Before you book
healow will show you real openings at Frisco. Before you pick a time, please read all five points below.
I understand how insurance and billing work here: if I use insurance, my plan decides what it pays, and I am responsible for any amount my plan says I owe or does not cover. If I pay for myself, payment is due at the visit.
Ticking this takes you straight down to your
booking details. The five points below still apply to your visit.
Read more about insurance and billing
If you use insurance, we check it before your visit — that check is not a
promise that your plan will pay. Your insurer decides what it covers when it processes the
claim, under your plan's rules. We will tell you honestly what we can see from our side,
but your plan documents govern.
You are responsible for what your plan says you owe or does not cover.
That includes your deductible, co-pay and co-insurance, and any service your plan does not
cover — for example a visit your HMO has not authorized, or a preventive visit booked
sooner than your plan allows.
Paying for yourself? Payment is due at the time of the visit; the plan
table below gives the Good Faith Estimate.
Give us your current insurance, and tell us if it changes or ends. If we
do not have your insurance details, or your coverage changes or ends before the claim is
paid and we are not told, the balance for that visit is yours to pay.
This applies wherever you are seen — at the clinic, and at your
assisted or independent living community.
Not sure what your plan covers? Ask your insurer, or call us at
(214) 884-2774 before you book. Nothing here takes
away any protection your plan or the law gives you.
1. When we can see you depends on your plan
Which plan do you have?
All plans
Medicare + supplement
Medicare Advantage
PPO
HMO
EPO or POS
Self-pay
Your plan Same-day visit? What has to happen first
Medicare with a supplement
Yes — within a few hours We verify your insurance first. You need both Part A and Part B — Part B is the part that covers a doctor's visit, so without it payment is due at the time of the visit, by cash or card.
Medicare Advantage with a PPO WellMed, BCBS, Aetna, Anthem, Cigna HealthSprings, Humana and other Medicare Advantage plans
Yes — within a few hours, on working days We verify your insurance first. A Medicare Advantage HMO is the next two rows — what matters is whose name is on the card.
Medicare Advantage HMO , with Dr. Katari already named on your cardA commercial HMO follows the same rule
Yes — within a few hours We verify your insurance first. This applies as long as you have not been seeing another primary care physician and have not changed the name on your card.
Medicare Advantage HMO , without Dr. Katari on your cardA commercial HMO follows the same rule
Not same day One of three things has to happen first: your insurer approves the visit in advance, or you obtain a prior-authorization code from your insurer and give it to our staff, or you have Dr. Katari named as your primary care physician on the card. A name change takes effect on the first of a following month — see below.
Any private plan with a PPOBCBS, Cigna, Aetna, Humana, UnitedHealthcare and other major carriers
Yes — within a few hours, on working days We verify your insurance first.
EPO or POS
Not guaranteed These work like an HMO, not like a PPO. Call us and we will check where you stand before you drive over.
Self-pay
Yes — within a few hours, on working days Nothing to verify. Payment is due at the time of the visit. As a Good Faith Estimate that is about $170 for a new patient and $120 for a follow-up — an estimate, not a fixed price; ask us for it in writing when you book. If you expect to need care regularly, ask about the Direct Primary Care membership — yearly plans with predictable pricing. Membership is not insurance.
Which plan do you have?
All plans
Medicare + supplement
Medicare Advantage
PPO
HMO
Self-pay
Your plan Seen on the scheduled day? What has to happen first
Medicare with a supplement
Yes — usually within one to two weeks We verify your insurance first. You need both Part A and Part B — Part B is the part that covers a doctor's visit, so without it payment is due at the time of the visit, by cash or card. If something cannot wait for the next scheduled visit, we can often arrange an urgent same-day tele-visit. For a true emergency — chest pain, trouble breathing, stroke symptoms, a bad fall — call 911 first.
Medicare Advantage with a PPO WellMed, BCBS, Aetna, Anthem, Cigna HealthSprings, Humana and other Medicare Advantage plans
Yes — on the scheduled day We verify your insurance first. A Medicare Advantage HMO is the next two rows — what matters is whose name is on the card. An urgent tele-visit can be arranged sooner if it is needed.
