Health Insurance: The Physicians' Perspective

Pediatric Associates of Austin has been providing quality care for children since 1974. Although many changes in the health care field have taken place since that time, we continue to strive for individual, personal care for our patients and their families. In order to maintain our high standard, we must maintain a high quality staff.  Our nurses are all Registered Nurses some of whom have been with us for 20 years.  Additionally, we do not "overbook" our schedule which means we can spend more time with each individual family. We offer a full service laboratory and x-ray facility which means that you do not have to travel to an outside facility to obtain your child's labs.

After your child has received his or her medical care, we submit a claim to the insurance company.  It then may take up to 60 days for the insurance company to pay the claim to us assuming that the claim was submitted perfectly.  The discounted fees that we accept from health plans have been negotiated and contractually agreed upon by both parties.  Unfortunately, some health plans choose to ignore parts of the contract by selectively not paying for various services. 

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has begun to take notice, but the process is a slow one. (Please see the link to the TDI Web Site --Physician/Provider News from the Texas Department of Insurance). Many insurance companies were required to pay administrative penalties to the State of Texas for late, incorrect or non-payment of clean claims. 

We are well aware of the rising costs of health care. The cost of running a private practice has risen as well. Vaccine and other medical supply prices have increased as well. We do try to contain costs when we can. We will not, however, compromise our overall quality to do so.