Patient Transparency

PLEASE NOTE: These policies do not necessarily apply to every patient. In order to fully understand if or how these policies may apply to you, please contact the OSpine Surgical Center directly.

REGARDING SERVICES PROVIDED BY OTHER HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS

Services may be provided in this health care facility by the facility as well as by other health care providers who may separately bill the patient and who may or may not participate with the same health insurers or health maintenance organizations as the facility.

LIST OF POTENTIAL HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS

Depending on a patient’s course of treatment, there may be several different health care providers involved with care at the OSpine Surgical Center.

Potential Providers:

Spine Institute of Central Florida –  5050 S Florida Ave. Lakeland, FL 33813, Ph: 863-688-3030

• Dr. Chukwuka C. Okafor, Ph 833-677-4631
• Feinerman Anesthesia, P.A. – Anesthesia 983 S BENEVA RD
  SARASOTA, FL  34232-2401
• Dr. Steven Feinerman, Ph: 813-708-5747
• Durable Medical Equipment (In many cases this provider is determined by the patient’s insurance company)
• MicroPath Labs: 1125 Bartow Rd, Ste 101 Lakeland, FL 33801, 863-683-7171

ESTIMATE OF CHARGES

Patients and prospective patients may request a more personalized estimate of charges and other information from this facility and other health care providers. Patients and prospective patients should contact each health care practitioner who will provide services in the ASC to determine the health insurers and health maintenance organizations with which the health care practitioner participates as a network provider or preferred provider. We must respond to you in 7 days. Our estimate is based on the procedure that our physician plans to perform, and it is possible that the procedure our physician performs may differ from what is planned. This is based on your current medical condition at the time of the procedure.

OUT OF NETWORK

There may exist a scenario wheras your physician’s practice insurance/HMO network varies from that of the Surgery Center. Please contact the physicians’s office directly to determine if this is the case and what financial impacts this may have. The application of any out-of-network discount is based on a patient’s benefit coverage. Accounts that become delinquent may have the adjustment disallowed.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

If you require financial assistance or payment plan, please contact the provider to discuss possible options. We may require you to complete an application for approval of a financial assistance program. We follow the most recent poverty guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

CHARITY CARE

OSpine Surgical Center maintains a charity discount policy which provides financial relief to patients who receive medically necessary care and who do not qualify for state or Federal assistance and are unable to pay the estimated or remaining financial responsibility in part or in full. A patient must meet the policy’s household income qualifications which are based on national poverty guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services which are updated annually. Submission of supporting documentation may be required to validate a patient’s qualifying status.

FLORIDA HEALTH FINDER

Quality measures and statistics disseminated by AHCA can be found at www.FloridaHealthFinder.gov/CompareCare/SelectChoice.aspx

PRICING INFORMATION

Information on payments made to the facility for defined bundles of services and procedures is available at https://pricing.floridahealthfinder.gov/. The service bundle information is a non-personalized estimate of costs that may be incurred by the patient for anticipated services, and actual costs will be based on services actually provided to the patient. Patients have the right to request a personalized estimate from the center.

COLLECTIONS

At OSpine Surgical Center, we strive to provide compassionate care, and do our best to ensure that our patients have the opportunity to afford and pay for services rendered, by reviewing patient responsibilities and offering a wide array of options for payment.

At your request, prior to your scheduled procedure, our Insurance Coordinator will personally meet and review your benefits and inform you of any amount that will be due prior to your surgery such as copay, coinsurance and deductible.

Payment for services will be expected to be paid at the pre-operative appointment.

If you need special consideration in your ability to pay for your surgery, you must contact us prior to your scheduled surgical date so that we can evaluate and see if you qualify for payment plan or for financing through Care Credit.

While we strive to be as accurate as possible, we will notify you should the amount collected be less than your insurance applies to your responsibility, and will expect that any additional monies due will be paid within 45 days. Failure to pay in a timely manner, default on an agreed upon payment plan, and cancellation of any payment made will result in your account being placed with our third party collection agency and will affect your credit score.

Should any of your services be denied by your insurance, we will notify you upon receipt of the denial and will work with you to either arrange payment or appeal to your insurance carrier.

If you have notified us that you are uninsured and intend to pay cash, you may be eligible to receive a prompt pay discount. If the procedure performed differs from the original scheduled procedure you may be responsible for additional fees. Any prompt pay discount offered must be paid in full prior to your scheduled procedure or the discount will not apply and you may be responsible for the full amount billed.

Any money paid directly from your insurance for our services should be forwarded to us immediately to avoid billing of the full balance to you. Failure to surrender monies paid directly to you will result in the full balance of charges being referred to our third party collections agency.