Become a Patient

CARLING ADRENAL CENTER ADVANCE BENEFICIARY NOTICE

And Notification of Research Policies

This page outlines the billing policy of the Carling Adrenal Center. All patients are required to acknowledge their understanding of this policy prior to undergoing any Second Opinion Online Consultation with us or seeing us in our clinic.

Insurance Billing: The billing staff of the Carling Adrenal Center will submit all surgeon charges for your operation to your insurance company for you (specifically, this is the fee due to the surgeon and the assistant surgeon for performing the actual operation). The cost of your operation that is covered by your insurance will be known prior to your operation, as will the amount (if any) of your co-pay, and any deductible that you still owe on your insurance for this year. We are preferred providers for most major health plans, including Medicare, BC/BS, Humana, Aetna, Cigna, and others. Each of these insurances cover the cost of the operation (the amount covered depends on your plan, your deductibles, and other plan-specific issues, but all cover Adrenal surgery). Occasionally, there will be a remaining balance not covered by your insurance that will be your responsibility. By signing this form, you acknowledge and understand that you are responsible for any and all remaining balances that your insurance carrier indicates is patient responsibility for services rendered by Dr. Carling.

PLEASE NOTE: Do not confuse collecting operation fees from your insurance company for the surgeon's operation fee with collecting Second Opinion Online Consultation fees directly from you. The Second Opinion Online Consultation fees are the patient's responsibility and cannot be submitted to the insurance company. This is detailed further below. The Second Opinion Online Consultation occurs weeks (or a month or more) prior to you coming to Tampa for your day of surgery in-person consultation, exam, scanning, and eventual operation, and this Second Opinion Online interview/consultation is not billable to any insurance company, or to Medicare. This is not a covered benefit from any insurance company we know and thus cannot be billed to them.

Payment of Co-Pay and Deductibles: It is the policy of the Carling Adrenal Center to collect your co-pay and any deductible still owed at the time of service. We will contact you to let you know your payment requirements and to help you make arrangements for payment prior to the day of your operation. Our billing staff will tell you the amount that is your responsibility prior to you coming to the office / hospital. If there are any questions regarding payment and the need to establish a payment plan, please contact Kim via email to discuss (or call her at 813-972-0000). Our policy (like almost all doctors) is that the patient is responsible for any outstanding payments not made by their insurance company. In almost all cases, this will be known before the operation.

Second Opinion Online Consultation Option.
Because many patients live a long distance from our Center in Tampa, we have a method by which you can recieve a Second Opinion Online Consultation from Dr Carling without taking the time and expense of traveling here to meet with him here in person. Thus you have a choice, you can travel to Tampa for an in-person visit, or you can elect to have the Online Second Opinion Consultation. The in-person visit will be covered by nearly all insurance companies. The Second Opinion Online Consultation is not a covered benefit for any insurance company, and therefore if you elect to go this route, the cost of the Second Opinion Online Consult must be paid by you.

Cost of the Second Opinion Online Consultation.
Patients who elect to have a Second Opinion Online Consultation will be required to pay a $1500 fee for entry of this data into our extensive computer database for comparisons with thousands of other patients, a review of your chart and data by Dr. Carling, and then a phone/online consultation with you by the doctor. At the completion you will receive a summary of your Adrenal disease. The chart we prepare for you will include labs, clinic notes, x-ray results, and other records from one or more physician's offices and labs. This chart will organize your adrenal hormone levels (both urine and blood) levels over the past several years (as many as are available to us) and will show how your disease has progressed. Your information will be organized and graphed in such a way that will allow Dr. Carling and his coworkers to review all pertinent information regarding your Adrenal problem, helping them make recommendations regarding your needs and expectations post operatively. Your information will be entered into our computer database so that comparisons can be made between your Adrenal disease and thousands of previous patients we have seen with this disease previously.

Dr. Carling will call you to discuss the findings of your medical information and provide recommendations. Patients who undergo an online consultation will be charged a $1500 Consultation Fee. This fee is not covered by insurance and it will be your responsibility to pay. Remember, preparing your chart this way and consulting with you on the phone will almost always save you a day or two of travel to and from Tampa as well as the cost of a night in a Tampa hotel. It also speeds up the process, allowing us to see you and fix your problem all in one visit. It also allows us to compare your problem with thousands of others with the same uncommon disease so that we can make the best recommendations for you and increase your chance of cure. No other doctor in the world can offer this service. This fee is NOT billable to your insurance company, so don't ask them to pay it -- they will not -- it is NOT their responsibility If you cannot afford this fee, please let our office know and we will work with you, however, your insurance will not pay it.

If you are on a limited income and cannot afford our Second Opinion Online Consultation fee, then please let us know and we will work with you. Choices include decreasing the amount of the fee, or even eliminating the consult fee altogether. All patients have the right to come to Tampa for an in-person consultation and thus the online consultation would not apply--so just let us know if this is what you want. Our goal is to take care of you and get you better. Let us know about money or travel issues so we can help. While our practice is nationwide, we welcome any patient that wants to come to clinic for an in-person consultation which would negate any online consultation fees.

By acknowledging this form (by checking the box on the Insurance Information Page of this Website) patients understand that the Second Opinion Online Consultation Fee is considered a non-covered service by their insurance company and/or Medicare. By submitting your records for review you agree to be financially responsible for payment of this chart review and phone consultation charge. Remember, you are not just paying for the phone call, you are paying for the expertise and interpretation of your entire chart by the world's most experienced Adrenal team. You are also paying for the extra time and effort it takes for our staff to work with out of area and out of network insurance companies. Also realize that this method almost always allows you to avoid an extra day (or two) in Tampa since you will be able to meet and speak with Dr. Carling the morning of the operation instead of a day or two prior to the operation. Thus, this policy saves you travel expenses, hotel bills, office visit fees, and time away from home. It also speeds up the time it takes to get your problem cured by about 1-2 months. However, it does not guarantee that you need surgery. The only time that a formal decision to operate is made is in person in Tampa, after you have had scans and been examined by our experts.

Appeals: All patients have the right to appeal any decision that is made by their insurance / Medicare carrier about any payments or refusal of services. This is federal law. As noted above, any patient can elect to be evaluated in the Tampa clinic and therefore elect not to pay the phone consultation fee. Please let us know.

Questions Regarding Your Bill: Questions should be addressed to Kim via email or via phone at 813-972-0000. Please do not call her or email her unless you have ALREADY had your phone consultation with one of the doctors.

Ongoing Research

The physicians at the Carling Adrenal Center are constantly engaged with ongoing research into many aspects of Adrenal disease. By becoming a patient, you acknowledge that your medical records will likely be included with hundreds of other patients with Adrenal disease and that specific aspects of your case will likely be examined. The purpose of this research is to allow for a better understanding of Adrenal disease, how it is diagnosed, and how best it can be treated. Your information will be studied only in the collective, along with many other patients. Specific studies of you as an individual will not be undertaken. No outside information will be requested as a part of these studies.

Your information will remain private and confidential at all times. You information will not be identifiable, and at no time will your information be examined as an individual, or in any way that would allow you to be identified. Your privacy is paramount and under no circumstances will be jeopardized.

You have the right to have your medical information omitted from any research project, and this is done simply by email directly to Dr. Carling.