Mission

Our mission is to create a medical home with:

• Confidence… that your child will receive the very best health care without unnecessary tests, procedures or medicines.
• Comfort… in a warm, child friendly atmosphere where you and your child will feel comfortable.
• Understanding… through open and direct communication with our experienced stuff, who take the time to help you understand your children’s health, development, behavior and illness.
• Convenience… through our location, office hours, nearby hospitals, in house laboratory, and after hours answering service.

Vaccine Policy

Model City Pediatrics follows the immunization guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). For information about these vaccines and the diseases they protect against, please visit http://www.aap.org/healthtopics/immunizations.cfm

For detailed informational sheets published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) please visit www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/

Our practice firmly believes that all children should receive the recommended vaccines according to the guidelines provided by the AAP and the CDC. Vaccines are safe and effective in preventing diseases and health complications in children and young adults. Regular vaccinations help children ward off infections, and are administered as one of the safest and best methods of disease prevention.

Please be advised, however, that delaying or “breaking up the vaccines” to give one or two at a time over two or more visits goes against expert recommendations, and can put your child at risk for serious illness (or even death) and goes against our medical advise as providers at Model City Pediatrics.

Office Policies

Appointments
Appointments are made for the convenience of both the patient and the physicians. Our physician sees patients by appointment Monday through Friday. Patients with appointments are given priority, except in the case of an emergency. Due to the nature of a pediatric practice, unexpected scheduling problems do occur. For these times, rest assured we will do everything possible to adhere to our schedule. If for some reason your wait is longer than you anticipated, you may choose to continue to wait or reschedule your visit. Appointments may be scheduled by the Patient Portal or by calling (256) 237-0023 during regular office hours. When scheduling an appointment, please advise the appointment clerk of the type of problem for which you are scheduling the visit. This information will assist the appointment clerk in scheduling the appropriate amount of time necessary to assess your child’s medical needs.

Should you find that you are unable to keep an appointment, please notify us as soon in advance as possible. This will allow us to use this time for other patients. We do not feel it is appropriate to continue scheduling patients who repeatedly fail to keep their appointments and do not cancel in advance.

After Hours Procedures

When our office is closed, there is always someone available 24 hours a day to handle urgent needs. Please visit our Online Nurse first. If this is not helpful simply call our office at (256) 237-0023 and our answering service will assist you. A Pediatric Triage Nurse will return your call and address your concerns. Our Triage Nurses are specially trained by Children’s Hospital of Birmingham to give you advice and instructions. We usually refer our patients to RMC or Stringfellow Memorial hospital because of continuity of care. We are electronically connected with these two hospitals. As always if you feel your situation is an emergency please call 911.

Phone Calls/Patient Portal
Due to our high call volume please contact us through our Patient Portal by sending a message to any of our Peds Nurses. Our staff is available Monday through Friday to answer any questions pertaining to your child’s medical needs, medication questions, or to help you decide if your child needs to be seen by a physician. For a complicated problem, please schedule an appointment by phone.

Forms and School Excuses
School excuses WILL NOT be given for the days when the child is out of school and is not seen in our office.

Our practice charges for additional paperwork that is requested. The following fees apply and are subject of change without notice.

Copy medical records – $25.00
This fee is pulled from the Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners Rules and Regulations.

https://nosscr.org/state-medical-records-payment-rates/

Blue Forms – $5.00
If you request a Blue Form on the day the vaccines are given to your child, we will not charge you for the Blue Form.

Prescription Refills
Most prescription refills can be handled through Patient Portal if requested prior to 3 p.m. We cannot take weekend or after hours refill requests. Please make sure you know the name of the medication(s), the dose, the form (liquid or tablet), the date of the last refill, and the name and phone number of your pharmacy. It is in your child’s best interest to be examined by a physician to determine the cause of your child’s symptoms and the appropriate treatment. We DO NOT call in antibiotics or ADHD medications without seeing your child first.

