Policies

Office Policies

We are dedicated to providing the best possible care, and we want to make sure you completely understand our office policies. If you have any concerns please feel free to contact your individual care center.

All payments are due at the time of service. This includes co-pays and deductibles. If we are providers for your insurance, we will bill your insurance and collect only the patient responsibility amount at the time of service. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO INFORM US OF ANY CHANGES WITH YOUR INSURANCE. Many insurance plans have “timely filing deadlines”. If we are not provided with accurate information at the time of service, you may be responsible for payment in full for all services rendered. Please keep in mind that your insurance is a contract between you and the insurance company. Not all insurances cover all procedures. While we make a good faith attempt to verify coverage, we are not able to guarantee that the information given to us by you or your insurance is correct. It is your responsibility to know what services may or may not be covered by your insurance. Austin Health Partners has preferred provider contracts with most major insurance companies. Please contact your insurance company to determine if our practice has a contract with your insurance company. Any financial portion that is the “member’s responsibility” such as a co-pay, deductible, co-insurance, or non-covered percentage will be collected at the time service. It is required as a part of our contract with each insurance company to collect the patient’s financial portion at the time of service.

Patients without insurance will be offered a Prompt Pay Discount only if balance due is paid in full at the time of service. If the balance cannot be paid in full at time of service, a payment plan will be established and you will be assessed the full amount due without any discounts.

We accept cash, debit cards, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and personal checks (checks returned to us by the bank will be assessed a returned check fee of $35.00 in addition to the original amount of the check.) Any outstanding balances are due within 30 days of the statement. If payment is not received within 30 days a $25 administrative fee will be assessed on the account. All balances reaching 90 days past due will have a 15% administrative fee assessed and may be sent to a collection agency. If you experience circumstances beyond your control, please contact our billing office and we will be happy to make payment arrangements.

Retain your credit card on file in a safe encrypted environment. This feature is available to ensure all of your payments are received on time and helps you avoid administrative fees if paid after 45 days. By enrolling in Convenient Auto-Payment, we can use your card to collect copays and bill your insurance first and notify you via email 5 days before your credit card is charged for balances due.

 Our office does not bill third-party payers (TPA), such as, PIP (Personal Injury Protection) for a motor vehicle accident, or attorneys.

We respectfully ask that you refrain from asking your doctor to examine siblings that do not have appointments. This prevents us from properly documenting the visit in the medical record, as well as prevents us from seeing the next scheduled patients on time. If you know prior to your scheduled appointment we will do everything we can to try and work you in with your provider or another available provider.

We are not party to your divorce decree. The responsibility for payment and the presentation of active insurance cards at the time of service is the responsibility of the accompanying adult

We understand there will be times when a scheduled appointment cannot be kept. If you need to cancel or reschedule an appointment, we request that you notify our office 24 hours in advance. If your appointment is made for “same day” and you find yourself unable to keep it, please call to cancel within a minimum of three hours-notice in order for another child to be scheduled. If you do not call and you do not show up for your appointment, we will consider this a “no show.” If this happens 3 times the office may terminate the doctor-patient relationship.

If you need medical assistance after 5:00 pm or on the weekend, we do provide many after-hours services through Convenient Care.  Please call our offices to determine the services available. In addition to your copay or deductible, there is a $20 after-hours fee due at the time of service. For overnight concerns, there is a nominal fee of $25.00 for after-hours calls to our dedicated nurse triage line.

We will provide copies of your medical records within 15 business days of receipt of signed records release and the nominal charge for your records. There are also nominal fees for forms such as insurance forms, school forms, FMLA, disability forms, etc. These forms will be completed within 5-7 business days. Fees must be paid prior to completion of any form. Fees are set in accordance to guidelines provided by the State of Texas and the Texas Medical Board and are as follows:  $10 for full electronic records sent and $25 for full printed records or records saved to an external storage device.

Our office values its patient relationship and wants to protect patients’ rights. We will terminate the patient relationship with cause and after careful consideration. Reasons for termination include: repeatedly not showing up for scheduled appointments, not complying with recommended medical care, not complying with company vaccine policy, requesting medical records to be transferred to another provider, being hostile or abusive to staff, not paying bills or requesting budget payment plan in a timely manner.

Patients who are uninsured will be required to pay a $120 deposit at the beginning of each visit.  Patients who have high deductible health plans will be required to pay a $120 deposit at the beginning of each acute visit.  After the visit has been properly billed by the provider and submitted to insurance (if applicable), any difference in final cost will be refunded or billed to the patient.  Patients with a high deductible health plan have the option of placing a credit card on file in lieu of the $120 deposit.

