Office Policies and Procedures

OFFICE VISITS: Are by appointment only. Walk-ins are not given priority over parents who call for appointments.

APPOINTMENTS: Please schedule an appointment for each child you feel needs to be examined or discussed. Remember to schedule well exams in advance.

MISSED/LATE APPOINTMENTS: Patient arriving more than 15 minutes late will be required to reschedule, out of courtesy to our other patients, their appointment to the next available opening consistent with the type of appointment requested. Only acutely ill children will be worked into the providers schedule later that day.

CANCELLATIONS: As a courtesy to both your provider and other families with sick children, we ask that you cancel any scheduled appointment 24 hours in advance so that others may utilize this time. Failure to attend an appointment without prior cancellation is considered a NO SHOW. If you NO SHOW, the office will send two warning letters via USPS using the address on file, and on your third NO SHOW, a “discharge/termination” letter that will be sent certified mail with return receipt via USPS, of which Peacock Pediatrics will provide thirty (30) days of emergent medical services.

INFORMATION UPDATES: You will be asked at each visit for any address, phone number and family contact changes for each patient. This is important to ensure that we have updated information for continued patient care. This will also ensure that correspondence and statements reach you in a timely manner.

INSURANCE CARDS: If you request that we bill your insurance for your child, you must be able to present a valid insurance card at each visit. It is your responsibility to know the benefits and provisions of your individual policy. If you do not provide us with the current contact, mailing and insurance information at the time of service, we may be unable to file the insurance claim for you, making you responsible for the cost of all services.

CO-PAYS: Must be paid at the time of each visit. This is the policy of your insurance company, which our office is required to comply with.

CO-PARENTING: Our office understands that split parents should have equal access to their child’s health record unless a court order specifies differently. To eliminate interruption in your child(rens) care, any changes in court documents should be quickly relayed to Peacock Pediatrics.

PRESCRIPTION REFILLS: If your child is on controlled medication, we will provide 3 separate prescriptions to your pharmacy. Call the pharmacy first and ask if you have any “prescriptions on hold” prior to calling our office. You have an office visit every 3 months to continue future refills. If you need a refill, we request you notify our office 2 business days in advance to get the prescription electronically sent to the pharmacy. For all other medication refills, please have your pharmacy send us a refill request. These will be completed within three business days.

PHONE CALLS: Phone calls may result in a copay, deductible, co-insurance, or additional charges that maybe not be covered by your insurance plan.

AFTER HOURS CALLS: After-hours calls should be limited to urgent matters. Our physicians do not call out prescriptions after office hours.

IMMUNIZATIONS: We require that all our patients be immunized for ALL state required immunizations. There are vaccines that aren’t required but are recommended. Please refer to our website: www.peacockpediatrics.com for more information concerning immunizations. For additional concerns, you can make an appointment to discuss with our physicians. If at any point you fail to continue vaccinating for the required immunizations, you will be provided our Vaccine Policy, a Practice Dismissal letter and will be required to find another office for medical services. It is important to stay current and up to date on ALL immunizations.

PAYMENT PLANS: Our office offers self-service payment plan options on www.instamed.com. Our billing department is available to assist in setting up and provide additional details for any necessary payment plans. You are encouraged to fully read the financial policy that will be provided to you for full understanding.

NEWBORNS: Insurance allows up to 30 days to enroll your new baby on the policy. If we do not have insurance policy information within 45 days of birth, you may be asked to reschedule your child’s 2-month wellness check and obtain immunizations from the local health department. All newborns will have their claims held no more than 45 days before statements will be issued as patient/parent responsibility.

RETURNED MAIL/CHECKS: Please remember to update your patient information each year and verbally with our staff at each visit. For returned statements due to incorrect address updates, you may incur a charge. When a check is returned to us not paid by your bank due to insufficient funds or other reasons, you will be charged a $50.00 insufficient fund fee and that cost will be added to your account balance. After two (2) returned checks we will no longer accept a check on your account. Your balance will need to be paid by cash, or credit card.

FORMS: If you require a form for daycare, pre-school, camp, sports physicals, or any other activity, we request you bring the form with you to your child’s well exam. If you request a form to be filled out later, there will be a $5 per page form fee charged. Please allow up to three business days for the form to be completed. FMLA forms will require a $25.00 payment before they are completed and returned. It is your responsibility to provide any forms needing to be filled out to our office with adequate notice. For sports physicals specifically, your child will need to be up to date on their yearly wellness exams. If your insurance does not cover annual preventative visits, please call our office to discuss options.

MEDICAL RECORDS: If you would like a copy of your child’s medical record, we require a written request. You may find your child(s) medical records via the patient portal. We will transfer immunizations, growth chart and last wellness exam to another physician as a courtesy via fax. There are no records fees associated with continuation of care to another provider’s office or a HIPAA covered entity. The fees are updated yearly and can be found at Fees for Medical Records | Health & Senior Services (mo.gov). We will make every effort to complete requests with urgency, however, please allow up to 30 days for processing.

HIPAA: All patient information that is faxed or via the patient portal is HIPAA compliant. We cannot send information in a non-secure manner due to HIPAA.