Office Policies
Financial Policy
Insurance
We participate with most insurance plans. Your insurance coverage and benefits are a contract between you and your insurance company. Please provide a copy of your insurance card at each visit.
Services Not Covered by Insurance
It is your responsibility to check with your insurance company to determine covered benefits. The patient/guarantor is responsible for 100% of charges the insurance company chooses not to cover, including but not limited to co-payments, deductibles, vaccines, developmental screenings, and after-hour/weekend appointment charges.
Well Child Visit Services
Well Child checks are preventive care services meant to evaluate the child's growth, development, discuss preventative care, and review and administer vaccinations. If you have additional concerns that you would like to address such as fever, asthma, ear infections, initiating/changing a medication, ADHD etc., or if your child is medically complex, your insurance company may bill you a additional co-pay or apply this portion of your visit to your deductible. The physicians at ORP code accurately and by the Medicaid rules that govern all insurance plans, so we may bill for both a Well visit and a Sick/Medical concern in the same visit. This cost for the additional concerns may go patient responsibility.
Portal/Phone/Telemedicine Visits
We are implementing a policy regarding charges for certain virtual visits such as patient portal messages and phone calls to ensure we can continue to provide high quality, timely care for our patients without requiring in person office visits when circumstances allow.
This would include any in-depth medical decision-making questions and concerns or take longer than 5 minutes to address such as:
- New symptoms or concerns not previously discussed
- Requests for changes to medications and treatment plans
- Inquires related to chronic conditions or follow-up care
We will bill your insurance for these visits, and you may be responsible for a copay or deductible.
Please note that most routine inquiries, such as requesting refills, will continue to be free of charge.
Credit Card on File Policy
We participate with CardPointe, a secure Payment Processing Platform such as the ones used for online retail stores. The stored credit card can be used to pay co-pays and charges at future visits. This service is secure, encrypted, and our staff does not have knowledge of your credit card number.
Circumstances when your card would be charged by Oberlin Pedatrics include but are not limited to:
- Co-pays and insurance deductibles
- Missed or canceled appointments without appropriate notice (see below)
- Any non-covered services and/or denial of services allocated to patient responsibility
- Any amount not paid by your insurance 90 days after a corrected claim has been filed
This in no way will compromise your ability to dispute a charge or question your insurance company's determination of payment. Any amount not covered by the patient’s insurance including applicable deductibles, additional copay, etc. will be due 30 days from the time of the service.
We will send a courtesy email that your statement is ready, and we will run the card on file for the balance due three weeks after the statement is run. If you have questions about your balance or would like to use another form of payment, reach out to our office and speak to the billing department.
For Patients Who Don't Have Insurance or Are Not Using Insurance
Per federal CMS rules, you have the right to request a Good Faith Estimate for the total cost of any non-emergency items and services. This includes related costs like medical tests and office fees. This is an estimate, not a bill. Please ask for a Good Faith Estimate at the time of scheduling your visit, and you will receive this in writing at least 1 business day before your appointment. For more information, go to cms.gov.
We offer a 25% discount to self-pay patients when paid in full the day of the visit.
Financial Hardship
Should you have extraordinary financial pressures; we will assist you with a payment plan. This plan will need to be IN WRITING with our billing department prior to scheduling future visits. No balance over $500.00 can be carried on a family account unless a payment plan has been signed and the arrangement is being followed. The balance should be paid off in the next 12 months.
Missed Appointments
There is a $50 no-show fee that will be charged to the credit card on file. Cancellation policy: Speak to an ORP employee at least 24 hours in advance for Well Child Checks or Medicine/Behavioral consults or Medicine recheck visits, or at least 4 hours for office acute care visits or vaccine appointments. After 3 missed appointments, we reserved the right to dismiss the family from the office. New patients to our practice who consecutively miss their first appointment twice in a row will not be rescheduled and will need to seek care elsewhere.
Form and Letter Fee (daycare forms, school forms, camp, sports, allergy, individual school or travel letters, etc.
There will be a $10 fee (per child, per form) for forms that are completed outside of a well care scheduled visit. Most are completed in a timely way, but any form that needs "RUSH" completion of < 3 business days will have a charge of $30.
Individual letters from the physician will incur a fee of $10/letter. Letters to return to activities or school excuses are free. Forms that can be completed during the scope of the visit are free.
Copying Medical Records
With your written consent, we will provide you with a copy of your child's medical record for a fee of $20 per child.
After-hour Phone Nurse Triage
After 8 pm (5 pm on Fridays) and on holidays, our phones transfer to an answering service. If you need medical triage advice, the call will be transferred to the Wake Med Nurse Triage services. A registered nurse will answer, address urgent concerns, and can page the on-call MD if needed. There is a $22 charge for calls that need the Wake Med nurse triage service, and this will be billed directly to you. We will waive this charge for calls regarding newborns < 90 days old or calls where the patient is instructed to go to the Emergency Room based on their severity of illness.
Service Charges
Keeping a credit card on file prevents most service charges. Service charges are only accrued if there are late payments, inaccurate insurance information, or failure to pay bills.
- Administrative fee associated with accounts turned over to collection agencies.
- Returned checks.
Any amount not covered by the patient's insurance including applicable deductibles, additional copays, etc. will be due 30 days from the time of the service.
Accounts will be turned over to a collection agency if past due 90 days or more. Failure to pay the balance may result in discharge from the practice.
The family is responsible for all collection costs involved with the collection of your account including court costs, reasonable attorney fees, and all other expenses incurred with collection if there is a default on any unpaid balance.
