New Highline Urgent Care Medical Clinic – New Patient Downpayment

[westseagal]

There was a previous post regarding this topic that was closed due to posting violations & inaccuracies. Per forum rules, that post will soon be deleted.

However, I found the information contained in that post – once corrected – to be VERY helpful and of high enough importance to bring to the attention of other forum members, so I am re-starting the thread with more accurate information.

If you want to be seen at the new Highline Urgent Care facility (on 41st), and you have not been a previous patient of any Highline facility, they will charge you a $125 down payment to be seen. If you have insurance, any overage in cost will be refunded to you AFTER the claim has been processed. But they still require $125 up front in order to render services. (If you do not have insurance, there is a minimum $125 flat fee, and perhaps more depending on services rendered.) You can read about Highline’s financial policy on their website – link here:

http://www.highlinemedicalcenter.org/files/library/_066.pdf

While I understand the original poster inaccurately portrayed this payment as an additional fee rather than a deposit that may be partially or totally refunded once your insurance claim is processed, I understand that poster’s shock & frustration at learning of this policy. As a person with medical insurance, I do not expect to have to come up with a ‘down payment’ over & above my insurance at time of services if I am able to provide valid proof of coverage. $125 is a large sum of money that is not easy to find ‘lying around’ – the surprise of a policy like this would leave me frustrated and upset as well … especially in an emergent situation where time could be of the essence.

I am very grateful that I was made aware of this policy in advance, so that if I choose to patronize the new Urgent Care Center, I know that there will be a $125 down payment required. I just wanted to say thank you to the original poster for bringing this to my attention.

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[Bostonman]

I just had my first appointment at that facility with my new doctor. I have never been there before. In fact I haven’t been to a doctor for 4 years. I paid my co pay of $20. I don’t know if I was a fluke or if it only applies to people with no insurance or only to people being seen for urgent care. I was there for a physical.

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[westseagal]

I just called the office to seek clarification. She confirmed that even though covered by a major health insurance provider, as a new patient to the Highline group, I would be required to pay the $125 up front – to be partially or fully refunded once my insurance claim was processed.

She did mention that this policy does not apply to the walk in clinics. However, there is no longer a walk-in clinic at this location because the urgent care center replaced the walk in clinic.

Bostonman – I am guessing that perhaps your visit was before they turned into an urgent care?

Hope this helps …

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[metrognome]

I don’t have a problem with this fee whatsoever. Medical and dental clinics spend a huge amount of time dealing with insurance companies, and that cost is passed on to patients in the form of higher fees for services. Some of the delays in insurance claim processing payments for providers is that patients don’t follow through in a timely manner; I bet the $125 helps speed them up. Also, some people claim to have insurance they don’t actually have and their status can’t always be checked before service is provided.

HMG also offers a 20% discount if the entire estimated bill is paid at the time of service. That means you may save money because the YOU get to deal with your insurance company.

if bostonman’s wife or kids went to HMG before, this would explain why he wasn’t charged the $125 fee.

here’s the link to their policy:

http://www.highlinemedicalcenter.org/files/library/_066.pdf

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[Highline Medical Center]

As the Administrator of Highline’s physician clinics, I hope that I can share some background information that may be helpful in this discussion about urgent care fees. The policy of requiring a deposit at the time of service is actually the community standard among urgent care clinics in the area for several main reasons. Urgent care clinics have additional fees that relate to the costs of providing health care services after normal business hours, on weekends and holidays as well as providing the additional convenience of not requiring an appointment. These factors do mean that the cost is more than a regular office visit but much less than an emergency room visit. Urgent care clinics are not intended to replace your routine or regular physician office visit and really are most appropriate for health care needs that can not wait for an appointment and are not emergent.

At Highline Urgent Care in West Seattle, we collect a deposit on services in primarily three cases: 1) if we have not seen the patient before and/or billed his/her insurance; 2) if patient does not have insurance and is paying cash and/or 3) if the patient has a history of un-paid bills with our organization. The deposit amount at time of service is $125. We do refund a portion or all the $125 within approximately ten days after insurance has paid. Insurance plans cover urgent care services at varying rates; so it is important to check your individual plan.

Our goal is to make sure people of West Seattle receive the care they need when they need it. We take all feedback seriously and certainly would not want there to be any confusion about our policies. If there are additional questions, feel free to contact our clinic and talk directly with our office manager, Lisa Randall at 933-1041.

Susan Pursell, Administrator, Highline Medical Group

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[skeeter]

This deposit sounds reasonable to me. When a new patient is seen, a medical provider is taking a risk if she is not receiving payment at time of service.

I know that my medical and dental provider do not require a deposit now, nor did they require a deposit when I first received services as a new patient. They just roll the dice and hope that I’ll pay or my insurance will pay. But I wouldn’t be at all upset if they decided they no longer want to roll the dice.

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[CeeBee]

Contrary to what Highline Medical Center posted, that’s not what I was told. I have been a patient of the Highline Clinic staff since it was in Morgan Junction – 15 years ago. I dropped in to see if I could have a sample taken for what I suspected was an infection and I didn’t want to wait to schedule an appointment. I was briefed about the $125 cost and 1) I did not get the impression it was a “downpayment” and 2) even though the staff person who was helping me knew my regular doctor was part of that clinic, they didn’t say anything about not collecting the fee because I didn’t meet any of the 3 conditions listed by HMC. I signed the form to decline the service – I should have asked for a copy. The good news is that the regular clinic staff understood my predicament and managed to get me an appointment for the sample within the next hour – kudos to them! But I won’t be back for urgent care without being taking the info from HMC posted above and asking about their policies.

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[gooseface]

I went in on 11/5 to be seen about a cold that wouldn’t go away. The $125 deposit made sense, but then on one of the forms I had to sign it mentioned a $100 fee specific to the clinic and that not all insurance companies cover the fee. I got nervous about that so I left, since I just had a cold. I could have misunderstood, but just a head’s up.

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[Anonymous]

I want to relay an experience that I had with the West Seattle urgent care clinic and the $125.00 deposit. I was seen by the clinic on 10/10 and paid the $125.00 deposit then. I was advised at that time that I would receive a refund back to my credit card after my insurance paid the claim. My insurance sent a check out to Highline on 11/14 to cover the charges. I called Highline billing over two weeks later, on 11/29, as I hadn’t received the credit yet. I was told at that time that my insurance hadn’t yet paid the claim (this prompted another call to my insurance company; they again insisted that the check went out to Highline on 11/14). It is now 12/15, almost ten weeks after I was originally treated, and I still don’t have a refund. I just called Highline again, and this time was told that I hadn’t received a refund of the $125.00 because I hadn’t requested a refund yet. ?? They said that they still have a few things to look over in my file, and I should expect a check to be sent to my home address “soon.” My point here is, expect that your $125.00 will be tied up for quite some time after your initial date of service.

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[JanS]

so if I need urgent care, but not an ER, and I don’t have $125 off the top, I might as well forget it?

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