Wiki Office requires social security number

[MichaelGA]

A doctor's office is requiring a patient provide their social security number, or else the patient agrees to pay for services before they are rendered. The doctor's office is in-network with the patient's insurance. Is this legal? If the office is contracted with the carrier, isn't that part of the agreement of accepting a patient- that the doctor bills the insurance?

 

[thomas7331]

I'm not aware of a law prohibiting this (but I am not a lawyer, and laws vary greatly from place to place anyway), but it is a poor practice because many patients are rightfully reluctant to disclose that information, so in my opinion, it is bad customer service to require it if you don't really need it. But you would need to review your payer contracts to know for sure if that is prohibited under the terms, and if you want to confirm the legality, I'd suggest talking to your practice's attorney for a definitive answer.