General policies

Appointments: We make access to Dr. Vani easy by offering family friendly extended hours and telemedicine. Baby well visits are by appointment only and follow-up appointment should be scheduled at the time of each visit. For other ages, well visits and regular appointments, please book them at least 1 month in advance. For well visits, please check and ensure that your insurance plan will provide coverage for the visit - most insurance require a full 12-month calendar time between routine checkups from 3 years of age.

Our convenient online scheduling will help you to book your care appointment directly. If you need assistance with booking an appointment, please call us during our regular office hours. We assign a specific time duration for visits. So, please inform when scheduling your appointment if you want to have involved discussion of the problem (ADHD, behavior, mental health, growth issues, obesity) so that extra time will be allotted. For same day sick visits, please call as much in advance as possible to confirm we are able to accommodate you on the schedule. 

Planning your visit: To ensure that your time is well spent during your visit, please arrive at least 15 min ahead to allow for insurance verification, co-pay collection, vitals and rooming in. Filling up necessary forms using the portal is a great way to make your visit more productive. 

Missed appointments: We value your time and ours, so we will ensure that you are provided timely reminders of your upcoming appointment. There will be a missed appointment fee of $40 for a canceled visit.

We accept most major commerical insurance. It is the responsibility of the patient / guarantor to confirm if Dr. Vani is In-network for the specific plan. 

We also offer two self pay options (i.e. no insurance):

• 30% discount for same day payment
• Direct Primary Care, a membership-based model. Please ask for details

Please inform your payment choice before your visit.

Commercial Insurance: Care & Cure Pediatrics verifies insurance eligibility for the day of service. It is the responsibility of the patient / guarantor to understand the coverage requirements, benefits and limitations of their specific contract with their insurance company. It is also the responsibility of the patient (or their guarantors) to verify with their insurance if their specific contract requires that they obtain pre-certification and/or preauthorization for the services provided by Care & Cure Pediatrics. 

Patients (or their guarantors) are financially responsible for all co-payments, deductibles and services not covered by insurance. If insurance contract of the patient includes a co-pay at each office visit (including telehealth), co-pays are due at the time of service. An office visit (including telehealth) is any consultation during which the doctor discusses medical advice, a treatment plan or any health related recommendation. Care & Cure Pediatrics will file your claim following your visit. For any further amount owed by patient, a bill will be sent, which  must be paid within thirty (30) days of the billing date, along with any late charge and collection fees as applicable. We request timely payment of remaining dues, failing which we will have the send the account to a collection agency. 

Note: If during a well child visit, a sick / problem issue arises that needs to be addressed during the same visit, additional insurance coding for evaluation and management of the sick / problem issue will be added to the claim (in addition to the well visit fee). Some insurance companies require that the patient pay a separate co-pay and/or a deductible may be applied for the sick/problem issue evaluation and management. 

Self-pay: Care & Cure Pediatrics offers for patients who do not have or choose not to use their insurance a 30% payment discount for same day payment. Full payment is due at the time of service for self-pay. Please be aware that additional charges related to the visit may be billed at a later time. The self-pay discount does not apply to co-pays or deductibles. 

No-show charges: If unable to keep an appointment after confirmation, a "no-show" cancellation charge of $40.00 will be assessed. 

Following are the Insurance Plans we accept:

• Aetna - HMO/PPO - PCPs
• BCBS - HMO
• BCBS - PPO/POS
• ChoiceCare (Humana) - Concentric (Humana Preferred)
• ChoiceCare (Humana) - PPO
• Cigna - HMO/PPO
• FedMed - PPO
• First Health/Coventry Network - PPO
• Galaxy Health Network - Medical Savings Card, PPO
• Healthcare Highways - PPO
• HealthSmart - ACCEL, GEPO, PPO
• Independent Medical Systems - PPO
• Molina - Maketplace
• PlanVista - PPO
• Texas Health Aetna - PCPs
• United Healthcare - HMO/PPO
• Value Based Care (VBC) Program - HCH ACO