Billing & Physician Fees
DeSoto Memorial Hospital is committed to transparency and providing our patients with the information they need to make their health care decisions. We ensure that each patient understands their financial responsibility for medical services, and help with financial aid options when needed. Our Patient Accounting Department provides patients with an initial itemized statement and any subsequent statement will show the most current balance owed until all payments are made by the insurance company or the patient.
We have a number of programs to help make paying for your health care more manageable, including discounts for low-income patients and for prompt payment.
-
Payment Plans - If you owe less than $5,000 and have a social security number you qualify for CarePayment. CarePayment offers a 25 month, 0% interest rate plan. For amounts larger than $5,001 you can establish a payment plan with a financial counselor at DMH.
-
Sliding Scale Payments are based on your income. Payments may be as low as 10% of charges. If you are an uninsured or underinsured patient, your income is at or below the U.S. government’s poverty level and you do not qualify for government assistance such as Medicaid, you may be eligible for Charity Care and Financial Assistance. For more information on our policy and procedure for Charity Care and Financial Assistance please click here or call our Business Office at (863) 494-8420 and ask to speak with a financial counselor.
To see if you qualify, please complete the following applications and return them to the Business Office at DMH in person or by mail.
We have discount programs that may be available for patients without insurance. You may receive an additional discount by paying for some services in advance or at the time they are rendered (Prompt pay discount).
Patients can request a personalized written estimate for services by completing the Estimate Request Form, click here.
Forms may be returned by Fax (863) 491-4328 or by mail to:
DMH, Attn. Patient Accounts - Estimates
P.O. Box 2177 Arcadia, FL 34265
For questions relating to your bill or personalized estimate, please call (863) 494-8420.
Additional Information:
The State of Florida offers the Florida Health Finder Website which provides hospital quality and performance information. The State also offers a site for data on health care costs and pricing. The pricing website, https://pricing.floridahealthfinder.gov/ provides information on payments made to facilities for defined service bundles and procedures. The service bundle information is a non-personalized estimate of costs that may be incurred by the patient for anticipated services. Actual costs will be based on services actually provided to the patient; please contact DeSoto Memorial Hospital to obtain an estimated cost for services by calling
(863) 494-8420.
The Mission to Care website, https://missiontocare.org/, also contains pricing information. It combines data from publicly available resources to display average prices by hospital and medical condition or procedure. The data is based on commercial insurance rates only. Because the Mission to Care website does not provide exact information about what patients will pay, patients are encouraged to contact DeSoto Memorial Hospital to receive an estimated cost of services by calling (863) 494-8420.
DeSoto Memorial Hospital determines its standard charges for patient items and services through the use of a chargemaster system, which is a list of charges for the components of patient care that go into every patient’s bill. These are the baseline rates for items and services provided at the Hospital. The chargemaster is developed based upon direct negotiations with various Commercial Health Plans and various State and Federal regulations. The chargemaster is similar in concept to the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (“MSRP”) on a particular product or good. The charges listed provide only a general starting point in determining the potential costs of an individual patient’s care at the Hospital. This list does not reflect the actual out-of-pocket costs that may be paid by a patient for any particular service, it is not binding, and the actual charges for items and services may vary.
Many factors may influence the actual cost of an item or service, including insurance coverage, rates negotiated with payors, and so on. Government payors, such as Medicare and Medicaid for example, do not pay the chargemaster rates, but rather have their own set rates that hospitals are obligated to accept. Commercial insurance payments are based on contract negotiations with payors and may or may not reflect the standard charges. The cost of treatment also may be impacted by variables involved in a patient’s actual care, such as specific equipment or supplies required, the length of time spent in surgery or recovery, additional tests, or any changes in care or unexpected conditions or complications that arise. Moreover, the foregoing list of charges for services only includes charges from the Hospital. It does not reflect the charges for physicians, such as the surgeon, Emergency Room physician, Hospitalist, radiologist, pathologist, or other physician specialists or providers who may be involved in providing particular services to a patient. These charges are billed separately.
Individuals with questions about their out-of-pocket costs of service and other financial information should contact the hospital or consider contacting their insurers for further information.
Physician Fees:
In addition to your hospital bill from DeSoto Memorial Hospital, you may receive bills from other physicians who have provided services to you. For instance, you may receive bills from consulting physicians, radiologists, or other specialists. Please contact their billing offices if you have questions concerning their bills or if you would like to receive a personalized estimate for their services. Please note, these providers may not participate in the same hospital plans as DeSoto Memorial Hospital.
• If you are seen in the Emergency Department, there will be a separate bill for the physician service by the contracted group of physicians that staff the Emergency Department. If you have questions regarding their billing services, please contact them at:
Small Hospital Innovations LLC
http://www.smallhospitalinnovations.com/
Billing Provider: Duva∙Sawko
http://www.duvasawko.com/
P.O. Box 9128
Daytona Beach, FL 32120
P: (888) 311-8760
• If you are admitted as an inpatient or observation patient, there will be a separate bill for the Hospitalist services. If you have questions regarding their billing services, please contact them at:
Arcadia Medical Associates
http://www.arcadia-medical.com/
425 Nursing Home Drive
Arcadia, FL 34266
P: (941) 359-3337
• If your services include Radiology procedures, there will be a professional bill from the physician group that does the reading to interpret the image findings and completes a report to provide the ordering physician with the results. If you have questions regarding their billing services, please contact them at:
Universal Radiology Services
Billing Provider: Change Healthcare
300 NW Peacock Blvd.
Port St. Lucie, FL 34986
P: (855) 826-6460
• Pathology Services will be billed separately by the pathology group and will not be included in the hospital bill. If you have questions regarding pathology services, please contact them at:
SaraPath Diagnostics
https://www.sarapath.com/
2001 Webber Street
Sarasota, FL 34239
P: (941) 362-8900
• If you are seen in the Wound Healing Institute at DMH, there will be a separate bill for the services by the contracted physician group that staff the Wound Healing Institute at DMH. If you have questions regarding their billing services, please contact them at:
Hyperbaric & Wound Care Inc.
P.O. Box 25595
Tampa, FL 33622
P: (866) 470-7923