Printable Financial Policy
Vaccine Policy
The physicians and staff of Oberlin Pediatrics fully support the efficacy and safety of vaccines. We follow the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) standardized schedule for implementation of vaccines, and the North Carolina State Law as the minimum requirement for vaccine administration for our patients. Oberlin Pediatrics expects our patients to be immunized on time, starting with the Hepatitis B vaccine in the neonatal period.
If you are transferring your child into our practice from another medical provider, we will review the child's immunization records. If we determine that your child is significantly behind on shots, you will be asked to schedule a vaccine consultation with one of our physicians before we will see your child as a patient. We will work with new families to comply with vaccine recommendations and get back on track. However, if a requested vaccine consultation does not occur or if you are not willing to comply with NC vaccination laws, then Oberlin Pediatrics is not the right practice for your family, and we will not accept the child as a new patient.
We are happy to discuss your questions about vaccines during Well Child appointments. If there are extensive concerns or questions, parents will need to set up a separate vaccine consultation appointment. It is Important to understand that this visit may not be covered by Insurance and parents will be responsible for paying for this consultation at the time of service, which may range in cost from $100-$200 depending on the amount of time spent with the physician.
Vitamin K Policy
Vitamin K is needed to help blood make healthy clots. Bleeding from not having enough vitamin K can result in profoundly serious complications, such as liver dysfunction, neonatal strokes or even death. Babies cannot absorb enough vitamin K from either oral medication or from breastmilk. An intramuscular injection of vitamin K has been the standard of care since 1961 because it is the safest way to ensure that we prevent neonatal stroke from Vitamin K deficiency.
Oberlin Pediatrics requires that your baby has received vitamin K in the hospital. If for any reason your baby has not already received IM vitamin K, this will be done on the day of the initial visit, which will require a return visit to the hospital. Refusal to do so signifies a significant break in the physician-patient relationship and ORP will not schedule any further appointments for your child.
Family Behavior Policy
This practice is a family-friendly pediatric office caring for impressionable young children and their families. Although occurrences are rare, Oberlin Pediatrics feels strongly that our patients, their families, and our staff deserve to be protected from verbal abuse and aggressive behavior. We all need to respect each other and to "follow the golden rule".
For this reason we have developed and strictly enforce a "No Tolerance Policy" for abusive conduct, "cussing", crude graphics or language on clothing, threatening or aggressive behavior, and larceny. These restrictions apply to any such actions toward patients, other family members and visitors, and Oberlin Road Pediatrics staff. Furthermore, these rules shall also apply to telephone calls and written communications to our office staff and clinicians. We expect a civil and harmonious environment for our pediatric patients, families, and staff.
Please sign below that you understand, agree to, and will abide by this policy. As a "No Tolerance Policy", there will be no further warnings, second chances, or exceptions. Violations will result in immediate transfer of care to another health care provider of your choice. Failure to sign this contract will result in discharge from the practice.
While we understand that disagreements may occasionally occur, these need to be resolved in a civil manner. Depending on the degree of infraction, we reserve the right to involve Child Protective Services, law enforcement, and other appropriate agencies should we deem necessary. We may press charges at our discretion.
Thank you for your interest in making the Oberlin Pediatrics office and grounds a wholesome and safe, family-friendly environment.
Office Policies
After Hours Appointment Policy
- Evening and weekend appointments are for urgent care visits and only for those who are established ORP patients. There is an after-hours fee that we bill your insurance that you could be responsible for depending on your insurance plan.
- Evening clinic is from 6-7 pm Monday through Thursday, and weekend clinic is Saturday and Sunday from 9 am-1 pm.
- The phone nurse takes the messages in the order received. Appointments are offered based on availability and are scheduled in sequential order to allow our physicians to see as many patients as possible.
- If a family cancels or no shows for an evening weekday appointment without giving us a 4-hour notice, the family's account will be charged a $50 no show fee.
- If a family cancels or no shows for a same-day weekend appointment, the family's account will be charged a $50 no show fee.
Late Patients
Patients arriving more than fifteen minutes late for an appointment may be asked to reschedule.
Work-In Sibling Appointments
We understand that bringing all the kids to the office is hard. However, "squeezing in" an unscheduled sibling visit can delay the physician for the rest of the scheduled appointments. Please schedule a separate visit for each child that you would like examined.
Seeing Minor Children without a Parent
Children less than 18 years of age are legal minors and will not be seen without the parent or guardian. We cannot see children without authorized caretakers. Written permission must be in the chart in order for us to see children with a non-parent or guardian, also known as a proxy caretaker.
- If you need a non-guardian to bring your child in, please print and complete this form: Consent by Proxy for non-urgent Care
- To have your teenager able to seek care independently, please print and complete this form: Consent for Underaged Teen Care
Custody Agreements
In those families where there is a separation or divorce or a change in guardianship, we must have on file a court document indicating which parent/guardian is authorized to provide medical care, make medical decisions, and receive medical information on the child(ren). If a court document is not available, then the primary caregiver is responsible for notifying our office in writing of the above information as soon as there is a change in guardianship or custodial status.
Medication Refills between Med-check Visits
All medication refill requests need to allow five business days to complete.
Call our phone nurses or send a portal message and in your message be sure to clarify:
- Which medication and dose do you need refilled?
- What pharmacy would you want this sent to (if you don't tell us, we will guess and use your last pharmacy)?
- Are there significant side effects or medication concerns that warrant a change in meds?
- Does your child have any drug allergies and what are they?
HIPAA Notice of Privary Policies
Oberlin Pediatrics follows all the HIPAA regulations. Medical information will not be released unless we have written authorization from you in the office.
