Collecting deductibles up front

I believe that we can not collected deductibles up front. We must wait for insurance company to apply the deductible to the claim and then we bill the patient.

My questions are; Is this true? and where can I find some kind of compliance (on the net) to state that? Is it a HIPPA rule??

Thanks for any help!

re: Collecting deductibles up front

the co-pay is a direct payment from the patient to the medical group. The insurance company has nothing to do with collecting it. You can bill for it but the cost of billing sometimes exceeds the value of the co-pay. Our receptionists are trained to say The co-oay for today's visit is $XX. Do you wish to use cash, credit card or checque?
There is a large body of articles on how to collect the co-pay up front and also what happens if the practice DOESN'T collect the co-pay.