Practice policy & Procedures

These are our terms & conditions (our practice policy & procedures). Please familiarize yourself with them in order to understand our workflow and to avoid any misinterpreted expectations:

1. This practice charges above medical aid rates (private rates) and is a semi-cash practice.
2. Your consultation fees for 2024 is R2300.00 – We do NOT submit this amount to the medical aid.
3. Followup consultations within 30 days from initial consultation or from hospital discharge for that diagnosis will be charged at R1450.00.
4. Any consultation within 30 days for a new medical problem will revert to the full consultation price.
5. Any followup consultation that has exceeded the 30 day window will also be charged at the full price.
6. The consultation fee does NOT include any investigations, eg: ECG, Treadmill Stress Test, Glucose Test, Blood Workup, Echo/Sonar, Holter Test, ABPM, Lung function Test, etc.
7. Investigations will be charged for and billed directly to your medical aid. If you are a private patient, you will be required to settle this amount immediately after your consultation.
8. Due to the inefficient postal system we have in South Africa, statements will be no longer be posted to you. Your choice for receiving your statement is limited to email or requesting a hard copy from this practice. Kindly ensure that we have your correct email address on your file.
9. Account information will also be sent via SMS. Please ensure that we have your correct cell phone number on file.
10. You can also view your account information on our website at www.cardiacdoc.co.za
11. No interest will be levied on accounts settled within 30 days. Should your account lapse and has not been settled within 90 days, your account will be handed over to our attorneys for collection and you will be held liable for all legal and collection costs on an Attorney Client scale.
12. Any handed over accounts will no longer be a member of this practice and will need to seek health treatment at another practitioner – however – If the account is settled in its entirety with the attorneys, then the account may rejoin the practice at the discretion of the management team.
13. It is your onus to find out what amounts are outstanding on your account. You can query this telephonically by calling 011 640 4675 or by emailing frontdesk@cardiacdoc.co.za
14. This practice does NOT issue formal written reports for any reason unless explicitly requested by the patient/3rd party, in which case a charge for such a report will apply.
15. Due to limited time and the volume of patients we deal with, should any external test be done on you, then the results of such test will only be communicated with you telephonically IF the results are abnormal.
16. Please note that when calling this practice, all calls are recorded for legal and quality purposes.
17. Note that you will always be responsible for payment on your account. Your medical aid is NOT responsible for your account. Any amount not paid by your scheme for ANY reason whatsoever, will be your liability, even if your scheme states otherwise.
18. It is also your onus to ensure that amounts claimed from your medical aid has been paid to us.
19. The obtaining of any/all authorizations with your medical aid are also your responsibility.
20. This hospital (Netcare Linksfield Hospital), at times, has a policy where they bill a different level of care to the medical aid than the actual level of care that is being provided. Our billing policy however, is that we bill exactly the level of care that we have treated you in, eg.: If you are an ICU patient, we will bill you ICU fees accordingly, whereas the hospital may choose to bill you at a lower rate, eg.: General Ward, this may be due to possible contracts that the hospital may have with various schemes or at their own discretion. During these instances the medical aid may dispute the level of care provided and will not pay our fees. You will however be liable for these fees in full to us irrespective of what your scheme states or the hospital accordingly! You do have a right to dispute this with your scheme, however none of their rules or policies will apply to our bill, and any unpaid amounts in this instance will be your liability. Our billing policy is in line with that of the SAMA Billing Guidelines and NOT of that of any particular scheme.
21. Kindly note that this practice does NOT accept cheques. We accept only CASH, Credit Cards and Debit Cards. Diners and American Express are also NOT accepted. Bank charges incurred by us for any deposit made by you, will be charged to your account accordingly.
22. In order to streamline our administration process and to avoid charging an administration fee to the patient, our workflow has been set such that after you complete your paperwork, you will be charged your consultation fee prior to seeing the doctor. No exception can be accommodated in this regard. We thank you for your understanding.
23. We require a copy of your ID book or driver’s license as well as a copy of your medical aid card. If the patient is a minor, we require the above from the parent and/or the principal member.
24. We do NOT conduct insurance tests as per the insurance companies’ billing protocol. Should an insurance test be required, you will be treated as a normal patient and you will be billed accordingly. WE WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY PAYMENT FROM ANY INSURANCE COMPANY!
25. We charge for the following as well:
    1. Scripts including repeats
    2. Motivations Letters and or motivation telephone calls
    3. Completion of Chronic forms
    4. Completion of any other forms for insurance, disability, etc.
    5. Any formal written report/letter.
26. We are NOT contracted to the following schemes, and patients from these schemes will be processed as PRIVATE patients:
    1. Any scheme that is not a medical aid, but rather a medical insurance – eg: OnePlan
    2. SANDF
27. Our rates for private patients are set in line with the Discovery Executive Plan Tariff.