For your convenience, we accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover. We deliver the finest care at the most reasonable cost to our patients, therefore payment is due at the time service is rendered unless other arrangements have been made in advance. If you have questions regarding your account, please contact us at Coyle and Lance Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Phone Number 573 449-4900. Many times, a simple telephone call will clear any misunderstandings.
Patients with insurance coverage will be asked to remit the portion of their fee estimated not to be covered by insurance (such as deductible and co-insurance) at the time of service. Most insurance companies will respond within four to six weeks. Please call our office if your statement does not reflect your insurance payment within that time frame. Any remaining balance after your insurance has paid is your responsibility. Your prompt remittance is appreciated. In the event your insurance pays more than expected, causing a credit balance, refund checks are written and mailed on a weekly basis. Convenient monthly payments can be arranged through CareCredit with six months of interest free financing. Care Credit also offers some longer financing options. These arrangements must be made in advance of your procedure, but if you are in need of assistance paying an outstanding bill, Care Credit can be helpful for this as well.
We understand that some patients prefer not to give us a social security number (SSN). This is not a problem and we do understand the reasons for this, however, we will require payment in full for services provided, regardless of any anticipated insurance coverage. This policy does not effect your eventual insurance re-imbursement, but does require you to pay in full at the time services are rendered. Payment must be by cash or credit card. A personal check will be accepted, but we will need a drivers license number in order to do so.
We understand that health care is expensive and we are doing our best to balance the cost of care for our patients versus the cost of doing business. Unfortunately, in recent years the overhead for our business has increased dramatically, much of this as direct and indirect results of the Affordable Care Act. Most folks would be stunned at the cost of keeping our doors open on a daily basis and obviously this has resulted in occasional fee increases. While it may be hard to believe, the fees we charge are much lower than those found at similar offices across most of the nation.
While we cannot legally compare fees with other doctors, we do use "fee analyzer" publications that are available for retail purchase. Additionally, we occasionally are made aware of fees by patients seeking second opinions and via records sent from other offices. For example, we have treated local college students for complications occurring after wisdom teeth removal in their home cities, but not realized until they are back here in school. Those offices have forwarded treatment records which sometimes included billing records. These cities have included St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago, and Dallas. We have been amazed to see fees in those locations that have all been $550 to $1200 MORE for the total cost of the procedure. We are not "preferred providers" for many dental insurance plans, because most of these companies classify our demographic differently than in most of the nation (this is our opinion and suspicion). Despite all of this, at fees that are much higher elsewhere, it is very likely that having surgery such as wisdom teeth removal done here in Columbia will result in less out-of-pocket expense for the patient — regardless of our "preferred" or "out of network" status.