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Office Policies – New Bern, Havelock and Maysville Offices

Appointments
Please call early in the day to make acute care same-day sick appointments. “Walk-ins” are discouraged except in the case of true emergencies. We are committed to offering same-day Sick Visits to every sick child. If our satellite offices in Havelock and Maysville become over booked, we will offer the same-day sick visit in New Bern where we have more capacity and a famous “magic appointment book” that will always have room for a sick child. Well Visits and Sports Physicals can be booked within 2-4 weeks. Of course booking well visits early will assure you the visit with the doctor you want at the time you need. We can occasionally provide same day Well Visits but try not to book them until after 11 or 12 o’clock when the day is more predictable. If you anticipate that your appointment will be lengthy, please notify the receptionist so that we can schedule accordingly. We do not assign patients to specific doctors – you are always free to pick the doctor and/or time that you need.

Weekend and Holiday Hours
Our New Bern office is open 7 days a week – Saturday mornings from 8am - noon and Sunday afternoons from noon - 4pm. We are only closed for the 7 major holidays (and maybe a hurricane) each year: New Year’s Day, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving & Christmas. During Saturday Mornings and Sunday Afternoons in the New Bern Office, the appointments are made for a specific time but not a specific provider. Please call before arriving. On weekends we only see urgent visits and will not schedule well visits.

Physical / Sports Exams
Please plan ahead for older children needing sports & camp physicals. If your camp or coach gives you a specific form, take care to fill out all information before bringing it to the appointment. Our providers are required to review that info before certifying the physical. Most camps and schools will allow sports & camp physicals to be filled out from a prior visit as long as it is within one year. Some insurance carriers allow only one physical per calendar year while others allow one physical per 365 days. Please become familiar with the specifics of your medical coverage if you expect your insurance company to cover the cost. We can tell you the date of your child’s last physical with us when making the appointment. Remember that you – not your insurance company – are ultimately responsible for your charges. Insurance companies love reasons to not pay…

Cancellations
If you must cancel a visit, please notify our office as soon as possible since someone else may want your appointment. In an effort to avoid significant delays in our office, patients arriving more than fifteen minutes late will be seen on a “space available” basis or rescheduled at your request.

Daytime Telephone Calls
Our staff will be available to answer your medical questions and schedule appointments during regular weekday business hours. We are pleased to have experienced nurses in each of our offices who can answer routine questions about your child’s health, behavior and medical concerns. We ask that you call and leave a brief message with your child’s name, birth date and call-back number with the receptionist or voicemail. The nurse will return your call in order of medical priority. If you have lengthy or complicated issues, we ask that you schedule an appointment with one of our providers for an evaluation. For problems that clearly need to be seen that day or right away, our receptionists can facilitate the appointment – you do not have to first speak with a nurse.

After Hours Urgent Calls
Our pediatricians take turns working all day - and then all night as well. We do not use a “nurse help line” at night. If you have an urgent concern after office hours, please call our after-hours Urgent Care phone at (252) 633-2269. The line is call-forwarded to the home of the pediatrician on call. If no answer, please call the answering service at Craven Regional Medical Center at (252) 633-8817 and ask for the Coastal Children’s Clinic Pediatrician On-Call.They will send out a numeric page and you should receive a call-back within a few minutes. This system has been setup for emergency care and consultation for our patients. We ask that you do not abuse the system or our pediatricians! For routine medical questions, prescription refills, and situations not urgent, we ask that you use our nurse advice line during regular business hours.

Fees and Payments
We request and insist all co-payments and/or co-insurance to be paid at the time of service. We are obligated by our contract with insurance carriers to collect co-pays at time of service – that requirement is in your contract and ours. There will be a service charge for co-payments not paid on the date of service, regardless of who brings the patient. If you are experiencing financial difficulties and need to make special arrangements, please ask to speak with our billing department. We do accept Master Card, Visa and American Express as a courtesy to our patients.

Insurance
We are currently contracted with BCBS-NC, TriCare, NC HealthChoice, Medicaid, Cigna, Pronet, ChoiceCare and AIH. Of course this list may change without notice. We are not nor expect to be contracted with UHC. We ask payment in full at time of service until your deductible is met. Refunds on accounts with a credit balance will be made periodically or upon request. Mailing statements is expensive and will incur a service charge after the first statement. We do file insurance claims for you to the carrier indicated in your account. Insurance companies generally pay promptly within 5 weeks. If yours has not, please call our insurance office (252) 633-2334.

Divorced Parents
We have unfortunately encountered numerous problems with reimbursement for services in cases of children whose parents are divorced. We ask that the adult bringing the child to the office be responsible for payment on that day. We realize this can be difficult situation for all concerned; however, we cannot serve as an intermediary. If a balance bill is mailed, it will be sent to the guarantor of record. We will not be able to continue seeing the patient if the account becomes delinquent – no matter which parent is at “fault”.