About Your Visit

The medical care team members and staff of Children's Dermatology Services work as a team to provide excellent dermatology medical care. Below is some useful information on our office policies, and procedures, what to bring to the first visit, emergencies, prescription refills, insurance and billing procedures.

Schedule an Appointment

To schedule an appointment, call 724-933-9190. Please review and complete the New Patient Packet (PDF) prior to your first visit to our office. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the scheduled initial appointment to allow enough time for patient registration. Please allow at least 60 minutes for the entire appointment - check-in, pre-visit, visit and check-out. Because treatment cannot be provided without consent, all minors (patients under 18 years of age) must be accompanied by an adult.

Appointments are confirmed by phone four days and three days prior to the scheduled date. Please allow at least 48 hours notice to cancel an appointment.

What to Bring

All patients, new or returning, must bring proof of insurance, co-pay, actual topical medications (just throw them in a bag), and a list of all other medications.

Emergencies

If there is an emergent situation during office hours, please call our office to speak to a clinician. If you have an emergent situation after hours, dial 911 or go to your closest pediatric emergency room, or call 412-647-2345 and ask to have the dermatology resident on-call paged.

Prescription Refills

Prescription refills will be considered only if the patient has been seen in the past six months. When requesting a refill, please provide the following information:

• child's first and last name
• date of birth
• prescription name
• dosage
• pharmacy name and phone number

Most prescriptions are refilled within 24 hours of a request. At times, prescription refills may require insurance preauthorization. Following notification by the pharmacy, we will initiate the process with the insurance company. Prescriptions requiring preauthorization will have a longer turnaround time.

Insurance/Co-Payments

Many insurance plans require a co-pay at the time of service. Patients are responsible for payment of all co-pays and any outstanding balances at the time of visit. Payment may be made by cash, personal check, MasterCard or Visa. A $5 billing fee will be applied to your account if the co-pay is not paid at the time of the visit.

We accept the following health insurances

• UPMC
• UPMC For You
• Aetna
• Cigna
• Devon
• Family Care Network
• First Health
• Gateway
• Great West
• Health America/Health Assurance
• Highmark
  • BC/BS Indemnity
  • Keystone
  • Select Blue
  • Preferred Blue
  • Community Blue
  • Direct Blue
• Humana/Choice Care Network
• Intergroup
• One Health
• PHCS
• Select Care
• Tricare (Sierra Military)
• United Healthcare Community Plan
• Vantage

Referrals

Patients with Gateway or United Healthcare Community Plan and some Aetna and Tricare plans are required by their insurance carrier to obtain a referral form from their pediatrician or primary care physician in order to be seen by a specialist. The referral form must be faxed to our office prior to your visit. Our fax number is 724-933-9194. If you present without a referral, your child's appointment will need to be rescheduled.

To ensure accurate and efficient billing, please check with your health insurance carrier for a complete understanding of coverage and payment responsibilities prior to your visit. The policy holder is responsible for understanding his/her insurance policies.