I work for an ocular plastic surgeon. In the past our provider was not a stickler on collecting the deductibles prior to surgery. What I have found is that our provider gets the claim to the insurance first, therefore our claim gets applied to the deductible. Then our office has to bill these patients their portion. A majority of them NEVER PAY! The facility where the surgery takes place, collects for the deductible up front. So, when these patients know they have overpaid from the surgery, they ask for a refund from the facility. Then they receive their refund check, and never pay our provider. This means a lot of these patients are getting very expensive surgeries for free. My question is this: I had a patient just state to me that her insurance stated we were "double dipping". I explained to the patient exactly the information above. I feel our provider is entitled to his share, just as the facility is. How would your office handle collecting deductibles prior to a surgery? Would you continue to keep collecting the dedcutible prior to surgery? TIA