Patient Information
Welcome to Panhandle Outpatient Surgery Center in Pensacola, Florida! We are pleased you have made the decision to utilize our facility for your upcoming medical procedure. We are dedicated to providing you with safe, exceptional, and personalized medical care at our innovative and state-of-the-art facility.
Below you will find helpful information about what you can expect before and after your procedure, how to prepare for it, and the billing and financial services offered to you at our surgical center.
It is very important we obtain your most recent health history – if we are unable to do so prior to your procedure, your surgery may be postponed.
Because gathering your information can take time, and in order to make this process more convenient for you, we are happy to provide an online Surgery Registration portal. By using the portal, you can provide the required information from the comfort of your home and at your convenience prior to the procedure.
When you are ready and once you are in the portal, we will need the following information from you:
- Current medications
- Allergies to foods, medications, or dyes
- Names & phone numbers for your primary care doctor and any specialists you currently see
- Current medical conditions
- Previous surgeries
Here are some tips about preparing for your appointment with us:
- DO NOT EAT OR DRINK ANYTHING AFTER MIDNIGHT THE DAY BEFORE YOUR PROCEDURE. This is vitally important, and failure to comply could result in complications and may result in postponement of your procedure. If your child is having surgery, please be sure you follow the specific instructions provided by nursing personnel at the time of your pre-procedure phone call. If your child is an infant, our anesthesiologist may have additional instructions for you.
- If you or your child are taking medication for high blood pressure or diabetes, contact your surgeon or one of our nursing staff members to discuss instructions on taking or discontinuing the medication.
- If you experience any health changes between your recent visit to your doctor and the day of your procedure, notify your doctor. Please report even minor changes such as an elevated temperature, cough, or cold.
- If you suspect that you may be pregnant, please notify your doctor.
- No driving afterward. For your own safety and protection, you will not be allowed to drive a motor vehicle following your procedure. Please make arrangements to have someone bring you to and escort you home from the surgery center. Parents may want to have an additional adult present to assist with accompanying their child home.
On the day of your procedure:
- Bathe or shower and brush your teeth as usual the morning of your procedure.
- Do not use any mascara, makeup, lipstick, or contact lenses.
- Remove any nail polish from your fingernails.
- Dress comfortably. You may also want to dress warmly due to the cooler temperatures maintained in the surgery center.
- Please leave all valuables at home, including jewelry, wallets, and purses.
- DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR INSURANCE CARD(S) AND PROOF OF IDENTIFICATION!
- Limit the number of people accompanying you to one. For pediatric patients, both parents are welcome.
Immediately after your procedure, you will be moved to our fully-equipped recovery area. There, our anesthesia and nursing staff will closely monitor you. Your length of stay may vary, but most patients are discharged within 1 – 3 hours.
Your physician will provide post-procedure instructions regarding diet, rest, and medication. The surgery center will provide you with a written summary of these instructions. Plan to have someone stay with you for 24 hours following your procedure and pamper yourself during this time.
Since it is normal to feel drowsy after receiving anesthetic medications, we also recommend that you postpone the following activities for 24 hours after discharge:
- Driving and operating equipment
- Signing important papers
- Making significant decisions
- Drinking alcoholic beverages
Panhandle Outpatient Surgery Center will verify your health insurance benefits prior to surgery and bill your carrier following your procedure.
Estimated patient responsibility of co-pay portions, deductibles, and/or out-of-pocket fees are expected on the day of surgery. We accept cash, checks, credit cards, and CareCredit. If you are unable to pay your portion of the bill, we may be able to set up a payment plan. Discounts or cash-pay prices may be offered if you do not have insurance or if your procedure is not covered by your plan.
Please do not hesitate to contact our business office with any concerns or questions regarding your copay, deductible, or coinsurance obligation and/or payment options at (850) 876-8200.
FloridaHealthFinder.gov
Patients may access the State of Florida’s Agency for Healthcare Administration website at this link for information about this facility: www.floridahealthfinder.gov
Information about payments made to Panhandle Outpatient Surgery Center for defined bundles of services and procedures is available at http://pricing.floridahealthfinder.gov/. The service bundle information is a non-personalized estimate of costs that may be incurred by the patient for anticipated services, and actual costs will be based on services actually provided to the patient.
To learn more about the Price Transparency, Patient Billing and rule 59A-5 click here
Billing Questions
Right to Request an Estimate
Patients and prospective patients have the right to request a personalized estimate from Panhandle Outpatient Surgery Center by calling (850) 876-8200.
Other Providers
Services may be provided in Panhandle Outpatient Surgery Center by the facility as well as by other health care providers who may separately bill the patient and who may or may not participate with the same health insurers or health maintenance organizations as the facility.
