Policies
Our Commitment To You
We will coordinate your care
One of the many benefits of being a patient at Bray Family Medicine is that you have a team of healthcare professionals working behind the scenes, at no additional cost to you, coordinating your care and maintaining an accurate record of your health between specialists, hospitals, pharmacies & your primary care provider. We help you navigate through a complex healthcare system while keeping you safe and healthy. Your primary care provider is the quarterback of your team making sure everyone is on the same page, has the most up-to-date information about your health and is working together with you to reach your healthcare goals.
We will communicate with you
We believe that quality healthcare should be a partnership, and the only way to have an effective partnership is through communication. Just as we expect you to communicate with us, we promise to communicate with you. We will make sure all of your questions are answered during your appointment, so you clearly know what your next steps are.
We will protect your privacy
Your privacy and the privacy of your health information are very important to us. We will not disclose your medical record information unless you direct us to do so or unless the law authorizes or compels us to do so. Our staff and providers only access patient information as it is necessary to do their jobs and are annually trained and tested to the highest standard of patient privacy. Read more about our privacy practices.
We will provide quality care
One of our commitments is to provide you and your family with the highest quality care. We focus on best practice medicine, which means our care is based on the best available clinical evidence, research, care concepts and techniques known to provide high quality medical care. We also believe that quality care involves preventive care. We don’t wait until you are sick to provide care. We look long term to determine what you can do now to prevent illness down the road. We work toward early prevention of disease, fewer hospitalizations, and improved quality of life. All of these also help reduce your cost of care.
General Information
Appointments
To schedule an appointment with a medical provider or counselor, call (870) 464 – 1515. We strive to stay on time, but due to unforeseen circumstances, an appointment may take longer than allotted. You will be informed of any delays. Please notify the front desk if you are still in the waiting room 30 minutes after your scheduled appointment time.
If you cannot keep an appointment, please call within 24 hours of your scheduled appointment time so that we can offer that time to another patient in need of care. If you do not cancel within 24 hours of your appointment time, you will be charged a no-show fee of $30. This fee must be paid in full before your next office visit. Bray Family Medicine may choose not to see those who repeatedly miss appointments or cancel appointments without sufficient notice. Being hospitalized or providing an explanation regarding an emergent event or circumstance beyond your control will not be considered a no-show.
Laboratory Testing
Lab draws are performed during regular business hours Monday – Friday without an appointment. If you have diabetes, your lab should be drawn every 3 – 6 months. It’s best to get your lab drawn at least 2 – 3 days before your scheduled appointment so the results can be discussed during your visit. If not available during your visit, your results will be sent to your Patient Portal.
Paperwork
Any paperwork for medical equipment, diabetic supplies or handicap parking, FMLA requests or other work-related forms, physical forms, or a request for a written letter from your provider ideally should be discussed & completed during an office visit. Please schedule an appointment and bring all forms and related information. If it is determined after a visit that paperwork is needed, you must provide the appropriate forms and complete a paperwork questionnaire that includes the information necessary to meet your request. Our fee for completing paperwork will depend on the time requirement, and payment is due before your provider can begin filling out the paperwork. Please allow your provider at least two weeks for completion.
Prescription Refills
To request a prescription refill, please contact your pharmacy directly. If you have no refills remaining, your pharmacy will send a refill request to us electronically which allows us to respond quickly. Refill requests are processed during regular business hours usually on the same day we receive the request. If your refill is not ready within 48 hours, call us at (870) 464 – 1515. Please check your medications before all vacations, holidays and weekends to ensure you have an ample supply during these times.
Narcotic Pain Medications
Appropriately managing chronic, ongoing pain requires a multidisciplinary approach. Therefore, any patients having a continued need for hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine or other narcotic pain medications will be referred to a pain, spine or joint specialist.
Non-discrimination Policy
Bray Family Medicine complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Bray Family Medicine does not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color, sex, national origin, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Bray Family Medicine does not to discriminate in the provision of services to an individual because the individual is unable to pay, because payment for those services would be made under Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP, or based upon the individual’s race, color, sex, national origin, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Bray Family Medicine provides free aids and services to people with disabilities to communicate effectively with us, such as:
- Qualified sign language interpreters
- Written information in other formats (large print, audio, accessible electronic formats)
Bray Family Medicine provides free language services to people whose primary language is not English, such as:
- Qualified interpreters
- Information written in other languages
If you need any of these services, please contact the office manager.
Financial Policies
Insurance Claims
We charge what is usual and customary for our area. As a courtesy to you, our patient, we accept most insurance plans and submit claims to these plans on your behalf. It is important that we have accurate and complete information on your insurance coverage. We will not become involved in disputes between you and your insurance company regarding deductibles, copays, covered charges, secondary insurance, etc. other than to provide factual information as necessary. Insurance coverage is a contract between you and your insurance company. We are not a party to that contract, but in order to be a participating provider and file claims for services rendered, we are required to enter into a contractual agreement with each insurance company and ensure that all your insurance plan’s requirements are met prior to providing services.
It is your responsibility to pay for all services not covered or denied by insurance. We are happy to provide any services you need, but if your insurance plan does not cover certain services, you will be required to pay for the non-covered services. If your insurance plan denies rendered services, in full or part, we will bill the balance to you.
Payment of copays, deductibles, and non-covered services is expected at the time of service. Patients without insurance are expected to make payment prior to service. Bray Family Medicine accepts cash, checks, credit cards and health savings accounts. Checks returned for non-sufficient funds will be charged $25.
