The Business Office is comprised of three separate departments, namely Scheduling, Billing and Medical Records.

Important Notice:

For your information, Bill SB228 was implemented on January 1, 2004. It is legislation now governing all issues that relate to Workers’ Compensation. These issues include reimbursement rates and assignment of treating physicians, among many others.

This new law has its “loopholes.” Insurance companies are interpreting and using the new law to benefit themselves. Since the implementation of SB228, all requests for patient treatment have to go through medical utilization review. Authorization no longer depends solely on claims examiners’ judgment. Consequently, this process is much longer, taking between two to four weeks for each request. On top of this, in spite of having authorizations in place, we have started to receive either reduced payments or outright denials of payment for services rendered, for varying reasons. Some claims are processed at 120% of Medicare rates. Other claims are processed according to totally different fee schedules.

To date, most practices, including Spinal Diagnostics & Treatment Center, are unsure of reimbursement rates according to SB228. Standard guidelines have yet to be established.

Although faced with great uncertainty, we would like to inform you that we will continue to treat patients covered by Workers’ Compensation. Other ambulatory surgery centers and private practices already mandated a decrease in the number of Workers’ Compensation patients they saw in the past couple of months and patients they will see in the near future. This will allow them time to assess the payment scheme for said patients. We, on the other hand, will continue to provide the care and services for which we have become renowned.

Should you have any questions regarding the authorization and medical utilization review process, please feel free to contact Ivy Chua at (650) 755-0722 for last names A-L or Lucia Ardon (650) 757-2349 for last names M-Z.

Scheduling:

The goal of our Scheduling Department is to set up patient appointments in a timely manner, ensuring that the highest quality of patient service and satisfaction is maintained.

Appointments are scheduled according to the first initial of the patient’s last name. This ensures that a patient will always have the same scheduler dealing with his or her particular case, which facilitates all stages of the scheduling process.

The scheduler for patients whose last names begin with the letters:

A - L is Natalie Ortaliz. She can be reached directly at (650) 757-2350.
M - Z is Karen Zevallos. She can be reached directly at (650) 755-6729.

Billing:

We are well aware of the variations in insurance plans and coverage, that is why we verify your benefits and obtain pre-authorization if required, before we even contact you to schedule your appointment. A specialized financial counselor is available to help you understand each stage of the insurance verification and billing process. The direct line to the financial counselor, Michele Freutel, is (650) 757-2344. Please feel free to call her with any questions or concerns you may have.

Medical Records:

The Medical Records Department is responsible for maintaining accurate records for each patient seen at Spinal Diagnostics. Clerks file records accurately, distribute charts throughout the facility, file correspondence, and address requests for medical records accordingly.

The Business Office is supervised by Annie Lambert. The collective goal is to ensure that patients are provided the services they need with a 100% satisfaction rate. Again, if you have any questions or concerns, Annie can be reached at (650) 755-5098.

home