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Admissions
If you are interested in receiving services at the Center the first step is to complete our Intake/Application Form and send it to the Center via fax [(973) 754-4330] or regular mail. Once the intake form is obtained and you get insurance approval you will be contacted to schedule an evaluation. Please review our Insurance Approval description as part of the process to begin receiving services.
If you are coming from out of state, it is recommended that you call the Center at 973-754-4300 to speak with one of the senior clinicians. The senior clinician will instruct you to complete the intake form but will also require a video tape to be made so that the team can evaluate your child's eating skills. If your child does not eat orally, you may videotape a therapy session, a tube feeding or other skill. A 2 minute segment of your child's movement patterns during play will be helpful to assess respiratory or motor concerns. The team looks carefully at the oral motor, motor, medical and behavioral interactions from the videotapes to determine if a child is appropriate for our services. After reviewing the videotape and intake form, the senior clinician will call you to discuss your child and the services we can offer. Typically out of state children are admitted directly to the Day Treatment program, however if you are interested in a one day evaluation only, that is an option.
Our Center is here to provide a service for children with feeding difficulties. Insurance questions are always at the top of the list. The most common questions being " Will my insurance company cover the cost of treatment?" " What insurances do we accept?" "What are the costs if my insurance does not cover?"
Our parents need to be more aware of their insurance and what benefits they provide. Investigating their benefits would be the biggest help.
The insurance companies prevent us from billing a global rate, which provides multiple services including medical services, therapeutic services. Each service that is provided need to be authorized by the insurance company. Services that are provided and not covered become the responsibility of the parent.
Insurance companies are becoming more and more difficult to deal with. Every call that is made and/or questions asked about coverage are answered with " this is not a guarantee of payment". Even after getting a referral/precert/authorization is not a guarantee of payment and the patient/parent could still have some financial responsibility. All claims are processed thru medical review and determined at that time if they will be covered
Parents sometimes need to make a very difficult decision: Do I come even if my insurance does cover the expenses? Will I be able to handle the financial responsibility of the non-covered benefits? If parents become more aware of their covered benefits then if needed they can be confident to appeal any denied services. Your employers choose the insurance packages and they need to be aware of the difficulties you may be having.
We are here to help and answer questions concerning insurance payments, but you as a parent need to be the guiding force to getting services covered by your insurance company for your child.
For patients whose insurance does not cover services provided, St. Joseph's offers the following discounts for prompt payment:
- 7.5% for full payment within 5 business days
- 5% for full payment within 10 business days
For patients who have difficulty paying the balance in full you may contact Patient Financial Services to set up a payment plan of no longer than 6 months.
Please be aware that if you do not speak English fluently it is your responsibility to bring an interpreter to your child's evaluation and treatment sessions. Evaluation and treatment will not be denied to your child but you must in advance be aware that the session will be limited in that a language barrier will exist.
Por favor este informado que si Usted no habla Ingles, es su responsabilidad de trear un interprete para sus citas de evaluacion y las sesiones del tratamiento. La evaluacion y el tratamiento no se la va' a negar a su hijo/hija por usted Tener que ser informado que la sesion sera' limitada y que la barrera del idioma existe.