Understanding Your Office Visit And Charges
Helpful information on appointment types and billing
We are sharing this information to help you understand types of patient visits and the charges you can expect when scheduling an appointment with a primary care provider at UK HealthCare.
Types of visits
Wellness visit
Wellness visits include:
- A visit with the provider to discuss your general health, milestones and development
- A time to review vaccines, labs or screening tests appropriate for your age
- For school-age children, this is the time to complete forms for camp, school, sports, etc.
- Most insurance plans pay for this visit at 100% without a copay
Wellness visits may be referred to as:
- Physical exam
- Annual exam
- Wellness exam
- Well-child visit
- Well-baby visit
For Medicare patients only, wellness visits may be referred to as:
- Welcome to Medicare/Initial Preventive Physical Examination (IPPE)
- Annual exam
- Wellness exam
- Subsequent Medicare visit
Other types of visits
The following types of visits are not considered a wellness visit:
- Sick visit
- Acute care visit
- Chronic care visit
- Regular visit
These types of visits are to discuss or treat other issues, whether they are new, acute, old or chronic. Different insurances pay different amounts and charge different co-pays for these visits based on your policy.
Billing
If a wellness visit and other visit type occur during the same visit, the patient will be billed for both types of visits, including the co-pay.
Example: The patient scheduled a physical/annual exam for today, but while talking with the provider, they reviewed the status of their chronic hypertension and a lab, a test or a prescription may have been ordered. In this case, you will see a charge for the wellness visit AND a regular office visit, which may also mean you will be billed for a co-pay.