• Primary Pediatrics

UBCP Primary Pediatrics

Billing and Policies

As a courtesy to you, it is our policy to bill insurance companies for services rendered during each visit. Full payment for co-pays, deductibles, co-insurance, and non-covered services are expected at the time of the appointment. We accept credit and debit cards.

It is your responsibility to:

  • Know your insurance plan benefits pertaining to pediatric sick and well visits
  • Notify your insurance company and your employer of the birth of any new baby within 30 days after their birth
  • Ask that we be assigned as your primary care provider, particularly if you have an HMO or Medi-Cal. You may pick any of our regular providers. That does not mean that you must see only that provider.
  • Bring your insurance card with you to each visit
  • Advise the staff of any changes in your address, telephone numbers, or insurance coverage
  • Pay for all services not covered by your insurance company
  • Pay for any outstanding balances prior to any future office visits
  • Call our billing department at (844) 399-8227 if you would like to discuss alternative billing arrangements or have questions

Insurance companies

We participate with most major public and private insurance companies. We recommend that you contact your insurance company prior to making your appointment to verify that we are a participating provider.

If you have no insurance

It is the policy of UBCP Primary Pediatrics to collect full payment for the office visit upon arrival for patients with no (or inactive) insurance. Any additional charges will be charged at the time of check-out.

Cancellation policy

If you must cancel an appointment, please notify us as soon as possible so that we can make room in our schedule for another child to be seen. We require 24-hour notice to consider an appointment canceled. As a courtesy, our receptionists confirm all appointments 24-48 hours in advance, but you are still responsible for remembering your own appointment date and time.

Multiple sibling policy

We will do our best to schedule your children together for their appointments. For routine visits, we will not schedule more than two sibling appointments together. We find that scheduling more than two siblings together for routine visits often presents challenges to the families. We also ask that you do not ask your physician to “just quickly check” another unscheduled sibling at your child’s appointment. Although we would like to provide you with this service, doing so often causes significant disruption to our office flow.

Policy if a guardian is unavailable

One parent or legal guardian must accompany every child (even adolescents) for the first visit in order for the physician to obtain an accurate medical history and to obtain signatures of consent for treatment. Parents/guardians must also sign and complete the new patient registration form as well as a consent to have medical records transferred from your child’s previous doctor.

On subsequent visits, another relative can accompany the child only if a parent or legal guardian writes and signs a note giving permission for relatives to consent to treatments and vaccines on the parent’s behalf. This relative must be identified specifically in the letter. You may download this form which can be found in the “forms to download” section of this website.

Adolescent care policies

Please be aware that starting at age 12 years of age, your son or daughter is allowed by California law to receive confidential health care for sensitive services. “Confidential” means we will only share this information if your teenager agrees. We will only inform you if we gather information that leads us to believe that someone is in danger. We will begin to talk to your teen starting at age 12 about issues such as body image, sexuality, substance abuse, stress, peer pressure, dating, and family life. Because your teen has the right to confidential care for these services surrounding these issues, we will ask that you wait in the waiting room during a part of your teen’s physical exam. Of course, we want you to stay involved in your teen’s life and you will have a chance to address any concerns you have both with and without your teen present as well.

We may not give you information about these visits without permission from your son or daughter:

  • The prevention or treatment of pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and other contagious diseases
  • The diagnosis and treatment of sexual and physical abuse, particularly if it involves a parent
  • Care and counseling for drug or alcohol problems

Again, we will inform you if we feel strongly that there is an imminent danger to your teen or any other person associated with your teen.

Please also be aware that we do screen all females (and likely soon to include all males) starting at the age of 16 for Chlamydia trachomatis (an STD) with a urine test regardless of what they tell us about their sexual activity. This is a standard policy in a majority of practices that see adolescents and is for the protection and benefit of your teen. We will be calling your teen with the results and will provide them with the appropriate care if necessary. You may notice that this test was done on the paperwork that you receive from our office or your insurance provider, and it may not necessarily be associated with a physical exam. Again, please be aware that it may have been done simply for the purposes of screening.

Collections

Insured Patients: As a courtesy to you we will gladly bill your insurance carrier for services rendered. Any amounts not covered by your carrier are the patients’ responsibility.