Patient Info

What do I need to bring?

Patients need to bring their ID and insurance card to every visit. Riggs CHC will ask for this information and social security number at registration in order to prevent fraud, protect personal health information, and protect a patient’s identity.

Riggs CHC Sliding Scale Fee (SSF)

Riggs CHC offers a sliding scale fee (SSF) based on a patient’s income, disability & social security, government aid, and unemployment benefits. If a patient qualifies for the SSF, they will receive a discount on eligible charges. In order to qualify for the SSF, a patient will need to provide acceptable documentation. Once documentation has been provided and sliding fee percentage has been calculated, eligible charges incurred in the previous 30 days will be discounted. In order to qualify for the SSF, a patient will need to provide acceptable documentation within one month. If proper documentation is not provided in the one month time frame, the patient will be responsible for 100% of his or her charges. Amounts quoted for office visits are the minimum and subject to change with the services rendered and the level of service provided. Patients with insurance will be responsible for any remaining balances after insurance covers their portion. If a patient is unemployed and receiving no government aid, signed letters of support will be required from the patient and the individual providing support.

Insurance Co-Pays

Co-pays and deductibles are expected at each office visit. Self-pay patients are expected to have their payment at each office visit. There is a $20 fee for all returned checks.

Ongoing Paperwork

There are some forms that you will have to sign or update regularly:

  1. Riggs CHC’s HIPAA Policy, No Show Policy, Controlled Substances Policy, and Patient Rights & Responsibilities forms will all be signed annually. This way you are always up to date with any changes in those policies.
  2. Medicare and some types of Medicaid patients will need to sign waivers at every visit

Referrals

If you would like a referral to a specialist and have insurance, you will need to make sure your primary care provider is a Riggs provider. Riggs is unable to provide referrals or prescribe medications without being a patient’s designated primary care provider. If you need to know the name of your primary care provider, Riggs recommends calling the number on the back of your insurance card. Patients can request to have their primary changed by calling their insurance company.

Lab Work

Riggs CHC sends all lab specimens to LabCorp of America. Insured patients can incur a fee from having tests done by LabCorp. This will be on top of the fee paid to Riggs for specimen gathering and handling.

No Show Policy

We are here for you!

We recognize that things do come up and you may occasionally miss an appointment. All we ask is that you give us three hours’ notice to cancel your appointment. Patients who no-show (when he or she does not come to a scheduled appointment or does not provide notice prior to the scheduled appointment) to two appointments in a six month period will be placed on the Riggs virtual schedule. This means the patient will be scheduled an appointment at a certain time but will not be seen until a provider can fit them in. This can result in long wait times.