Insurance & Payment

We strive to make office visits run smoothly for our patients. Below you will find a variety of resources for new patients, as well as our office policies.

Patient Portal & Online Payments

Our office is pleased to provide you with online access to your health information through our secure Patient Portal. In addition, our safe and secure online payment tool allows you to quickly and easily make payments. Please click here to access the Patient Portal and Online Payment system. You will need the code printed on your patient statement.

For your convenience we also will send texts to your cell phone which will directly access your account for payment.

For questions about our Patient Portal and Online Payment system, please call our main office at (912) 355-6615.

Medical Billing Process for Insured Patients

We understand medical billing can be confusing. Especially when you are in an insurance plan with high deductibles, copays and coinsurance. Even though our practice utilizes a great deal of automation to simplify the process, it certainly has limitations such as cash posting.

We will contact your insurance company for eligibility, deductibles, coinsurance, copay amounts and covered services. Insurance Claims will be submitted upon completion of your service as an “insurance assignment”, which authorizes payment to be made directly to our office. We will request your deductible and / or copay from you prior to some of our services such as surgery or advanced imaging. These payments will go to an “unapplied” bucket in your account. Any additional amounts owed will be billed after insurance is processed. If you have had other claims which are applied against your deductible during the interim period (i.e. the time in which we collect your unmet deductible and claims processing for the service), your new patient responsibility per your plan’s Explanation of Benefits (EOB) will be utilized. Remaining dollars paid by you prior to the service will be applied to any patient balances or be refunded to you if your account indicates overpayment.

Copays and Deductible for other services such as examinations, therapy and x-ray will be collected on the day of service. Any remaining amounts will be billed to you once insurance payment has been processed and any deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance applied.

We accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover cards as well as personal checks and cash for deductibles, copays, coinsurance, noncovered services and patient balances. You may utilize HealthMe to pay, if you have a large balance or high deductible plan. Our patient financial counselor can assist with this.

Also important to note, we may not show a balance for you if your insurance claim has not processed. We update your account as additional information and/or payment is received from your insurance company. Unprocessed claims put your account into a “pending status” in our system because we are waiting for your insurance company to process. If your insurance company does not pay a claim within 45 – 60 days, you may be requested to take an active part in the recovery and payment of the claim.

Please understand that when a patient payment is received, it is applied to your oldest outstanding balance. It may not be applied to a new charge such as a copay if a patient balance is on your account.

Keep in mind your total due will be the same regardless of how a payment is applied. Your account will have a running balance report that shows charges and payments to include insurance and patient.

Should you have any questions regarding your account, please contact our billing office at (912) 355-6615 and follow the prompts to our Billing office. If you are unable to resolve your concerns, you can contact the Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Fire Safety online or by phone at (404) 656-2070.

Referrals & Pre-Authorizations

Many insurance carriers to include Medicare Advantage or Medicaid Managed Care require pre-authorization for specialized and surgical procedures and / or referrals from a primary care physician. It is important that you communicate all insurance requirements to our staff. Our staff will work to obtain all referrals and pre-authorizations for our patients.

Medical Billing & Collections for Self-Pay Patients

Chatham Orthopaedic Associates utilizes HealthMe for self-pay patients. Please see the Pricing page on this website.