Medicare Advantage HMO , with Dr. Katari already named on the cardA commercial HMO follows the same rule
Yes — on the scheduled day We verify your insurance first.
Medicare Advantage HMO , without Dr. Katari on the cardA commercial HMO follows the same rule
Not until it is authorized Your insurer approves the visit in advance, or a prior-authorization code is obtained, or Dr. Katari is named as the primary care physician on the card.
Any private plan with a PPO
Yes — on the scheduled day We verify your insurance first.
Self-pay
Yes — on the scheduled day Nothing to verify. Payment is due at the time of the visit. As a Good Faith Estimate that is about $170 for a new patient and $120 for a follow-up — an estimate, not a fixed price; ask us for it in writing. If the resident needs care regularly, ask about the Direct Primary Care membership. Membership is not insurance.
On an HMO and need to be seen sooner? Call us at
(214) 884-2774 . Insurers will sometimes issue a
priority or prior-authorization number that lets us see you right away, and we will ask on
your behalf. Your insurer gives us a reference number for it, which we have to have before
your visit.
Getting Dr. Katari named on your HMO card. Ask your
insurer to list him as your primary care physician. The change takes effect on the first of
a following month rather than straight away, so allow one to two calendar months — and
ask as early in the month as you can, because a request made late in the month usually will
not take effect until the month after next. Once his name is on the card, you can be seen
the same day like any other patient.
If this is an emergency — chest pain,
trouble breathing, stroke symptoms, a serious injury — go to the nearest emergency room
or call 911. Do not wait for an appointment.
2. A wellness visit is not a sick visit, and not a problem visit either
A wellness visit is a prevention-planning appointment: your history, your screenings,
your medications and a plan for the year ahead. Two different kinds of appointment are
not covered by it — a sick visit for something new like a
cough, a cold or an infection, and a problem visit to manage an ongoing
condition like diabetes or high blood pressure. Each needs its own time.
If you need both, say so when you book and we will schedule the time for it. They are
separate services and may be billed separately.
If you are 65 or over , this is your Medicare Annual Wellness Visit.
If you are under 65 , the equivalent is an annual physical or wellness
visit through your commercial plan — a different service with different rules, set out
in the next point.
On Medicare , the Annual Wellness Visit runs on a rolling clock — at
least 11 full months after your last one — so it is not tied to a particular month.
Commercial plans differ : some cover one preventive visit per calendar
year, others require a full year between visits. We check your plan's rule when we verify
your insurance.
Please book it as the right kind of visit. If you book for
an acute problem, we can deal with the acute problem — but we cannot turn that
appointment into your annual visit on the day. Booking the wrong one is the usual reason an
insurer refuses to pay, so tell us which you need and we will put the right time aside.
3. Under 65? Your annual physical follows your commercial plan's rules
It is billed once a year, per patient — and only one doctor can bill it.
If another provider has already billed a physical this cycle, your plan will not pay for a
second one, however the appointment was labeled.
It must stay preventive. The visit is for someone without new symptoms:
screenings, counseling and the year's prevention plan. Raise a new problem or need a new
prescription during it, and that becomes an additional service on the day, billed separately
under your plan's rules.
It runs on your plan's rules, not ours. What is included, what codes as
preventive and what you pay for the extras is decided by your commercial plan — we will
tell you honestly what we can see from our side, but the plan documents govern.
4. Your time is requested. The appointment is not confirmed yet.
Whichever time you pick, the appointment is not confirmed until two things are settled:
your insurance is verified, and the slot is actually available. Our staff check both and
call you back — usually the same business day. If either does not work out we will
call you and move it, rather than let you find out at the front desk.
Please give us the phone number that is registered with us
— and when you call, call from it. The practice receives a steady stream of junk
calls, and the registered number is how our staff recognize you and know whom to call
back.
Have your insurance card with you when you book. We
need the plan name, member ID and group number to check what your visit is covered for
before you are seen.
A credit card is kept on file to hold clinic appointments.
