What does this mean?

[Bootsie]

"Appointments and walk-ins are welcomed.  Flu shots are for patients and non-patients (as credit cards/checks, insurance will not be filed)."

I just got an announcement from my doctor about a flu clinic.  Would you think this means credit cards and check are or are not accepted?  

 

[EmseB]

Cc and checks are accepted.

[EKS]

7 minutes ago, Danae said:

Non-patients are welcome but must pay upfront by credit card or check.   

This.

[purpleowl]

10 minutes ago, Danae said:

Non-patients are welcome but must pay upfront by credit card or check.   

This is how I read it too.

[Bootsie]

12 minutes ago, Danae said:

Non-patients are welcome but must pay upfront by credit card or check.   

What about patients?  Will insurance be filed for them?  Or do they have to pay upfront by credit card or check?

[Lady Florida.]

12 minutes ago, Happymomof1 said:

I think it means they will not file insurance so you will need to pay with a credit card or check.

That's what it sounds like to me. It was just poorly punctuated. 

[Lady Florida.]

14 minutes ago, Danae said:

Non-patients are welcome but must pay upfront by credit card or check.   

Wait. Yes. This I think. It's really not clear but if you read it several times it comes through.

[Corraleno]

I read it to mean that they will bill insurance for existing patients, as normal, but non-patients will need to pay front.

[Ausmumof3]

It’s not clear.  I’d clarify if you’re a patient that you won’t be billed.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I think that it means that someone needs to study how to write in English. 

[Xahm]

Was this a text message? Otherwise I can't imagine why they didn't use complete sentences. The amount of time saved by their brevity is going to be lost many times over in answering phone calls from confused patients. I have no good guess. My kids' pediatrician offers the flu shot to parents but only accepts cash with exact change for them. 

[Bootsie]

14 minutes ago, xahm said:

Was this a text message? Otherwise I can't imagine why they didn't use complete sentences. The amount of time saved by their brevity is going to be lost many times over in answering phone calls from confused patients. I have no good guess. My kids' pediatrician offers the flu shot to parents but only accepts cash with exact change for them. 

No, it was part of an email--with graphics, logos, colors--that was the first "paragraph" and there were seven other paragraphs in the email.  So, it was a marketing piece that took some time to put together.  So, the overall communication was not brief, but it didn't really provide information either (such as how much the vaccine would cost).  

[Bootsie]

3 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

It’s not clear.  I’d clarify if you’re a patient that you won’t be billed.

I am concerned that trying to talk on the phone to someone in the office won't clarify much if the writing when they are trying to communicate something is so poor 😞  

[sweet2ndchance]

I agree, it sounds like non-patients are welcome but cannot have the vaccine billed directly to their insurance.

I would be prepared to pay up front just in case even if I was a patient if I didn't want to call ahead a verify.

I would also write to the office manager or whoever I needed to and point out how unclear the wording of the email was and how it could be interpreted multiple ways. Might not fix anything this time but if enough people complain about the poor wording and grammar, maybe it will change something next time. You never know.

[Tanaqui]

16 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I think that it means that someone needs to study how to write in English. 

For real.

[Bootsie]

Apparently they received some questions.  Today they sent a clarification stating:

Flu shots are for patients and non-patients.
We do not file insurance for non-patients, however we do accept credit cards and check payments.

Better.  But they could still use some punctuation help and and wording assistance throughout the rest of the email.  This is from the largest non-profit medical system in the state of Texas, not just a small doctor's office with one person acting as nurse, receptionist, bookkeeper, etc.