This notice of Privacy Practices applies to Austin Health Partners, PLLC (AHP), and its affiliated entities Bee Well Pediatrics, Cedar Park Pediatric & Family Medicine, Georgetown Pediatrics & Family Medicine, Neighborly MD, Southwest Pediatric Associates, and Treehouse Pediatrics.

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY. 

Effective Date: 3/25/2020 

Understanding Your Health Record/Health  

Each time you visit an Austin Health Partner (AHP) clinic a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and a plan for future care or treatment. This information, often referred to as your health or medical record, serves as a:  

  • basis for planning your care and treatment  
  • means of communication among the many health professionals who contribute to your care  
  • legal document describing the care you received  
  • means by which you or a third party payer can verify that services billed were actually provided   
  • a tool in educating health professionals  
  • a source of information for public health officials charged with improving the health of the nation  
  • a source of data for facility planning   
  • a tool with which we can assess and continually work to improve the care we render and the outcomes we achieve 

 

Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to:  

  • confirm its accuracy  
  • better understand who, what, when, where and why others may access your health information  
  • make more informed decisions when authorizing disclosure to others  

 

Your Health Information Rights  

Although your health record is the physical property of Austin Health Partners, the information belongs to you. You have the right to:  

  • request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your information  
  • request that we not notify your health insurer of your treatment if you pay cash for the treatment  
  • obtain a paper copy of the notice of privacy practices upon request  
  • inspect and copy your health record  
  • request an amendment to your health record  
  • obtain an accounting of certain disclosures of your health information  
  • request communications of your health information by alternative means or at alternative locations  
  • revoke your authorization to use or disclose health information except to the extent that action has already been taken 

 

Our Responsibilities  

Austin Health Partners will:  

  • maintain the privacy of your health information  
  • provide you with a notice as to our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we collect and maintain about you   
  • abide by terms of this notice  
  • notify you if we are unable to agree to a requested restriction  
  • accommodate reasonable requests you may have to communicate health information by alternative means or at alternative locations.  

 

Breach Notification

AHP will notify you of any unauthorized acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of your unsecured PH1 that presents a significant risk of financial, reputational, or other harm to you, to the extent required by law. Unsecured PH1 means PH1 not secured by technology that renders the information unusable, unreadable, or undecipherable as required by law.  

We reserve the right to change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information we maintain. Should our information practices change, we will post the amended notice of privacy practices in each clinic location and on our company website. You may request that a copy be provided to you by contacting us at (512) 328-2266. 

 

For more information 

If you would like additional information, you may contact us at (512) 328-2266. 

 

To file a complaint 

If you think your rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our Privacy Officer, 6034 W Courtyard Dr, Austin Texas 78730, or the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Human Services and health: Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1301 Young Street, Suite 1169, Dallas, TX 75202. There will not be retaliation for filing a complaint. 

At Austin Health Partners, we believe in the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent serious illness, promoting health and wellness, and saving lives.  We also believe in the safety of vaccines.

We believe that children and young adults should receive all of the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics*.

We believe, based on all available data, scientific literature, current studies, and evidence-based medicine, that vaccines do not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.  We also believe that thimerosal, a preservative that has been in vaccines for decades, and that remains in only a few vaccines today, does not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.

We believe that vaccinating children and young adults is the single most important health-promoting intervention we perform as healthcare providers and that you perform as parents/caregivers.

We know, and want you to know, that the recommended vaccines and their schedule are the results of years and years of scientific study and research, with data gathered on millions of children, by thousands of our brightest scientists and physicians. The schedule is designed around that research to produce the highest immune response in your child.  This will provide them with the best defense against these diseases.  Going against this schedule by breaking up or delaying vaccines can put your child at risk.  For this reason, we do not allow families to choose to break up or delay vaccines.

We understand that there has always been, and will likely always be, the controversy surrounding vaccination. But that controversy does not change the facts, or the science, or the evidence about vaccines.  

The vaccine campaign is a victim of its own success. It’s precisely because vaccines are so effective at preventing illness that we even discuss whether or not they should be given.  Because of the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, many of you have never seen a child with polio, tetanus, whooping cough, bacterial meningitis, or even chickenpox. And that, of course, is a wonderful thing.  

We write this statement not to scare or coerce you, but to make you aware of the facts, and to emphasize the importance of vaccinating your child. We recognize that the choice may be emotional for some parents so we will do everything we can to support you, and to help you understand that vaccinating according to the schedule is the right thing to do.

As medical professionals, we know that vaccinating children on schedule with currently available vaccines is absolutely the right thing to do for all children and young adults.

We’re always happy to answer any questions or to discuss any concerns, you may have about vaccines

 

*At this time all AAP/CDC recommended vaccines are required with the exception of those not required by the public school system.  Currently these include the vaccines for the seasonal flu, HPV, Rotavirus, meningococcal B, & COVID-19*