You give it on the secure new-patient packet you sign electronically —
never typed into this website, and never over email or text . It is charged
only for balances you have authorised: the $100 no-show fee for an
appointment missed without notice, and anything left after your insurance has processed the
claim. Cancel or reschedule at least 24 hours ahead and no fee applies. An unfilled slot is
a patient who could have been seen.
5. Follow-ups, refills and what counts as a separate visit
A wellness visit or annual physical covers preventive care only : screening and
counseling aimed at preventing infection, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and
high cholesterol. Anything outside that is its own appointment.
A new problem or a new prescription is a separate visit. If you raise
something new during a preventive visit, it becomes a second service on the day and your plan
will usually charge for it separately — commonly in the region of $50 to $100, though
what you actually pay depends on your plan.
Follow-up visits are for one or two problems. That is what the time is
booked for, and trying to cover everything in one appointment is how visits end up rushed. If
you have a longer list, tell us when you book and we will find the time for it.
Chronic medications are prescribed for 90 days. Book your follow-up every
three months so a refill never runs out while you are waiting for an appointment. Going away
for 91 days or more — a long trip, a season abroad? Book an appointment
in the month before you leave, so your prescriptions cover the time you are gone.
Antibiotics usually need an exam or a rapid test first — prescribing
without one is how the wrong drug gets given. For established patients whose condition we
already know well — for example those in our
chronic care and remote monitoring program —
some decisions can safely be made by phone or tele-visit between appointments. Dr. Katari
decides case by case; new infections usually still need to be seen.
Controlled substances are case by case and are never guaranteed. Depending
on what you need, the right person to manage it may be a pain specialist or a psychiatrist,
and we will tell you honestly if that is so.
Before we can visit a resident
The new patient packet has to be signed. Every new patient signs it, and
it goes out electronically through DocuSign — we will send the link when you get in
touch. It covers consent along with the financial power of attorney and
medical power of attorney details we need on file. An
out-of-hospital DNR is a separate document ; tell us if one is in place.
Please do not send any of these through this website.
We come on your community's scheduled day. Dr. Katari visits each
community on a set day, generally once every two weeks, rather than on request. If something
cannot wait for the next scheduled visit, call us at
(214) 884-2774 — for many residents we can arrange
an urgent tele-visit the same day. For a true emergency, call 911 first.
Please keep a four-hour window for the visit. Dr. Katari sees residents at
several communities on the same day, so we give a window rather than a fixed time — this
applies to assisted and independent living alike. Coming to you saves the resident the drive,
the waiting room and a second person's time, and in return we ask for that flexibility. Because
we come on the scheduled day, the $100 no-show fee for missed clinic appointments does not apply
to visits at your community; it does apply to a clinic appointment, including one made for an
independent-living resident.
Every November we check your insurance again. Plans change at the turn of
the year, and a plan that changes without us knowing is how a visit stops being covered. We
email every resident and family each November to confirm what is current — please reply
to it even if nothing has changed.
We strongly recommend chronic care and remote monitoring for every resident.
Chronic care is the phone contact between visits, where medication for something like high
blood pressure or diabetes is reviewed and adjusted without waiting for the next round.
Remote monitoring is the equipment that tracks blood pressure and blood sugar, so we see the
readings as they happen. In Medicare's own evaluations of chronic care management, enrolled patients ended up in
hospital less often; families get an update every month, and regular reviews often simplify
the medication list. Individual results vary.
I understand that same-day availability depends on my plan, and that my appointment
is not confirmed until the office verifies my insurance, checks the time is free and
calls me back. I have read the practice's
policies and procedures ,
which are updated periodically on this website.
Type your name and the date to confirm you have read the five
points above and the practice's
policies and
procedures , which are updated periodically. We cannot book an appointment without
it.
Signature (optional)
If you like, add a drawn signature with
your finger or your mouse — your typed name above is enough on its own.
Clear
We keep a copy of what you have read, together
with your name, the date and any signature you draw, and the practice can view it.
Please do not enter anything about your health here. The consent and new-patient forms
are signed separately through DocuSign.
