Billing | My Site

At EMPMB, we want you to feel confident and informed about how billing works following your visit to the emergency department.

Your EM PMB Account - What You Need To Know

Who treated you

You were treated by EM PMB, a group of independent emergency practitioners working under the oversight of a specialist emergency

physician in the Emergency Department at Netcare St Anne's Hospital.

You will receive more than one account

• EM PMB — the doctors who treated you (this account).

• The hospital — emergency unit facility fee, nursing, theatre, ward.

• Radiology — X-rays, ultrasound, CT scans.

• Pathology — blood and other laboratory tests.

• Any other specialist or allied practitioner who saw you.

• Each of these bills you separately. Paying one does not settle the others.

How we charge

Emergency department consultations are billed at emergency medicine tariffs using the 7-series emergency codes. These are emergency codes

and are not the same as ordinary GP rates. Procedures, resuscitation and after-hours items are charged in addition. Where a specialist

emergency physician attends to you — including when this is needed to save life or limb — specialist rates apply. You can ask us for an

itemised account at any time.

Medical aid

• We submit your claim to your scheme as a courtesy. This is not a guarantee that they will pay.

• Medical aids allow 120 days to submit claims from date of service.

• You remain responsible for the account. If your scheme short-pays, rejects the claim, applies a co-payment, or your benefits are

exhausted, the balance is yours to settle.

• If your scheme has not paid , the balance becomes payable by you.

Injury on duty (Workmen's Compensation)

We submit the claim to the Compensation Commissioner. If it is accepted, we recover from the Compensation Fund and you pay nothing. If the

Commissioner rejects the claim, or your employer did not report or register the injury, the account is referred back to your employer and to

you for settlement.

Government, Msunduzi and SANDF patients

If your employer — for example KZN Provincial Government, Msunduzi Municipality or the SANDF — is to pay your account, you remain

personally liable until they have paid it in full. Please follow up with your manager or department to make sure the account is approved and

paid. We will provide any documents you need.

If you cannot pay right away

Contact us before the 60 days are up so that we can help resolve the claim or arrange terms. Unpaid accounts attract interest at the rate set by

the Prescribed Rate of Interest Act and, if handed over, collection and legal costs on the attorney-and-client scale.

Separate Billing

EMPMB operates as an independent doctor’s practice and bills patients directly for the emergency doctor services provided.

This bill is separate from:

Hospital admission or facility fees
Emergency unit or nursing fees
Charges from other medical specialists or allied healthcare providers

Medical Aid Claims

As a courtesy, EMPMB submits claims to medical aid schemes on behalf of patients. However, please note that the patient or guarantor remains responsible for the account until it has been paid in full.

Medical Aid Shortfalls

If your medical aid does not cover the full amount, you will be liable for any shortfalls or non-payments for the services rendered.

Immediate Payment

Patients who do not have a valid medical aid card or identification at the time of treatment are required to settle their account immediately. The patient or guarantor remains personally responsible for the fees charged.

What You May Be Billed For

After your emergency visit, you may receive separate invoices from different healthcare providers, depending on the care you received.

Hospital Services: Facility fees for using the emergency department, as well as costs for medical supplies and equipment.
Emergency Doctor Services: The EMPMB doctor’s consultation, any procedures performed, and, where available, orthotic devices such as splints or braces.
Specialist or Allied Services: If your care involved a referral to another specialist (for example, for X-rays, lab work, or scans), their consultation and treatment will be billed separately.

Hospitals typically charge a facility fee in addition to the doctor’s professional fee.

Your information

We share your information only with those who need it: your scheme, the hospital, laboratories, radiology, doctors involved in your care, our

billing service provider and, where you have defaulted, our attorneys or debt collectors. You may ask what we hold, ask for corrections, or

complain to the Information Regulator.

Your Billing Charges Explained