Insurance and billing

How the process works

1. 1

   Before your procedure is scheduled

   We verify your benefits with your insurer and obtain prior authorization where the plan requires it. If your plan needs documentation from your referring physician, we request it directly rather than asking you to chase it.

2. 2

   Before you arrive

   You should know your expected out-of-pocket cost before the day of your procedure, not after it. Ask us for an estimate and we will explain what it covers and what it does not.

3. 3

   After your procedure

   You may receive more than one bill: one from the surgery center for the facility, and separate bills from the physician and, where applicable, the anesthesia group. This is normal and is how outpatient procedures are billed everywhere.

4. 4

   If something is unclear

   Call the number on the statement in question, or contact the center and we will help you work out which bill covers what.

A word on cost

The same procedure generally costs less in an ambulatory surgery center than in a hospital outpatient department, and for patients with coinsurance that difference can be substantial. It is a real benefit and worth asking about.

It is not, however, the reason to choose a center. Who performs your procedure, how often they perform it, and how carefully the setting is run matter more than the price. Cost is a good tie- breaker and a poor primary criterion.