Financial Policy
Thank you for choosing Model City Pediatrics for the care of your child(ren). This financial policy is an important part of your child’s care. Due to increased insurance company demands, we ask you to read and agree to the following policies.

Model City Pediatrics will bill your insurance company on your behalf and we will do so in a timely manner (within 5 business days of your visit). In turn, it is your responsibility to know your healthcare policy and to verify all benefits and coverage information prior to having any services rendered. (If you do not have insurance, please ask us about the vaccines free for children – VFC program.) You are also responsible for notifying us of any changes to your insurance plan or policy prior to any visit. Please bring your insurance card to each visit.

Our contracts with insurance companies stipulate that we must collect your copay at the time of your visit. Additionally, we must collect any fees that the insurance company states as “patient responsibility.” That information is shown on your EOB (explanation of benefits) that is mailed both to you and to our billing department. Unfortunately, many insurance plans have high co-payments or deductibles that become the parent’s (guarantor’s) financial responsibility. So its important to know whether or not you have met your deductible. If you have questions about your insurance coverage or don’t understand what is/isn’t covered you should contact your insurance carrier prior to your visit.

The person bringing in your child will be responsible for payment at the time of service, so you should make arrangements if someone else brings your child to the office. For income tax and insurance reimbursement, you will receive an itemized receipt (superbill) providing a description of the services rendered, diagnosis, charges, methods and amount of payment. Please retain all copies of your charge tickets, cancelled checks, and cash receipts. This information will be of benefit to you should questions regarding your financial account arise.

If you have an outstanding balance with our practice, we ask that you pay it in a timely manner. We accept cash, checks and CC. Nonpayment of outstanding balances may affect your ability to schedule future appointments and may result in additional processing fees if our billing department has to work your account. If you are having difficulty making your payment, please call our billing department and ask to be placed on a payment plan. An account over 90 days without payment will be referred to our collection agency.

Patients may be personally responsible for payment if:
(1) you cannot provide proof of insurance at the time of your appointment
(2) you do not have active insurance coverage (please ask about our cash pay policy)
(3) your insurance is not accepted by MCP
(4) your child receives a service that is not covered by your policy
(5) your insurance company denies your claim for any reason that is not resolvable.

MCP still accepts personal checks, but will charge you a fee of $30.00 if your check is returned.

Please remember to update your patient information sheet each time you are in the office. We must always have your most current address and phone number.

The practice reserves the right to discharge a patient for any reason. Please note that the discharge may occur for failure to meet your obligations under this document.

Insurance
Model City Pediatrics contracts with numerous insurances. It is important for you to check your insurance plan’s provider list to be sure it permits you to be seen in our office. If you have medical insurance coverage with one of the companies with whom Model City Pediatrics contracts, our insurance representative will be responsible for processing your claims. You will be responsible for paying deductibles, copays, and non-covered services at the time services are rendered. If you have medical insurance with a company that MCP does not contract with, payment is expected at the time of service.

If your insurance has not responded to a claim in 45 days, the claim balance will be transferred to the account balance for you to begin receiving a monthly statement of charges due. Contacting your insurance carrier will expedite payment to our office, but regular payment toward the balance is expected until your insurance carrier makes a final payment. Any overpayment of the balance due will be promptly refunded to you.

Medicaid patients must present a current card at the time of service with the child’s name and a legible Medicaid number. Authorization for treatment must be obtained from the PMP before service is rendered if PMP is not a physician in this office.

*Note: Parents are responsible for notifying their insurance carrier of the birth of their newborn within 30 days of birth.

Privacy Policy
The privacy of your medical information is important to us. You may be aware that U.S. government regulators established a privacy rule, the Health Insurance Portability&Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) governing protected health information (“PHI”)> Please read carefully Notice of Privacy Practices (“NPP”) which tells you how your PHI may be  used, and about certain rights that you have. For details on HIPAA law please see HIPAA regulations.