Our Policies

Phone Calls

Nurse Phone Calls

Sunset has dedicated nurses to answer patient phone calls throughout the day. Parents are welcome to call to get answers to routine questions and concerns and to help determine a child’s need to come in for an appointment. While our doctors and staff make great efforts to handle appropriate concerns over the phone, most illnesses are best evaluated in person. Therefore, our phone nurses and doctors may recommend that your child come in for an appointment.

After Hours Phone Calls
During the hours in which our clinic is closed, we remain available to our patients for any urgent concerns by phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We ask that you kindly use our regular office hours for routine and non-urgent questions. For urgent after hours calls, please contact our regular office number at 503-296-7800 and our answering service will get your information and contact one of our on call pediatricians. Should you have issues connecting with the answering service through our phone number you can contact them directly at 503-963-6123.

Please have the following information on hand for after hours calls:

1. Patient name, date of birth, and current temperature
2. The names of any medications the patient is taking

EMERGENCY INFORMATION: For life threatening emergencies, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room. If you feel Poison Control is needed, the phone number is 1-800-222-1222.

Billing

Please note that it is your responsibility to understand your insurance plan and coverage. Sunset Pediatrics will bill insurances that we are contracted with, as a courtesy on your behalf. If you are unsure whether a service is covered, please contact your insurance company to determine your current coverage prior to your visit.

Credit Card on File

On January 1st, 2019, we launched our Credit Card on File program to make payment easier and more convenient for our patients! Please click here to read more information about the program.

Insurance Card

Please remember to bring your insurance card to EVERY office visit. We must have the most accurate and up to date information in order to properly file your claim and prevent any confusion in payments.

Payment Policy

All copays and coinsurances are due at the time of service. We accept cash, check, American Express, Discover, Visa, and Mastercard.

If you have questions about self-paying for services received at our clinic, please refer to the graphic below.

You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate explaining how much your medical care will cost if you are self-paying for services at our clinic. If you have questions, please refer to this flyer.

Insurance and Covered Benefits

Sunset Pediatrics accepts most major private insurance plans. If you have a question about accepting your insurance plan, please call our office at 503-296-7800. We may also ask that you send us documentation through our billing email, billing@sunsetpediatrics.com.

It is vital that you to review your insurance policy to learn what your policy covers and what is excluded. It is your responsibility to know if your insurance will cover your child’s appointment and services. Patients are responsible for payment of their accounts, regardless of insurance. If your insurance plan requires an office visit co-payment, it is required at the time of the visit. Sunset Pediatrics bills all major insurance companies with which we are contracted for our patients.

Insurance Guidelines

Physicians are required to follow basic CPT and ICD-10 coding guidelines when determining how to code for services. We must code your visit based upon what services were provided and cannot take into account particular health plan benefit designs. Consequently, it is unethical for us to switch the visit reason and diagnosis in order for a claim to be covered by your insurance. If you think an error has occurred on your account, please contact our billing office immediately.

Adding Newborns to Insurance

Please contact your insurance company as soon as possible after your child is born. Most health plans allow 30 days to add a newborn to your insurance plan.

Unpaid Accounts

We employ every effort to notify you of balances on your account and work with our patients to resolve any pending balances. If your account is not paid or payment arrangements are not kept, we will assign your account to a credit bureau.

Appointments

Missed Appointments/Cancellations
If you are unable to keep your appointment, please call at least 24 hours in advance to cancel. Even if it is within this 24 hour window, please be courteous and call us if you know you will not be able to keep your appointment time. This will allow us to better serve you and our other patients.

Any appointments cancelled less than 24 hours in advance are considered no show appointments and may be assessed a $75 fee. Missed appointments without notification will be considered a no call/no show appointment. 3 or more no call/no shows may result in dismissal from the practice.

Late Policy
Sunset Pediatrics strongly enforces our 15 Minute Rule. If you arrive 15 minutes or more late for your Well Child Appointment you will be re-scheduled. The reason for this rule is to help our physicians keep as close to schedule as possible. Our physicians work hard to respect your time, please be courteous and respect their time as well as those who are scheduled after your visit by arriving on time.

Vaccine Policy and Philosophy

Sunset Pediatrics follows the immunization guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the CDC. For information about these vaccines and the diseases they protect against, please visit the AAP immunization website found here.

For detailed informational sheets published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) please visit their website found here.

Our Vaccine Philosophy

Our practice believes that all children should receive the recommended vaccines according to the guidelines provided by the AAP and the CDC. Vaccines are safe and effective in preventing diseases and health complications in children and young adults. Regular vaccinations help children ward off infections, and are administered as one of the safest and best methods of disease prevention.

We are happy to discuss your concerns about vaccines at your child’s next visit.