Things you should know about our practice

Scheduling and Appointments

Our office is open Monday –Friday 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. 

Well Child Checks/Preventative Visits

Our providers have a portion of their schedule devoted to well visits.  We recommend you schedule your next well visit at the end of your current visit to ensure proper timing between well appointments.  We recommend that you check your insurance benefits before your appointment to ensure what services your health insurance plan will cover in regards to well visits. Due to the number of insurance plans available that offer a wide variance in coverage, we are unable to check these benefits for you. Therefore, it is your responsibility to know the coverage details of your individual plan.  We will be happy to file your insurance for you, however, you will be responsible for any deductibles, or copays.

Sick Visits

We will make every effort to see your child the day that you call for an appointment. However, these calls are taken on a first come, first serve basis.   If all of our appointment slots are already taken, we will take a Triage Nurse message so that the illness can be assessed by one of our nurses. We may offer over-book Appointments if the situation warrants it. There may be times we suggest that the patient be seen the following day if the condition is not an emergency. All of our nurses are well trained, experienced and responsive to your child’s needs.  All appointments must be scheduled. We no longer offer Walk In Appointments due to Covid. 

Hospital Care

Our providers are on staff at Tennova Healthcare of Cleveland.  We provide inpatient, as well as outpatient admissions services for our patients.

Routine Questions

Our staff is well equipped to answer your questions regarding common illnesses, common medications and developmental/behavioral issues. We are always happy to assist you if you have issues regarding your child.

After Hours/Emergency Calls

We have a provider on call each day.  We have partnered with  Children’s Hospital at Erlanger to provide an after-hours Telephone Triage service. This service uses the same emergency protocols that we use in our office and is staffed with experienced registered nurses.  Unlike other practices, we do not charge for this service.

Missing Appointments

We ask that out of courtesy for other patients when you are unable to keep your appointment with us that you cancel within 24 hours of the appointment time. Our sick appointments are scheduled for the same day.  If you find your child does not need the appointment, please call and cancel.   This will allow another patient to use the time that has been reserved especially for you. 

Late Arrivals

If you are running late for an appointment out of courtesy for other patients with appointments, please call ahead and let us know you will be late. We will make every attempt to work you back in the schedule, however, during peak season we may be forced to reschedule your appointment.

Financial

Our office is happy to file your insurance for you, however, in order to do so we ask that you make sure to bring your most recent insurance card to your appointment. We will ask you to update your information sheet at least once a year, however, if your insurance changes at any time it is your responsibility to provide us with the new information. We only have a certain amount of time to file your claims to your insurance company to receive payment. Therefore, it is important that we have current and accurate information on file. It is our obligation to our contract with your insurance company to collect your co-pay at the time of the visit.  If we are unable to collect your co-pay at the time of the visit you may be asked to reschedule. To be more efficient, we are now collecting the co-pay at the front of your visit when you check in.  We accept cash, check, debit card or credit cards. If you write a check that is returned to us for insufficient funds, your account with us will be charged an additional $30 return check fee.  In today’s environment it is impossible for us to be aware of what each individual insurance policy will cover, therefore, we ask that you be familiar with your benefit plan to ensure that once they have paid you will be prepared to pay the difference when you receive our bill. Please note that we will send you a statement, if the statement goes unpaid you will receive a collection letter indicating your balance owed is past due. If payment is not received your account will be referred to an outside collection attorney.  If you have questions regarding your account please contact our billing department during normal business hours.

Divorced Parents

We will be glad to bill the parent who brings the child in for the visit. However, both parents are responsible for a minor child’s bill and both parents will be held accountable.  We are not a party to your divorce decree.