Billing FAQs

Patients will receive a single bill or statement for services and treatments delivered by an Emory Healthcare physician or at an Emory Healthcare facility. There are some exceptions, and patients may receive additional statements from:

• Emory Proton Center.
• The emergency departments at Emory Saint Joseph's and Emory Decatur hospitals.
• Private practice partners in the Emory Healthcare Network.
• Partners such as Peachtree Immediate Care.

See the Visual Reference Guide on our Online Bill Pay page for help on who to call about statements you receive from Emory Healthcare.

An Explanation of Benefits is not a bill. It is a statement to help you understand how much your health plan covers, and what you'll pay when you receive a bill.  

Statements for services or treatments provided on or after October 1, 2022, will be consolidated and can be paid through your MyChart patient portal account.

No, there is no monthly charge of associated fees for using the online bill pay option; however, if your bank account registers as having insufficient funds, your bank may impose a fee on the overdraft.

Yes. Our cancellation and no-show policy provides more details.

Visit our Visual Reference Guide on our Online Bill Pay page for statements and bills to learn who you can call for help and where you can pay online.

Visit our Visual Reference Guide on our Online Bill Pay page for statements and bills to find help on who to call and where to pay online.

You can pay a minor’s medical bill online. To pay online, check out as a guest instead of logging in.

Payments will appear immediately in your MyChart account.

Emory Healthcare only sends statements when it is important for patients to know about the activity on their account.

Your insurance company should send you a statement called an “Explanation of Benefits” (commonly referred to as an “EOB”) indicating what they have paid. You will see the amount posted on your insurance company's website and/or app and on the hospital or clinic statement that follows payment.

Insurance companies usually explain benefits paid and charges not paid or covered in and Explanations of Payment (EOB) document. They also provide a customer service number to contact with questions about the reimbursement.

Emory Healthcare statements can be viewed for up to one year after your date of service. If you received care on or after October 1, 2022, you can see your statements in your MyChart patient portal account. For help with other statements, refer to our Visual Reference Guide on our Online Bill Pay page.

Visit our Visual Reference Guide on our Online Bill Pay page for statements and bills to learn more about how to pay your bills online. You can contact Emory Healthcare's billing team at 404-778-7318.

The MyChart Payment Portal enables you to establish your own payment plan in your MyChart patient portal account. If the terms do not meet your needs or if you need assistance, Emory Healthcare’s customer service department will work with you to establish a mutually acceptable agreement to pay your balance. Visit our Visual Reference Guide on our Online Bill Pay page to find the correct helpline to call.

If you have activated your MyChart account, you may update your communication preferences, contact information and other demographic information.

Please note: Changes made in billing portals outside of your MyChart patient portal account will not update your medical record. Changing your personal profile information in your MyChart patient portal will also update the information that appears in your medical record.

Emory Healthcare’s website provides instructions for requesting a copy of your hospital medical record, including a release form to complete. Refer to our Medical Records page. You can also view test results and other medical information in your MyChart patient portal. 

Please refer to the Cost Estimator Tool in MyChart to obtain an estimate of charges for procedures performed in the Emory Healthcare system. If you prefer, you may call us at 404-686-0260 or toll-free at 855-432-3080.

The MyChart patient portal account accepts credit and debit cards from VISA, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. Patients may also pay online using eCheck.

Please see our financial assistance policy for information on our charity policy.

Each episode of service represents a different visit to our facility. Hospital account numbers have two parts. The first part, up to nine digits, remains the same for every visit. The last four digits differ to distinguish each visit. If you have services at different Emory Healthcare hospitals, the first nine digits will be the same across all hospitals.

After we file a claim with your insurance carrier, Georgia’s prompt pay law stipulates that the claim be paid within 30 days. Patients have a contractual agreement with their insurance providers. The hospital routinely sends additional information requested by insurance providers and makes every effort to ensure they have what is needed to pay the claim. It is the patient’s responsibility to ensure that the insurance company makes payment in a timely manner for services provided.

