Snyder Dermatology Policies
Insurance
Your time is important to you and to us. One of our objectives at our clinic is to get you in, taken care of, and on your way as quickly as possible. Getting your insurance information into us prior to your visit will avoid delays associated with insurance verification.
Your insurance company or Medicare will only cover procedures that are medically necessary. In most cases skin tags, benign moles, and sebhorrheic keratosis are generally not covered by your carrier. If you want these growths removed, we will be happy to do it on a fee-for-service basis. Check with our billing office staff for the cost of these procedures before you have them treated. Our objective is to avoid any surprises for you at check out.
In some cases, we are unable to verify insurance prior to your appointment and prior to your checkout, or your insurance carrier will not provide us with information on the amount of deductibles that you have met. In these incidences, we must collect the full amount of your charges or your deductibles at the time of service. In the event your insurance carrier pays us for these services, you may request a refund of the amount you paid.
If your coverage requires a referral and you or your insurer does not provide one at the time of your visit, we must collect the full amount of your charges at the time of service. Again should a refund situation arise, you may request a refund of the amount you paid.
Patient Registration Forms
Another way to keep your appointment on time is to fill out any required paperwork prior to your first visit. Many of our patient forms can be downloaded from our website. See our Patient Resources page.
Co-pays and Deductibles
Remember that payment for all co-pays and deductibles is due at the time of your appointment.
Co-pays for office visits are usually higher for specialists (like dermatologists) versus primary-care physicians. So check with your insurance carrier to determine if you have a higher co-pay for specialists.
If one of our physicians performs any of the following; injecting, curettage (scraping), electrodessication (burning), freezing or excising a lesion or growth, your insurance company will consider it an office surgery or procedure. Such outpatient surgeries and procedures are often subject to separate co-pays and/or deductibles. Again, check with your insurance carrier to determine how your benefits apply.
Charges
Suspicious skin lesions are often biopsied to determine if the growth is or is not cancerous. There are two charges associated with biopsies. First, our office charges for the actual biopsy performed. Second, there is a dermapathology lab charge for preparing and examining the biopsy slides under a microscope. An independent lab will bill your insurance carrier and you for their fees which are not associated with our office. If you have any dispute regarding the lab fees you need to contact them directly as those bills are not handled by our office.
We charge separately for your office visit and any procedure performed in our office. The office visit covers the evaluation and management or diagnosis of your particular condition. If a procedure is needed to remedy the condition, you will be informed of your treatment options and their costs so you can make an informed decision about having the procedure performed. In such a case, you should expect a charge for both parts of your visit.
Patients seeing any provider for cosmetic services should be prepared to pay the full amount of their charges at the time of service.
Adolescent Patients
If your child is under the age of 18, a parent or legal guardian must accompany the child to their first appointment. If your child arrives without a parent or legal guardian present, their appointment will be rescheduled. If you choose to allow your child to come to future appointments without a parent or legal guardian being present then you will need to sign a consent allowing the treatment of a minor.
Appointments
As a courtesy to our clients, we call to remind you two days in advance of your appointment.
Cancelation Policy
In today’s hectic world unplanned issues come up for all of us. We recognize this fact, but we respectfully request that you cancel your scheduled appointment by phone or e-mail a minimum of 24 hours in advance. That way the open slot can be filled with someone needing an appointment. Failure to provide 24 hour notice of cancellation will result in a $35 fee for medical appointments and $100 fee for cosmetic appointments.
For cosmetic appointments, failure to provide such notice will result in forfeiture of the deposit.
Deposit
There is a $100 deposit required for an in person, one-on-one consultation with a dermatologist. The focus will be on expectations and objectives, as well as surgical and non-surgical options. The deposit fee is applied to the procedure in most cases.
If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact our office.
