Important Accounts Information for Patients
Our practice is managed by Chief Financial and Operating Officer, Sashwin Padayachee, who is a chartered accountant by profession and oversees all financial and operational matters.
We have a highly skilled, efficient accounts team who are always available to help with any queries.
Please contact:
- Rachel Ramlugan – rachel@hopelands.co.za
- Fouzia Ismail – fouzia@hopelands.co.za
- Joshni Haridutt – joshni@hopelands.co.za
Medical Aid Payments
All our accounts are submitted electronically (via EDI) to the medical aids. They then pay us in accordance with the authorisation that they have agreed to. Your medical aid may be contracted to a managed care organisation, such as SAOC or ICON. In these cases, your account may reflect bundled billing codes rather than a specific fee for each service provided, in accordance with these managed care agreements. Please note that only some of the services incorporated in a bundle may be applicable in your case, as the bundle does not reflect the full value of all these services. The bundled fee may apply to a time period of management of your care and may consequently be billed on a date when some or all of the associated services are provided.
At times, we may have problems with the medical aids settling our accounts timeously. Please remember that the contract with the medical aid lies between you and your medical aid and not between us and your medical aid. Should your medical aid fail to settle the account, you will be personally responsible for outstanding amounts.
For chemotherapy, drugs are dispensed by wholesaler pharmacies and in most instances by Dis-Chem. Dis-Chem will bill your medical aid directly for these drugs and we will charge your medical aid directly for overseeing treatment and for the use of our facility.
Please note that any queries regarding supply and billing of your medications should be addressed with the pharmaceutical supplier via the on-site pharmacist and not with the Hopelands accounts department.
Consultation Billing
We charge medical aids directly for consultation fees. Should there be a shortfall, you are responsible for settling the balance. Patients not on medical aid will be charged on the day of consultation. Please contact the accounts department for our current charging structure.
Patient Liable Payments
If you do not belong to a medical aid, we require that you pay for chemotherapy treatment 7 days before your chemo appointment is booked. Payment needs to reflect in our bank account before the drugs can be ordered. It takes a minimum of 2 days to order and take delivery of the drugs for your treatment, and please bear in mind that weekends and public holidays could delay delivery. This also applies should your medical aid not cover your treatment or requires you to pay a portion of your treatment (co-payment). Unfortunately, we cannot accept credit card payments for chemo drugs. Payment needs to be directly with the wholesaler pharmacy.
Should you need to pay for consultations or chemotherapy, our reception team will accept payment and issue you with a receipt. We accept credit cards and cash.
Please refer to your invoice for banking details and use your name and surname as a reference for EFT payments.
Radiotherapy Billing
The billing structure for radiotherapy is determined by your medical aid and consists of two separate components.
The first invoice is related to the doctor’s professional fee for prescribing and overseeing the treatment, including treatment planning and clinical monitoring.
The second invoice is generated by the machine operator and is related to the preparation for treatment and the delivery of treatment by the radiotherapy staff charged on a weekly basis. We currently utilise facilities run by Netcare, Life Healthcare, Busamed and ICON.
Should you not be on medical aid, we require that you pay the full treatment costs upfront prior to the start of your radiotherapy treatment.