Insurance and Billing: The Billing Process

Most billing services at Children’s consist of both professional (physician) and hospital (laboratory, X-ray, medication, etc.) services. Insurance companies require that these services be billed on different forms.

The physician bill includes fees for patient examinations, consultations, and readings and interpretations of outpatient tests, such as laboratory, X-rays and CT scans. The hospital bill includes fees for room and board, use of equipment, nursing care, and medications.

Because our computer systems also track these charges separately, you may receive more than one bill for one hospital or clinic visit. For example, you may receive a bill from the physician for an emergency room visit, a bill from the radiologist who read the X-ray and a bill from the hospital for related charges. The physician bill/statement is purple (cumulative for all services performed) and the hospital bill is green or blue (separate account for each service performed).

Because hospital and physician services are billed and tracked in two separate computer systems information there may be discrepancies in the information in each system. If you find this to be the case on the statements you receive, please contact customer service as soon as possible so there is no delay in processing your claims.

Our Customer Service representatives are available to help you with any questions you have about the billing process. Please contact us at 202-476-6356, 301-572-3542 or 800-787-0021 between the hours of 9am to 4pm EST.