Manage Your Care
The staff at Mount Sinai Queens strives to make patients and their family and friends feel welcome and comfortable during their stay. We also want to help you manage your care by providing resources to access your medical records and answer questions about billing.
Billing
Each time you receive care at Mount Sinai Queens or your doctor sends a lab or pathology specimen to Mount Sinai Queens, a new account will be opened. Each account generally ties to a date of service. Except in cases of ongoing therapy services, insurance companies and the hospital have agreed to create a new account and submit separate claims for each visit to simplify billing and payment accounting. Your hospital bill will include a detailed description of the services provided.
If you provided insurance information, your insurance (including Medicare) will be billed in about one week for the hospital's inpatient services, outpatient services, and Emergency Department services. Once your primary insurance is billed and pays, if there is an outstanding balance, your secondary insurance (if you have one) is billed. After all insurance carriers have been billed and paid, you will receive your first bill from us with the amount that remains and is your responsibility. Often this amount represents deductibles and co-pays. Sometimes your insurance carrier will notify you when they have paid and what they have paid, but this is for your information only and is not to be confused with our bill to you. If you have no insurance, the first bill should arrive about one week after care. Every 30 days thereafter, a monthly statement should arrive that will include the balance from the prior month and list payments and adjustments posted since the last statement.
Physician services are not included in your hospital bill and will be billed separately. In some cases, doctors who did not directly see you will send you bills. These are specialists who worked on your case behind the scenes, for instance, in the lab, interpreting your x-rays or consulting with your physician. Examples of these physicians include pathologists, radiologists, cardiologists, anesthesiologists, and other specialists who submit separate bills. If you have questions about these bills, please call the number printed on their statement.
The Emergency Department fees are higher than visits to the doctor’s office. Non-emergency visits should take place at your physician's office, Mount Sinai Doctors in the Ambulatory Pavilion, or Mount Sinai Queens Family Health Associates to keep down your health care costs.
Questions about Billing
Here are some helpful resources to learn more about hospital billing:
Review the following information about hospital bills. If you still have questions at any time about your bills, your insurance, or your ability to pay, call the Mount Sinai Queens Patient Financial Services Office at 718-906-6250, Monday through Friday from 8 am to 4:30 pm. We recognize many patients may need financial assistance. Our qualified staff will help determine if you are eligible for assistance programs or the hospital's sliding fee scale.
Insurance
Although New York law requires most insurance carriers to pay within 45 days, many ask for additional information from the patient. As long as your carrier is asking for additional information, the 45 days has not started. Occasionally, we ask patients to call their insurance carriers if there has been some miscommunication among parties. For instance, you may not realize that payment is being held up because you need to supply your carrier with more information.
You may get a bill from Mount Sinai Queens even if your insurance company says it has paid for the service. Check your statement dates. Sometimes statements and payments cross in the mail. If it appears as though sufficient time has passed to allow for posting, contact the Mount Sinai Queens Patient Financial Services Office at (718) 906-6250, Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, and verify that the payment was received.
The hospital will contact and pre-certify a service with any insurance company with which the hospital has a direct contract. Your contract with your company may require you or your physician to pre-certify. Due to the many insurance companies requiring this, please check your insurance card or with your employer's Human Resource Department for direction. Don't risk possible financial responsibility.
Medicare
Routine exams, routine tests, and self-administered medications are non-covered services under your Medicare plan. Medicare has also established Local Medical Review Policies (LMRP) which determine when they will pay for a test or when you are responsible for the test. You will be informed when a test does not comply with Medicare's LMRP and the cost, so you can determine if you want to accept this financial responsibility.
My Chart
MyChart allows you to communicate directly with your doctors as well as get test results, medical records, request prescription renewals, and manage your appointments. MyChart can be accessed through the internet browser on your desktop computer and mobile phone, or through the MyChart Android and iPhone app. After your first visit to a Mount Sinai Queens practice, you are provided the webpage and activation code, so you can set up your own login and password for logging on. Our state-of-the-art electronic medical record system ensures that if you are seen anywhere in the Mount Sinai Health System, whether at our hospital locations or at any of our medical practices, your doctors are able to securely share notes and your medical history and up-to-date radiology and lab reports, ensuring streamlined, timely medical care. This new system also allows patients to easily access these medical records and test results using MyChart.