Billing Policy

To ensure complete transparency regarding possible medical costs, please read this billing policy.

• If you are not on a medical aid that this practice is contracted into, the charge for a consultation in rooms will be at 200% medical aid rates and in hospital at 300% and any shortfall will be your responsibility.
• In room consultations must be paid on the day unless you can ensure there are medical aid funds and/or authorisation for the consultation from your medical aid. If your medical scheme only partially pays for a consultation, you will need to pay the balance on the day of the consultation.
• Some medical schemes require a specialist referral and/or an authorisation for a consultation. You are responsible for ensuring the referral/authorisation has been received by the date of the consultation.
• If you are on a medical scheme, the practice will endeavour to get the authorisation required for an elected procedure or treatment for you. The practice will let you know if we have been successful in this and if there is a co-payment, which will need to be settled on the day of the procedure.
• Despite authorisation, this is not a guarantee of full payment as every medical scheme has its own scheme rules, varying in tariffs and terms, even between different plans. The responsibility for payment of the account remains yours. Please discuss any queries relating to terms and tariffs with your scheme. Any outstanding amounts will be sent to you on an invoice.
• If you require an estimate for any procedure or treatment, please request this. We will endeavour to give you one as accurate as possible. It is however an estimate, as all healthcare circumstances cannot be predicted. Should the practice become aware of the costs exceeding the estimate before the procedure or treatment, you will be informed of this as soon as possible. Please note that the cost estimate only refers to Dr Hannington’s costs.
• The anaesthetist is not part of this practice, and their costs are charged separately to Dr Hannington. They may or may not be contracted into your Medical Aid. If not, they may charge above scheme rates, and any shortfall will be your responsibility. Please contact the anaesthetist for the costs involved.
• The Practice will submit the claims directly to the medical aid through its billing company, Axialmed. If you are aware of any reason the medical aid will not pay, it is your responsibility to inform us so that we can send the invoice directly to you.
• If you do not want the Practice to send an account to the medical aid, please let the Practice know.
• If you are on a GAP payment plan, please inform us so that we can send the invoice for the outstanding amount as soon as possible.
• All outstanding accounts must be paid in full within 30 days from date of service. If the practice needs to hand your outstanding account to the attorneys (Anthony Richards & Assoc) for debt recovery purposes, you will be liable for all legal and administrative costs associated with the debt recovery. Once the account has been handed over the practice reserves the right to charge interest and a service fee, and no further correspondence will be entered into.
• Our billing company makes use of text messages, emails, and phone calls to inform you of outstanding accounts. Please ensure that the practice has your correct details to be able to do this. It is your responsibility to enquire about your account should you not receive one.
• If the medical scheme pays you, then you will be responsible to pay the practice within three days of the money being deposited into your account to avoid further steps being taken by the practice.