Our Financial Policy
The Physicians and staff of Dickson Medical Associates, PC (DMA) are pleased to welcome you to our facility. We hope that your visit will be a pleasant one. In the more than 40 years our clinic has been providing health care services to the patients of Dickson County and surrounding areas, and as you know the business of providing health care has changed tremendously. DMA firmly believes that a good physician/patient relationship is based upon good understanding and communication. These financial policies have been developed in an effort to remove any misunderstanding that may arise regarding a patient's account. These policies are also designed in an effort to enable us to continue providing quality, state-of-the-art patient care in a cost effective manner. If you have any questions or do not understand any of these policies, please feel free to ask one of our Receptionists, Patient Account Representatives or Department Managers.
Registration
Upon your initial visit to DMA, a Receptionist will collect your billing as well as other information (information from you) during the registration process. This information will include your address, telephone number, social security number, birth date, insurance information, employer information, emergency contact information, and other similar information. It is extremely important that this information is kept up-to-date. Accordingly, at each subsequent visit, the Receptionist will verify most of this information when you present for your appointment. In the event that any of it has changed, you will be asked to update before you see the physician so our system (your patient record) remains current.
Payment For Services
Payment for services provided to you is ultimately your responsibility. For your convenience, we accept cash, personal checks, money orders, Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. In addition, if you have health insurance, we will gladly file a claim with your health insurance company. When making your appointment, please verify that DMA participates in your insurance plan.
Health Insurance
If you will be using health insurance to settle your account, you must present your current insurance card at each visit. This is a requirement of your insurance company. It also enables us to have the most current information about billing your insurance company. Your insurance company also requires us to collect any applicable co-payments and/or deductibles at the time of service.
DMA has agreements with several insurance companies, which require us to bill them for services provided to you, and accept as payment the amount specified in the agreement. We will file an initial claim based upon the information that you have provided to us. Under state law, your insurance company has 30 days in which to process and pay the claim, request more information, or deny the claim and notify us of the decision. You will be responsible for all amounts not paid by them, including amounts denied, applied to deductible or co-insurance, patient responsibility portion, or considered non-covered as permitted by your insurance company.
Self-Pay
If you are self-pay, you will be expected to pay the day's charges on the day of the service. There may be additional charges for tests and other services rendered subsequent to your visit. Depending on the tests performed, you will either be billed for these items or asked to pay at the time of service. If you are having a surgery, you will be expected to make mutually agreeable payment arrangements prior to receiving the service. If the service is considered elective, payment must be made in full prior to the services being performed.
Auto Insurance/Legal Claims
If you are seeing a physician as a result of an auto accident or other injury related to a legal claim against a third party, you will be considered self- pay. We do not file a claim with your auto insurance company or await a court settlement to be resolved.
Workers Compensation
Several of our physicians provide services under workers compensation plans. If you need to see a physician for an injury related to your employment, please have your employer or workers compensation case manager make the appointment. You will need to provide us with the case number as well as the address to which the bill is to be sent.
Billing Statements
We have designed our billing statements to reflect the individual charges billed, the payments and adjustments related to those charges, and the balance due. These statements will also reflect an amount due from you as well as a balance due from your insurance company Patients with a personal balance will receive a monthly statement showing the specific amounts due. These statements are due upon receipt. Because the posting of payments can sometimes lag 2-3 days following the day of payment, you may receive a statement that does not reflect a payment that was made on the day of service or sent by your insurance company. If you receive subsequent statements, which do not reflect the payment, please contact a Patient Account Representative to investigate.
Past Due Accounts
Past-due accounts cost both time and money; therefore, patients with delinquent accounts will be required to make payments at the time of service. If you are unable to make mutually agreeable payment arrangements, we will be glad to reschedule your appointment.
Seriously past due accounts - those older than 90 days or those failing to honor agreed-upon payment terms will be sent to a collection agency. If your account is sent to a collection agency you must pay all past due amounts or make agreeable payment terms before subsequent appointments can be scheduled. Additionally patients can be dismissed from our practice for financial matters and will have to seek their health care elsewhere.
Billing Questions
Questions or concerns regarding your account or insurance claim should be directed to our Patient Account Representatives. These highly trained billing experts have been instructed to make every effort to clarify any misunderstanding or confusion you may have regarding your account. Please notify us immediately if you feel an error appears on your statement or if you have any questions or concerns.
Charges
Dickson Medical Associates, PC is committed to providing the best treatment for our patients, and the amount we charge for medical care is usual and customary for our area. Many insurance companies use a fee schedule that is derived from providers outside of our region, and the amounts may differ. Our fees will not be adjusted to meet your insurance company's usual and customary fees unless a contract exists between the insurance company and Dickson Medical Associates, PC.
Uncancelled Appointments
Please give at least 24 hours notice (one business day) if you will not be able to keep your appointment. This will enable our physicians to care for other patients.