Charges for laboratory, injections, and other procedures may vary. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding fees. For Medicare patients, please note that our fees are in accordance with the Medicare Fee Schedule. Also, M edicare patients will be referred to their local Quest Laboratory or Lab Corp for recommended blood tests to be drawn.

Patient balances are due at the time of service. If you are unable to pay in full, please notify us prior to your visit so payment arrangements can be made. Any balance 90 days or older will be sent to an outside collection agency. M onthly statements are sent as a reminder of your balance. Your prompt payment is appreciated to avoid any collection proceedings. Payments must be in cash or check; no credit or debit cards are accepted.

PRESCRIPTIONS: Refills may be requested by phone or at the patient's appointment. Please bring a list of your current medications to each appointment. This is a very helpful aid in your medical care. Please be aware of your me dication supply so that you have enough of your prescribed medications. Nurses receive all messages for refills. There is a 24 hour turnaround for your medication to be approved. Please be patient, as all of our phone calls will get answered as quickly as possible. Prescription requests made Monday through Thursday, before 2:00 PM will be called into the pharmacies upon the physician's approval, within 48 hours. Requests on Fridays or after 2:00 PM will be handled on the next business day with appr oved medications called in within the 48-hour period. Medications requiring written prescriptions will need to be signed for by the patient or person picking them up. A picture ID will be required at that time. Refills will not be called into mail order pharmacies because of the phone time involved. These refills need to be taken care of by patients sending in new written prescriptions. In addition, any prescription that require prior authorization will need additional time due to review of chart and for ms involved. Please allow for this time delay. Patients may incur fees for such authorizations because of the effort and time involved. This will be patient due. You may or may not be notified of this.

MISCELLANEOUS FEES: Letters, disability forms, medical records for personal use, for attorneys or for insurance companies, telephone calls, blood pressure checks, nurse visits, diagnosis / interpretation results, oversight and other similar services may be subject to a charge. Also, medical management, consulting with family members, signing orders medication refills, and coordinating and treating patient care through outside agencies may also be subject to reasonable fees. Pl ease note that these fees are often denied or not covered by insurance benefits and payment will be the responsibility of the patient.

HOSPITAL: Fees for hospital admission, emergency room, critical care, and hospital visits will vary with the level of care. Upon discharge, you can receive an explanation of charges.

INSURANCE: The office will file insurance for services provided to patients with Medicare, Blue Shield PPO and various networks with which we participate. Please check your insurance carrier to determine if we are in network. Please supply the office with your insurance information. If your benefits are sent to you, please forward them to the office to pay on your balance. We do not file for office fees and other non-hospital charges on insurance plans that we do n ot participate. (We do not participate with Champus, Tricare, or Medicare Advantage programs; therefore these patients file their own insurance). A receipt will be given to you if you would like to file your insurance. It is the responsibility of the patient to know the terms of his/her insurance policies, including deductibles, covered and non-covered benefits, co-payments, etc. If any problems regarding insurance coverage should arise, it is your responsibility to rectify the problem. Any changes on coding, charges, diagnosis, etc. will not be corrected after 30 days from the time of service. It is the patient's responsibility to inform the office of any changes in coverage at the time of service. This office will not file any insurance that beco mes retroactively effective to services that have already been provided.

MEDICAL RECORDS: Requests for letters and medical records must be made in advance and in writing. A minimum of a 5-day turn-around is needed for this service. Records inactive for three years are stored outside of the o ffice and may cause a delay in processing. In accordance with Florida Rule 64B8-10.003, in conjunction with Florida Statute 456.057, records are $1.00 for each page up to 25 pages, then $0.25 thereafter. Our office has a pre-payment policy. Once pre-payment is received the records will be mailed. Records for another doctor will be sent directly to that doctor and will avoid a charge. This office will determine what records will be sent to another doctor. If the patient requests the entire ch art, then there will be a charge to the patient. If a patient requests a copy of their chart for personal use, the patient will be subject to a charge as provided by law.