A Few Words About Clinical Services At Vista Health Services, Inc.
Treatment Involves Making And Keeping Appointments.
This is a private clinical practice, not a public clinic, so expectations of making and keeping appointments may be different from what you may have experienced at other health care offices or public clinics. Office hours are by appointment and we do not overbook, unlike other doctor’s offices. All appointments are usually 45 minutes long. We try not to start late or go overtime so people can get in and out within an hour and not have their other daily activities disrupted. Initial visits for new patients may run a little longer.
All appointments are confirmed by text message, email or phone messages from Angela, our scheduling service. Angela will usually remind you of the day and time of your appointments, except Angela gets a little confused sometimes and may accidentally forget to remind you, so don’t be tricked by Angela. Remembering and keeping appointments is a key treatment responsibility and is considered part of any treatment protocol. Successful treatment protocols rely upon consistent and committed attendance.
If appointments are skipped, missed or cancelled without at least 24 hours advanced notice, we charge a “time reserved” fee of $75.00. We ask for 24 hours notice in order to offer the cancelled appointment to another party and typically, families need as much notice as possible to change their schedules and attend. Time reserved fees cannot be paid by insurance. If two appointments are skipped or cancelled within any 30 day period, treatment here will be considered terminated and no future appointments may be made. Once a patient leaves treatment here before treatment has ended, they typically are not permitted to return and seek further treatment except by permission and due to unusual circumstances.
It is usually easier to make your follow-up appointments in the office before you leave. We no longer offer online appointment scheduling.
Insurance Companies Know That They Aren’t The Ones Responsible For Fees And Payments: You Are.
Unfortunately, the present insurance environment is confusing and unfriendly to everyone and it is you, not your insurance company, who are responsible for all payments due, including those that your insurance company is supposed to pay, but does not. Unlike some other clinics or public health practices, Vista Health Services, Inc. and Michael Abruzzese, Ph.D., only have contracts with Blue Cross, Medicare and Tufts Commercial Health Plan. We do not accept any other insurance plans or services and do not bill them for services. We do not request authorizations or submit medical claims on your behalf to any non-contracted third party and we are not able to assist you with any claim reimbursement or resolution procedures.
We do not send monthly bills to patients unless one is specifically requested because all bills are given to patients at the time of services rendered and co-pays must be paid at the time of the appointment.
If you have a credit card or HSA, you may be able to pay office fees and insurance copay amounts by using our PayPal account. Service fees are subject to change without notice. A PayPal link is located throughout our website for your convenience.
If you have any questions regarding our HIPAA Notice or our health information privacy policies, please ask us. You can contact us directly for our Privacy Officer and we can be reached by phone at 508 775 6766. We can be reached by using the contact form located on our website.
Our goal is to provide the best Cognitive Behavioral, Neuropsychological, Forensic and Psycho-Educational health services that we can offer.