TAILBONE PAIN: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut
INSURANCE:
Summary:
Dr. Foye's office accepts most insurance plans, but please check with your insurance companybefore your visit. Also check with Dr. Foye's office (973-972-2802) before
your visit.
Also, many insurance
plans require a referral (consult request) from the primary care physician
(your primary doctor) or other treating doctor. Please check on this with your insurance company so that you can obtain the necessary paperwork prior to your visit.
After the
consult by Dr. Foye, you may also need additional, separate authorization for treatment to actually begin,
depending on your insurance.
Again, please
check with your insurance company and also Dr. Foye's office staff. That way you can get the most out of your visit and avoid
unnecessary delays in treatment.
Dr. Foye’s
primary hospital affiliation is UMDNJ: University Hospital, Newark, N.J.
More Details About Insurance: My general
preference as a treating physician is to focus mainly just on the medical care,
rather than insurance issues. But I do understand the realities of patients
needing some guidance on these issues. This is especially important for patients who are flying in or driving in from out-of-state to be seen here for coccyx pain, since we want to be sure that you get the most out of your long trip to get here.
BEFORE you come to my
office, my office staff can look into whether your insurance company requires
pre-authorization for the injections that I find most commonly help relieve
coccyx pain (e.g., ganglion Impar injections, etc.).
Some insurance
companies do NOT require pre-authorization, in which case we do not have to face
the delay of waiting for the authorization. The authorization almost always
comes through eventually, but it is a matter of waiting for it. Often, patients fly in from out-of-state and if their insurance company does NOT require pre-authorization, then if my consultation (office visit) reveals that the patient is a good
candidate for injection, then we often move ahead with performing the injection later that same day (when the fluoroscopy room is available), without having the delay of
waiting for a reply from the insurance company.
Some insurance companies DO require
authorization in advance (pre-authorization), in which case they usually want to
see my consultation report. But it is theoretically possible
that my office staff could request the authorization from your insurance company
even before you come to the office, and if it is granted then that is one less
thing to delay care once you are here. That approach will not always work, but
it is worth a try for patients who are flying in or patients who are driving
more than two or three hours each way to get here. Anyway, my office staff can
check with your insurance company and see what steps we would need to take.
Just send in (Fax or mail to Dr. Foye's office) your forms/paperwork, and gather together your insurance information (insurance card, etc.) and then call Dr. Foye's office staff (973-972-2802) and explain that you want them to find out whether or not your insurance company requires preauthorization for coccyx injections (in
addition to the authorization for the office visit).
Again, just call my office staff and they can look
into it. INSURANCE: UNITED HEALTHCARE and
OXFORD and CIGNA. Special handling and considerations are needed for patients who have
insurance through United Healthcare or Oxford or Cigna. The issue is that personally I
(my medical office) participate in those insurance plans (along with accepting
most other insurance plans too), but the outpatient fluoroscopy room where we
usually perform the injection (affiliated with University Hospital, Newark) apparently
does NOT accept those particular insurance plans. Thus, although my physician
office will generally accept the discounted/insurance reimbursement rate, the
Hospital facility does not. We point this out in advance so that patients with these
insurance plans are aware and can plan accordingly. If this issue is not handled in advance, this can
result in the patient facing a large and unexpected bill from the hospital
(since the Hospital is not giving the discounted/insurance rate). Call my office
staff (973-972-2802) and they can check with your insurance company and see what
steps would need to be taken. Dr. Foye often also does injections at a nearby hospital off-campus, at a site where these insurance plans ARE accepted.
For FORMS (paperwork) that patients need to fill
out prior to making your appointment with Dr. Foye...
please click on the document below, then PRINT IT and COMPLETE IT and SEND IT IN (Fax it to Dr. Foye's office, or Mail it).
(Note that initial appointments will be given only AFTER Dr. Foye's office receives from you the completed form below.)
Patrick Foye, M.D., Director of the Coccyx Pain Center, PM&R at UMDNJ: New Jersey Medical School, 90 Bergen St, DOC Suite 3100, Newark, New Jersey, USA, 07103
Disclaimer: This web site is for general informational purposes only.
The information should not be considered as medical advice.
The information is not a substitute for appropriate in-person care by a healthcare provider with expertise in evaluating and treating tailbone pain. This website is not meant to represent official views of any university, medical school, hospital, etc.
