Your Provider’s Fee Payment Policy
for Appointment Fees | Your Neonatal Care Invoice | or other Invoice
Your provider’s fees link closely with the quality and sustainability of their services. The Fee Payment Policy aims for fairness, minimising and covering costs and reducing the need for fee increases.
INVOICE DUE DATES - please ensure your full payment by:
· Appointment Fees-the same day, immediately after your child’s appointment. Some families may be required to pay a deposit prior to the commencement of the next appointment.
· Cancellation Fees-by 4 pm on the day following the issue of the invoice.
· Hospital Neonatal Care Accounts- six weeks after your baby’s birth or 14 days from the invoice date, whichever is later.
· Other emailed invoices –within seven days of the invoice date (e.g. allied health home visit, late fee invoices)
PAYMENT OF THE WHOLE INVOICED AMOUNT IS REQUIRED
· To ensure all rebates are paid in one step within about six business hours (normally).
· Because an unpaid claim for a Medicare cheque will normally result in account settlement and rebate delay, late fees and additional costs to the family and your provider.
· To avoid and minimise administrative costs.
Do not claim a Medicare Cheque for full or part payment.
Veterans should pay all invoices and seek DVA reimbursement as your provider is not DVA registered & DVA does not cover paediatric healthcare.
PAYMENT METHODS
Preferred VISA, MasterCard & AMEX payment by: EFTPOS or Credit Card in person at the Reception desk.
Online transfer payments (EFT Direct Deposit) with longer processing time and wait for rebates:
PayID- i.e. using your providers’ ABN on invoices- please use this as it is the most secure.
If your bank does not have PayID, please email to request your providers’ bank account details.
Please identify your payment with the invoice number or child's name & birth date
Please email remittance advice and allow around a week for processing.
Cash is not accepted except to pay the first item of a neonatal invoice if parents have not been advised of this policy before the birth of their baby. A surcharge, inclusive of GST, of $50 plus 3% of the cash amount paid will apply to cash payments to cover the associated and disproportionate extra administrative costs. Cash is not kept on the premises; correct change will be given via online bank transfer but preferably kept in your account as a deposit.
NDIS funds cannot be accepted for payment of any services provided by our medical specialists.
CONCERNS ABOUT MANAGING THE PAYMENT?
· Paying your account in the morning over the phone or Video with the Receptionist allows an earlier rebate claim so that you are more likely to receive Medicare rebates by the end of the day.
· Medicare Safety Net’s additional rebates often allow further reduced gaps, especially for families’ neonatal accounts.
· An itemised payment plan for neonatal care or some larger home visit invoices may be offered.
· If Medicare enrolment is delayed due to exceptional reasons and the wait for rebates would cause significant stress to family finances, an extension of time may be agreed upon.
PARENTS ARE JOINTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INVOICE FOR THEIR CHILD’S HEALTHCARE.
Ask for our Joint Parental Responsibilities and Paediatric Healthcare handout if separated or estranged.
YOUR PROVIDER DOES NOT BULK BILL.
Any previous Bulk Bill or concession by your provider or other associated provider does not constitute a promise, guarantee or indication of further Bulk Billing or concessions. We advise fees in writing and families should expect these fees will be billed for any service unless management has expressly advised otherwise and only in the exceptional limited situations explained in the Concessions Policy.
COST RECOVERY & REMEDIES FOR OVERDUE ACCOUNTS
It is firm practice policy that all accounts are settled and all costs of delayed settlement are recovered with late fees or, if needed, through legal or debt recovery services. This is a matter of fairness.
Delays in payment or the provision of health fund details add significantly to administrative costs. If not addressed, these costs unfairly burden your provider and the families who pay their accounts promptly. For further explanation, see our Billing Policy.
Late Payment Fees are billed to recover some of these costs. We understand an account can simply be overlooked, and send a reminder by email (or verbally) to help the family avoid these fees.
LATE PAYMENT FEES
Late payment fees: A Late Fee of 1.5% of the invoiced amount plus GST will accrue and may be applied from the time the account is overdue (within 24 hours of the invoice being issued) for all services other than Neonatal Accounts. Further Late Fees will accrue and be applied if not settled within 7 days of the due date. Further Late Fees will apply every seven days at 4 pm while the account remains unsettled. Reminder letters will be sent when Late Fees accrue.
Neonatal Care Account Late Fees. The due date for payment is by 4 pm is on the day your newborn is six weeks old or on the 14th day after the invoice issue date, whichever is later. The first Late Fee of 1.5% of the outstanding balance +GST will accrue 4 pm on the due day but its application deferred. Reminder 1 Letter is sent if the account is not paid by the due date. If your account remains unsettled by seven days following the Reminder 1 Letter, a second Late Fee accrues and will be applied to your account together with the first Late Fee and a Reminder 2 Letter sent. If the account remains unsettled by 4 pm on the 7th day following the Reminder 2 Letter, a third Late Fee will accrue and be applied and Reminder 3 Letter sent at that time. Further Late Fees will accrue and apply at each further seven-day interval at 4 pm until the account is settled.
Additional Invoices following an outstanding invoice: When an invoice is overdue, any further invoice/s issued for subsequent services in the same course of treatment or therapy not paid by 4 pm on the due date will be treated as if being part of the initial still unpaid invoice. From this point, the Late Fee, being 1.5% plus GST, will be calculated and applied to the total outstanding balance of the account, and we add this to the account every seven days that the whole account balance is not settled.
Do not claim a Medicare Cheque without the written agreement of the Manager. Account settlement with an unpaid Medicare claim and gap payment is not offered at any time. Late fees will accrue and be applied to all outstanding account balances as described above, notwithstanding that a parent claimed a Medicare Cheque, or the Cheque is pending or provided for paying a portion of the account Where an account is not fully settled, including where late fees remain outstanding, the late fee calculated on the original balance will continue to accrue and be applied as if the account remains fully unsettled.
WHERE ACCOUNTS REMAIN OUTSTANDING BEYOND 35 DAYS,
After the due date, and
after we have sent you at least 3 written reminders by email or post:
A Debt Recovery Fee of $250 will be added to the account to help cover costs.
We will transfer the outstanding account to our debt recovery service or lawyer.
If legal action is required, we will seek to recoup the debt with all further legal, recovery, administrative, interest and other associated costs.
For outstanding neonatal care accounts, in addition to the above steps, we may notify the admitting hospital and the referring obstetrician that your provider and their associated colleagues will require a deposit of $1600 to be paid to Prosper Paediatrics before any further obstetric admission, and this amount will then be applied to the invoice of the paediatrician and their locum, if any, who consequently accepts referral of your newborn.
RESPONSIBILITIES TO PROVIDE ACCURATE CONTACT DETAILS
Families should ensure they provide all requested details and advise any changes. Parents should enter our email address in their email contacts so it is recognised. Late fee accrual and invoice payment due dates will not be adjusted where an address or correct address for email or post has not been supplied, or where they have not been updated or where our communications have gone to the spam or junk folders of a parent’s email. Families are also required to provide contact phone numbers and to make all reasonable efforts to respond promptly to our calling or sending of SMS. The acceptance of private specialist provider’s services leads to an obligation in law for the prompt payment of the fees for those services.