Medical Appointments
Call 713.796.9199
or e-mail MedicalAppts@sba-skincare.com
Cosmetic Appointments or Consultations
Call 713.850.0240 then press 2
or e-mail CosmeticAppts@sba-skincare.com
ABOUT YOUR MEDICAL DERMATOLOGY APPOINTMENT
Insurance
Your time is important to you and to us. One of our objectives at The Center for Medical Dermatology is to get you in, taken care of and on your way as quickly as possible. Getting your insurance information into us prior to your visit will avoid delays associated with insurance verification.
Your insurance company or Medicare will only cover procedures that are medically necessary. In most cases skin tags, benign moles and sebhorrheic keratoses are generally not covered by your carrier. If you want these growths removed, we will be happy to do it on a fee-for-service basis. Check with your doctor or our front office staff for the cost of these procedures before you have them treated. Our objective is to avoid any surprises for you at check out.
In some cases, we are unable to verify insurance prior to your appointment and prior to your checkout, or your insurance carrier will not provide us with information on the amount of deductibles that you have met. In these incidences, we must collect the full amount of your charges or your deductibles at the time of service. In the event your insurance carrier pays us for these services, our mean time to refund such amounts is 30 days from the date of service.
If your coverage requires a referral and you or your insurer does not provide one at the time of your visit, we must collect the full amount of your charges at the time of service. Again should a refund situation arise, we will return any overpaid funds within 30 days from the date of service.
For a list of the medical insurance we take, go to Health Plans.
Patient Registration Forms
Another way to keep your appointment on time is to fill out any required paperwork prior to your first visit. Many of our patient forms can be downloaded from our website. See Downloads on the right side of this screen.
Co-pays and Deductibles
Remember that payment for all co-pays and deductibles is due at the time of your appointment.
Co-pays for office visits are usually higher for specialists (like dermatologists) versus primary-care physicians. So check with your insurance carrier to determine if you have a higher co-pay for specialists.
If one of our physicians performs any of the following; injecting, curettage (scraping), electrodessication (burning), freezing or excising a lesion or growth, your insurance company will consider it an office surgery or procedure. Such outpatient surgeries and procedures are often subject to separate co-pays and/or deductibles. Again, check with your insurance carrier to determine how your benefits apply.
Charges
Suspicious skin lesions are often biopsied to determine if the growth is or is not cancerous. There are two charges associated with biopsies. First, our office charges for the actual biopsy performed. Second, there is a dermatopathology lab charge for preparing and examining the biopsy slides under a microscope. An independent lab will bill your insurance carrier for their fees which are not associated with our office.
We charge separately for your office visit and any procedure performed in our office. The office visit covers the evaluation and management or diagnosis of your particular condition. If a procedure is needed to remedy the condition, you will be informed of your treatment options and their costs so you can make an informed decision about having the procedure performed. In such a case, you should expect a charge for both parts of your visit.
Dr. Bruce is not a provider for Medicare or any of the insurance plans that we honor in our office. Patients seeing Dr. Bruce should be prepared to pay the full amount of their charges at the time of service.
Adolescent Patients
If your child is under the age of 18, a parent or legal guardian must accompany the child to their first appointment. If your child arrives without a parent or legal guardian present, their appointment will be rescheduled.
Automated Appointment Reminders
Our automated appointment confirmation system will call your home two days prior to your scheduled appointment time to remind you of your appointment. Please listen to the entire message and respond by pressing the number “1” if you want to keep your appointment, or the number “5” if you want to cancel your appointment. See Appointment Reminders below for more information.
APPOINTMENT DEPOSIT POLICY
For cosmetic appointments, we require a $100 deposit on all sessions except consultations.
For medical appointments, no deposit is required.
MISSED APPOINTMENT AND CANCELLATION POLICY
In today's hectic world unplanned issues come up for all of us. We recognize this fact, but we respectfully request that you cancel your scheduled appointment by phone or e-mail a minimum of 24 hours in advance. That way the open slot can be filled with someone needing an appointment.
For cosmetic appointments, failure to provide such notice will result in forfeiture of the $100 deposit.
For medical appointments, if you do not cancel by the deadline, you will be assessed a $35.00 missed appointment fee. This fee is not covered by insurance carriers or Medicare and will be your responsibility to pay at the time of your next visit. Our aim here is to open otherwise unused appointments for our patients, not to collect missed appointment fees. Your cooperation and consideration are appreciated as we institute this new policy.
APPOINTMENT REMINDERS
As a courtesy to our clients, we call to remind you two days in advance of your appointment. We use HouseCallsTM, a personalized appointment reminder system that will call you between 6 and 8 p.m. at your primary contact number (usually home) to remind you of your upcoming appointment.
Here's how it works. HouseCalls will call and deliver a message pertaining to your next visit. After you hear your appointment reminder message, you
- press 1 to confirm your appointment,
- press 2 to replay the message,
- press 3 to leave a message for the doctor or nurse, or
- press 5 to cancel your appointment.
We added HouseCalls to provide you a higher level of service and a more efficient means of communication. Additionally, HouseCalls will enable our staff to fully concentrate on serving you during your appointment. Let us know what you think about HouseCalls, and please call or send an e-mail to kgoodman@sba-skincare.com with any questions.
If we have your on-line address on file, we will also confirm your appointment by e-mail.
THE CENTER FOR
MEDICAL DERMATOLOGY
1900 St. James Place
Suite 600
Houston, Texas 77056
713.796.9199
Monday through Friday
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
THE CENTER FOR
COSMETIC DERMATOLOGY
1900 St. James Place
Suite 650
Houston, Texas 77056
713.850.0240
Monday through Friday
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
and Saturday
9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Select Location for a printable map with driving locations.
DOWNLOADS
To view and print the following items, you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader.
If you don't have this free software, click here to download a copy.
Patient Registration Forms
Download our patient registration forms to print and fill out in advance and save time on your first appointment.
Please read "About Your Dermatology Appointment", Appointment Deposit Policy", "Missed Appointment and Cancellation Policy", and "Appointment Reminders" before downloading these forms.
Click one of the following to download:
Cosmetic Dermatology
Medical Dermatology
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