Question 1

Who is Elite Surgical, P.C.?"

Accepted Answer

We are a highly skilled team of medical professionals who help your surgeon during a surgical procedure.  We are a team of advanced trained professionals who have worked in the perioperative environment every day for over 30 years.

Question 2

Why does my surgery require an assistant?

Accepted Answer

Most hospitals have policies in place that require a qualified surgical assistant be present during a surgical procedure.  Additionally, your surgeon also determines when a surgical assistant is necessary for the procedure.  Along with your surgeon, facility standards and regulations often require that a surgical assistant be present for your type of surgery.

Question 3

What is our role in your surgery?

Accepted Answer

The Surgical assistant's role is to facilitate your surgical procedure in all aspects.  Along with assisting the surgeon during the surgery, the surgical assistant helps with patient positioning, facilitates room setup/turn-over, and anticipates procedural and surgeon-specific needs.  In robotic surgery, while the surgeon is operating at the console, the surgical assistant’s role is to remain at the patient’s bedside and manage the entire operative field.  Our surgical assistants are specifically and specialize in the complexities of robotic procedures as well as traditional and laparoscopic procedures.

Question 4

Why didn’t my surgeon inform me he/she was going to utilize an assistant at surgery?

Accepted Answer

Many surgeons advise their patients about utilizing an assistant prior to surgery.  However, in some instances this is omitted.  Your surgery may have been an emergency and there was not any available time to discuss the issue due to your immediate emergent situation.  Likewise, your surgery encompasses many other pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative decisions.  Thus, the advance knowledge of the assistant was inadvertently omitted.

Question 5

Why do I have to pay for an assistant I did not authorize in advance?  If my surgeon selected the assistant then he/she should pay for the service.

Accepted Answer

Upon admission to the hospital, a surgical admission form was signed by you which included the hospital policy regarding physicians and independent contractors.  This policy also includes the financial responsibility of the patient.  When you selected your surgeon, you relied upon his or her good judgement and skill to make decisions that were in the best interest for you, the patient.  Your surgeon had determined it was in your best interest to include a surgical assistant for the safest possible performance of your operation.  Asking and expecting your surgeon to pay for the assistant would be similar to asking the surgeon to pay for the anesthesiologist, radiologist, pathologist or any other surgeon who needed to attend your surgery.

Question 6

Do you file a claim with my insurance company?

Accepted Answer

As part of our surgical services, a pre-payment is required prior to your procedure. This payment covers the anticipated professional fee for the First Assistant services. Following your surgery, a claim will be submitted to your insurance company for reimbursement. Once your insurance processes the claim and issues payment based on their reasonable and customary rates, the payment will be reviewed. At this time, your claim may go into an appeal process. This process can take several months to be resolved. If the insurance payment covers the fee in full or exceeds the pre-payment amount, any overpayment will be promptly refunded to you. If there is a remaining balance, you will be notified and billed accordingly. Our goal is to make the payment process transparent and straightforward, ensuring you receive fair and accurate billing for all first assistant services.

Question 7

Can I make payment arrangements?

Accepted Answer

No, a full surgery payment is due at the time of scheduling.

Elite Surgical, P.C.

Frequently Asked Questions

About Surgery Payment

FAQ for the Patient