictions indicated in our “Confidentiality Notice and Release” form which is included in our new patient packet.

At your request, medical records will be forwarded directly to any healthcare provider’s office at no charge. Every other medical record request will be honored within 30 days. The fees are as follows: Standard US Postage, $10 retrieval fee, $1 per page for the first 100 pages and subsequent pages $.25 per page.

Itemized statements other than for insurance billing purposes will be provided at a fee of $5.

Medical Form Completion

Medical forms will be completed within 48 hours of receipt by our office at a fee of $5-$25, depending on the complexity of the form. FMLA paperwork for someone other than the patient will not be completed unless the patient is having surgery.

Insurance Claims & Billing

OSCNJ is out of network with all insurance companies. Effective January 2, 2012, our office will have opted out of Medicare. Due to increasingly burdensome regulations imposed on medical practices and a continual rise in administrative costs and our refusal to sacrifice rendering high-quality medical care to our patients this decision was unavoidable. By opting out of Medicare, we are now able to continue providing compassionate state-of-the-art care without controlling government regulations. Please contact our knowledgeable staff who will assist you with any insurance and financial issues that you may have or may arise. Please remember, insurance is a contract between you and your insurance company. In order to properly bill your insurance company, we require a copy of all your insurance cards. Any services not covered by your insurance company is your responsibility. However, our staff is knowledgeable regarding insurance coverage and policy benefits and will work closely with you to ensure your carrier meets their responsibility to you in accordance with your contract with them. We need you to notify our office whenever there is a change in your coverage as this may result in a change in the amount your insurance company will cover.

Referrals & Pre-Authorizations

Our staff will contact your insurance company for any pre-certification of procedures or tests that we refer and recommend. If you are given a prescription for an MRI, CT Scan or any other procedure performed at a hospital or diagnostic facility, DO NOT schedule the appointment until you are notified by our office to do so as this will require in our office contacting the insurance company and at times the notes are required. Please understand that if you fail to wait for our notification of authorization, you may be held responsible for the bill in its entirety.

Self Pay & Patient Balance Accounts

It is important to keep the doctor patient-relationship uninfluenced by financial issues. The doctor’s role is that of a caregiver; he does not handle any financial issues. It is the responsibility of the office manager to handle all financial issues directly with the patient. If you are having financial difficulty, please speak with the office manager who will work with you to make payment arrangements. Our office will send out one statement at no charge to the patient. Failure to issue timely payment or to contact the office to make payment arrangements within 20 days of receipt of the statement, a $5 surcharge for each additional statement.

If you do not have insurance, your account is considered self-pay. Liability cases are also considered self-pay.

Returned Checks

The charge for a returned check is $30 payable by credit card, cash or money order. This will be applied to your account in addition to the insufficient funds amount. You may also be placed on a cash only basis following any returned checks.

Outstanding Balance Policy

Upon receiving notification of claims processing by your insurance company, a statement will be generated and mailed to you. Timely payment is expected. Our policy is to issue two statements, and a pre-collection notice. If we do not receive payment or contact from you to make payment arrangements, the account may be transferred to a collection agency, or referred to an attorney. In the event your account is referred to our collection agency or attorney, you will be responsible for all collection costs including attorney fees and court costs. Remember, we are here to work with you. Upon receipt of our statement, please contact our office to avoid the added financial expense.

Our patients and their needs are our priority. In order for our office to complete each patient's request in a timely manner, it is important to streamline the multitude of tasks that are imposed by the healthcare climate. The various administrative needs in a timely fashion, it is important for you to allow enough time for the completion of the various items.

This financial policy helps assure your needs are handled promptly. Today’s healthcare climate places ever increasing demands on medical practices by insurance companies and governmental agency regulation requiring the streamlining of duties to assure all your needs are handled promptly. The above helps you understand what to expect in our handling of your requests. If you have any questions or need clarification of any of the above, please feel free to contact us.

Appointments

Our standard office hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9 AM and 5 PM, however our staff understands that your needs don’t always fall within our regular availability and thus we make every effort to accommodate you physical and time needs.

We understand your time is important thus every effort is made for the doctor to start examining you at your scheduled time. In order to achieve this, we need to enlist your assistance. We request that all forms be completed prior to arriving at our office. Failure tohave the forms completed may result in our staff having to reschedule your appointment.

If you are a new patient please come in 30 minutes before your appointment time. If you are an existing patient please come in 15 minutes before your scheduled time. This will allow our staff to complete all necessary administrative tasks so that we can bring the doctor in at your scheduled time.

As a rule of thumb, if you are a new patient, please allow 1 ½ hour for your visit. Existing patients should allow 45 minutes for regular visits and 1 hour if you have films which need to be reviewed with the doctor.
Although every effort is made to maintain a timely schedule at times delays are inevitable either due to a patient emergency or due to the complexity of a patient’s condition. Our staff is committed to communicate delays to our patients as soon we are aware. We therefore request that you provide our office with a number that you can be advised of such instances so that you may be able to adjust your schedule accordingly.

Cancelling of Appointments

If you are unable to keep your appointment, please call at least 24 hours in advance of your scheduled time.

No Show Policy

For patients who do not show for a scheduled appointment, a no-show fee will be charged directly to you in the amount of: $75 for new patients, $50 for returning patients, and $100 for injections/procedures. This charge will not be billed to your insurance company as it is not a covered benefit.