Patients and prospective patients may request from this facility and other health care providers a more personalized estimate of charges and other information, such as billing practices. Patients and prospective patients should contact each health care practitioner who will provide services in this surgery center to determine the health insurers and health maintenance organizations with which the health care practitioner participates as a network provider or preferred provider.
Contract Providers
Please contact the health care practitioners anticipated to provide services for your surgery with regards to a personalized estimate, billing practice and participation with your insurance provider or health maintenance organization (HMO) as the contracted practitioners may not participate with the same health insurers or HMO as Panhandle Outpatient Surgery Center.
BMR Anesthesia
888-278-4126
LabCorp.
800.845.6167
www.labcorp.com
Out of Network
A patient receiving treatment at our surgery center under insurance with which our facility is out of network may be eligible to receive an adjustment to their assigned out of network patient liability, assuming our facility is not prohibited from offering Out of Network adjustments under state/Federal laws or your insurance company’s provisions. If not prohibited, the application of any out of network discount is subject to vary based on a patient’s benefit coverage. Accounts which become delinquent may have the adjustment disallowed.
To request an estimate, please call Panhandle Outpatient Surgery Center at (850) 876-8200.
Financial Assistance Policy
Services may be provided in the healthcare facility as well as by other health care providers who may separately bill the patient and such health care providers may or may not participate with the same health insurers or HMO’s as the facility.
Disclosure of Ownership:
Your physician may have a financial interest in Panhandle Outpatient Surgery Center.
Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Section 1557 is the nondiscrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in certain health programs or activities. Section 1557 builds on long-standing and familiar Federal civil rights laws: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975.
To read the Summary of the Final Rule, download the PDF in your language below:
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Right to Receive a Good Faith Estimate of Expected Charges
Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services.
- You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and hospital fees.
- Make sure your health care provider gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing at least 1 business day before your medical service or item. You can also ask your health care provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an item or service.
- If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill.
- Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.
For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call 1-800-985-3059.
When you get emergency care or get treated by an out-of-network provider at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, you are protected from surprise billing or balance billing.
What is “balance billing” (sometimes called “surprise billing”)?
When you see a doctor or other health care provider, you may owe certain out-of-pocket costs, such as a copayment, coinsurance, and/or a deductible. You may have other costs or have to pay the entire bill if you see a provider or visit a health care facility that isn’t in your health plan’s network.
“Out-of-network” describes providers and facilities that haven’t signed a contract with your health plan. Out-of-network providers may be permitted to bill you for the difference between what your plan agreed to pay and the full amount charged for a service. This is called “balance billing.” This amount is likely more than in-network costs for the same service and might not count toward your annual out-of-pocket limit.
“Surprise billing” is an unexpected balance bill. This can happen when you can’t control who is involved in your care—like when you have an emergency or when you schedule a visit at an in-network facility but are unexpectedly treated by an out-of-network provider.
You are protected from balance billing for:
Emergency services
If you have an emergency medical condition and get emergency services from an out-of-network provider or facility, the most the provider or facility may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount (such as copayments and coinsurance). You can’t be balance billed for these emergency services. This includes services you may get after you’re in stable condition, unless you give written consent and give up your protections not to be balanced billed for these post-stabilization services.
Certain services at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center
When you get services from an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, certain providers there may be out-of-network. In these cases, the most those providers may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount. This applies to emergency medicine, anesthesia, pathology, radiology, laboratory, neonatology, assistant surgeon, hospitalist, or intensivist services. These providers can’t balance bill you and may not ask you to give up your protections not to be balance billed.
If you get other services at these in-network facilities, out-of-network providers can’t balance bill you, unless you give written consent and give up your protections.
You’re never required to give up your protections from balance billing. You also aren’t required to get care out-of-network. You can choose a provider or facility in your plan’s network.
When balance billing isn’t allowed, you also have the following protections:
- You are only responsible for paying your share of the cost (like the copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles that you would pay if the provider or facility was in-network). Your health plan will pay out-of-network providers and facilities directly.
- Your health plan generally must:
- Cover emergency services without requiring you to get approval for services in advance (prior authorization).
- Cover emergency services by out-of-network providers.
- Base what you owe the provider or facility (cost-sharing) on what it would pay an in-network provider or facility and show that amount in your explanation of benefits.
- Count any amount you pay for emergency services or out-of-network services toward your deductible and out-of-pocket limit.
If you believe you’ve been wrongly billed, please visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call 1-800-985-3059.
Still have questions about Panhandle Outpatient Surgery Center in Pensacola, Florida? Call us at (850) 876-8200, and we’ll be happy to provide you the information you’re looking for.