High deductible plans
One of the biggest challenges in healthcare is developing innovative and truly effective methods to help patients live healthier lives at a time when all Americans are struggling to afford ever-increasing health insurance premiums for plans with often such high deductibles that won't ever come close to being met unless catastrophe strikes. A large percentage of Americans are paying a high price for catastrophic coverage but having to forego chronic disease management visits, lab monitoring, and medications refills due to high drug costs, unmet deductibles, and the fear of what these services may cost. Inadequately managing chronic diseases, in turn, greatly increases the risk of a catastrophic event. At Bray Family Medicine, we believe in price transparency. A clear understanding of the costs of your care will enable you to make informed decisions about how your healthcare dollars are spent.
Unmet Deductibles
If you want our services filed as a claim and go towards your deductible, we are required to charge you the allowable rate set by your insurance company. There is such a wide variation in rates among the numerous plans offered by all the different insurance companies that it is impossible to obtain an accurate estimate before services are rendered. If your plan has a deductible that has not yet been met, you are required to pay $75 when you check-in for your visit. This payment will be applied towards your deductible. You will receive a bill for the remaining balance which is dependent upon your insurance allowable rates.
Your Rights and Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills
When Bray Family Medicine is out-of-network with your insurance company for emergency care or you get treated by an out-of-network provider while receiving covered services at Bray Family Medicine, you are protected from surprise billing or balance billing.
What is “balance billing” (sometimes called “surprise billing”)?
When you see a doctor or other health care provider, you may owe certain out-of-pocket costs, such as a copayment, coinsurance, and/or a deductible. You may have other costs or have to pay the entire bill if you see a provider or visit a health care facility that isn’t in your health plan’s network.
“Out-of-network” describes providers and facilities that haven’t signed a contract with your health plan. Out-of-network providers may be permitted to bill you for the difference between what your plan agreed to pay and the full amount charged for a service. This is called “balance billing.” This amount is likely more than in-network costs for the same service and might not count toward your annual out-of-pocket limit.
“Surprise billing” is an unexpected balance bill. This can happen when you can’t control who is involved in your care—like when you have an emergency or when you schedule a visit at an in-network facility but are unexpectedly treated by an out-of-network provider.
You are protected from balance billing for:
Emergency services
If you have an emergency medical condition and get emergency services from an out-of- network provider or facility, the most the provider or facility may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount (such as copayments and coinsurance). You can’t be balance billed for these emergency services. This includes services you may get after you’re in stable condition, unless you give written consent and give up your protections not to be balanced billed for these post-stabilization services.
Certain services at an in-network hospital
When you get services from an in-network hospital, certain providers there may be out-of-network. In these cases, the most those providers may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount. This applies to emergency medicine, anesthesia, pathology, radiology, laboratory, neonatology, assistant surgeon, hospitalist, or intensivist services. These providers can’t balance bill you and may not ask you to give up your protections not to be balance billed.
If you get other services at these in-network facilities, out-of-network providers can’t balance bill you, unless you give written consent and give up your protections.
You’re never required to give up your protections from balance billing. You also aren’t required to get care out-of-network. You can choose a provider or facility in your plan’s network.
When balance billing isn’t allowed, you also have the following protections:
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- You are only responsible for paying your share of the cost (like the copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles that you would pay if the provider or facility was in-network). Your health plan will pay out-of-network providers and facilities directly.
- Your health plan generally must:
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- Cover emergency services without requiring you to get approval for services in advance (prior authorization).
- Cover emergency services by out-of-network providers.
- Base what you owe the provider or facility (cost-sharing) on what it would pay an in-network provider or facility and show that amount in your explanation of benefits.
- Count any amount you pay for emergency services or out-of-network services toward your deductible and out-of-pocket limit.
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If you believe you've been wrongly billed by Bray Family Medicine, please call (870) 464 - 1515.
Visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises/consumers for more information about your rights under federal law.
Sliding Scale Fee Discount Program
This program is designed to provide free or discounted medical care to those who have no means, or limited means, to pay for visits with a medical provider (uninsured or underinsured). All patients seeking medical services at Bray Family Medicine are assured that they will be served regardless of ability to pay. No one is refused service because of lack of financial means to pay.
Discounted direct care rates
Those with high-deductible insurance plans which are unlikely to be met in the calendar year may decide it’s best NOT to file an insurance claim for services rendered and elect instead to take advantage of our discounted direct care rates. For uninsured patients or patients who direct us NOT to file an insurance claim, our discounted direct care rate for an in-person office visit is $75 regardless of complexity or type of visit. Our discounted direct care rate for a telemedicine video visit is $40. Payment in full must be received at the time of service. If lab, x-rays, procedures, or any other services are indicated, the exact amount of each additional service will be provided for your approval before the service is rendered. A detailed list of all of our discounted direct care rates is available upon request.
Payment plan
We understand that medical bills are often an unplanned expense and can be hard to pay. If your account balance is more than $200, you may request a payment plan.
Online bill pay
Bray Family Medicine patients who use the Patient Portal have the option to receive paperless statements rather than printed copies of their Bray Family Medicine statements and pay their bills online from within their Patient Portal account.
Nonpayment
We require timely payment of your bill. All copays, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts are due at check-in before you see your provider. If there is a balance due after your insurance has paid, you will receive adequate notifications via email, regular mail or by telephone call. If the balance remains unpaid, we will refer your account to a collection agency.
Motor vehicle accidents
In the event you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, you are expected to pay for services when rendered. We will gladly provide you with all the necessary paperwork to file your claim with your car insurance.
Workman’s Comp
In the event you suffer a work-related injury, you are expected to pay for services when rendered. We will gladly provide you with all the necessary paperwork to file your claim with your employer.