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Referral tips to ensure a smooth visit with your dermatologist

No one likes to arrive at the doctor’s office and find out that there is an issue with their insurance. This can delay the check-in process or may result in the patient having to self-pay for the visit. At SkinCare Physicians, our team of trained referral professionals is committed to help you to avoid insurance issues. They have one central principal in mind … to make sure that we communicate with you in every step of the way when it comes to your insurance plans and referrals.

What is a referral coordinator?

A referral coordinator is a professional who deals exclusively with information transferred from insurance carriers and primary care physicians (PCP) through written, verbal, or electronically submitted documentation pertaining to insurance referrals and insurance plans.

At SkinCare Physicians, our Referral Department consists of 4 dedicated professionals; Senior Referral Coordinator, Loretta Jackson-Felicien who has served our patients for over 16 years, Paul Russo, Kevin Coffie, and April Brown.

How can a referral coordinator help you with your insurance plan and referrals?

Our skilled referral experts ensure that your insurance plan is active and free of any discrepancies when you initially make your appointment. They also verify the status of your insurance referral by using multiple insurance carrier websites similar to the ones that your primary care physician use when generating your referral. A few days prior to your visit, our team members check the insurance verifications and referral statuses and confirm that your insurance plan and referral are on file. If a problem is detected with either your insurance plan or your referral, they will notify you immediately.

We’re not done yet…

Sometimes our patients need urgent appointments and must request their insurance referral on the day of their visit. Other times they are so busy that they forget to follow up with their PCP and confirm with their specialist’s office that the referral was received. No worries! If we do not receive your referral a few days after your visit, our team will notify your PCP to check on its status. We even go a step further! If we still do not obtain your referral, we will notify you so that you have time to reach out to your PCP to resolve any issues.

What can you do to avoid insurance plan and insurance referral problems?

To ensure that you do not encounter issues with your insurance plan or insurance referral, we encourage you to do the following:

• Communicate with your insurance plan every 6 months to make sure that your demographic and PCP information is up to date. Do this for your family members as well.
• For HMO members, contact your PCP as soon as you have scheduled an appointment with your dermatologist and provide the following information:
  • Dermatologist’s Full Name and National Provider Identifier (NPI)
  • Appointment Date
  • Dermatologist’s address, telephone and fax numbers
• Call our office a few days prior to your visit to confirm that your referral was received.
• For urgent same-day appointments, contact your PCP office and speak to a live person to make them aware that you are scheduled for an urgent appointment on the same day and ask them to note the referral request as “Urgent”.
• During your employer’s open enrollment time, if you decide to keep the same insurance carrier but would like to switch plans, make sure you understand the guidelines and policies of your new plan. Example: switching from a PPO to and HMO plan. If your new insurance plan requires a PCP and a referral, make sure that you list you PCP’s name on the open enrollment form to avoid future issues at the specialist’s office.
• Shred old insurance cards to avoid confusion and delays during your next check-in process, and also to decrease your risk of identity theft.
• After you have received your new insurance card, contact both your PCP’s and specialist’s offices and share your new insurance information so that it is on file prior to any future visits.

Getting an insurance referral, may seem like a daunting task, but our referral department is here to help. If you follow our tips, your next visit to SkinCare Physicians or any specialist will be easy.

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