Payments and Financial Information
Our office is about health. In a holistic scheme, this means health of body and mind. It can also mean financial health. And while we are not financial counselors, we can help you understand the complicated process of paying for health care and utilizing insurance, no matter which kind it may be.
Many of our patients are either heads of households or responsible for financial matters in their family. Our goal is to help empower women with knowledge and information to help them plan ahead and make the best decisions for themselves and their family. For example, many patients have trouble understanding what their insurance covers and what it does not. It is also a challenge to discern how a deductible is calculated. We can help.
Our staff can help you with basic billing questions. We are generally in between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm, and try to take lunch during the noon hour.
We have found that advance planning suits both patients and staff as the clearest and most stress free way to manage the financial aspects of health care. Please feel free to call or drop by to discuss your situation. We realize insurance paperwork can be hard to understand. We can help you understand it and interact effectively with your insurer.
Please bring your insurance card(s) with you at every visit. With this information, we utilize electronic billing directly to your insurance company on your behalf. Please note, however, most plans have copayments and or deductibles and these are payable at the time of your visit. We can help you understand how this breaks down and what is expected of each party. For your convenience, you may pay with cash, personal check, debit card or with any major credit card.
Please note that we usually utilize Kalispell Regional Medical Center ( KRMC) laboratory for services such as processing and analyzing bloodwork and tissue samples. These services are separate from our office. KRMC will bill you separately for items like your pap smear, biopsy(ies) or any other labs such as urine or bloodwork that you have had done. There are fees for both the processing and analyzing of samples. In cases where other physicians such as Pathologists view your specimens, they charge a separate fee as well. Likewise, imaging studies such as Ultrasound or other studies such as EKGs also have separate billing and specialist physician fees associated with them.
The various hospital and hospital based departments as well as OR North, (formerly known as Health Center North West), the Bass Center, and Northwest Radiology can be reached through the main hospital number at 752-5111. You may call and ask for the billing department for information about their charges. Your phone call will be much more productive if you collect your insurance paperwork, bills, pen and paper, and reading glasses before the telephone call! Here is the KRMC website which includes options for payments.
While we try to help patients plan, the precise costs for a procedure of any kind, Ob or Gyn, cannot be precisely predicted. What any given procedure requires may vary; Uncertainty may come from the supplies that will be needed, to the length of the case, to the length of the hospital stay. usually we can give you a reasonable range. Moreover, any unusual costs incurred typically have obvious explanations.
There is no way around the fact that top notch health care is expensive. At the same time, we know our patients work hard for what they earn and we respect that. We want our patients to know that we are committed to working hard for them to give them excellent health care value for their money. After all, health care is our most important purchase.