Our hospitals accept a large number of insurance plans and cannot list the name of each variation individually. Insurance companies identify patients and pay claims based on the ID number the hospital includes on the bill. As long as the ID number is billed correctly, your insurance carrier will process and pay based on the terms of the plan that you have with them.

“Self-administered drugs” is a term used by Medicare to describe any and all items not covered by Medicare in the Medicare Handbook. The terminology can be misleading to many patients. Although it refers primarily to drugs, it sometimes applies to devices or procedures not covered by your Medicare provider.

This sometimes occurs on inpatient accounts. Inpatient claims generally are paid under Medicare A benefits. If A benefits are exhausted, some charges are paid under Medicare B. The presence of Medicare B as secondary on your account does not automatically mean that A benefits are exhausted. The computer system lists both plans associated with a Medicare account even if B is not applicable.

Federal law requires most health insurance plans to cover routine patient care costs* in clinical trials under certain conditions. Such conditions include:

• You must be eligible for the trial
• The trial must be an approved clinical trial
• The trial does not involve out-of-network doctors or hospitals, if out-of-network care is not part of your plan

Also, if you do join an approved clinical trial, most health plans cannot refuse to let you take part or limit your benefits.

Please check with your Health Plan for a specific detailed coverage policy.

Health plans are not required to cover the research costs of a clinical trial. Examples of these costs include extra blood tests or scans that are done purely for research purposes. Often, the trial sponsor will cover such costs.

Plans are also not required to cover the costs of out-of-network doctors or hospitals, if the plan does not usually do so. But if your plan does cover out-of-network doctors or hospitals, they are required to cover these costs if you take part in a clinical trial.

Emory Healthcare has a dedicated Clinical Trials Billing Department responsible for evaluating each charge and determining whether the service or item is covered by a trial sponsor. Those services and items that are not covered by the trial sponsor and are routine patient care costs would be included on a claim for third-party payer or patient bill.

“Grandfathered” health plans are not required to cover routine patient care costs in clinical trials. These are health plans that existed in March 2010, when the Affordable Care Act became law. But, once such a plan changes in certain ways, such as reducing its benefits or raising its costs, it will no longer be a grandfathered plan. Then, it will be required to follow the federal law.

Federal law also does not require states to cover routine patient care costs in clinical trials through their Medicaid plans.

Medicare

Traditional Medicare (Part A and/or Part B) pays for routine costs of items and services in certain covered clinical research studies. Examples of these items and services include:

• Room and board for a hospital stay that Medicare would pay for even if you weren’t in a study
• An operation to implant an item that’s being tested
• Treatment of side effects and complications that may occur as a result of the study Traditional Medicare won’t pay for:
  • The new item or service that the study is testing unless Medicare would cover the item or service even if you weren’t in a study
  • Items and services the study gives for free (many times the treatment will be provided free by the study sponsor)
  • Items or services used only to collect data and not used in your direct health care (like monthly EKGs for a condition that usually requires only a yearly EKG)

If you’re concerned about paying for services Medicare won’t cover, talk to the study staff and see if they can help.

Commercial

Federal law requires most health insurance plans to cover routine patient care costs* in clinical trials. It depends on whether your plan existed before the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010. Please check with your Health Plan for your plan policy.

Yes. If you’re in a Medicare Advantage Plan (like an HMO or PPO) or other Medicare health plan, you can get the same coverage for clinical research studies as a person in Traditional Medicare, as described in the previous section. If you join certain covered clinical research studies, Medicare will pay for your covered services as if you were in Traditional Medicare. This means that your Medicare health plan can’t keep you from joining a clinical research study. However, you should tell your plan before you start a study.

Learn more about Medicare & Clinical Research Studies

Medicare traditional fee-for service reimburses qualifying clinical trial claims on behalf of the Medicare Advantage. Your provider likely has submitted a claim to Medicare Traditional based on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) guidelines. CMS waives the Part A and the Part B deductibles, but the EOB may still include the coinsurance or normal member copays for the incurred types of services. Your Medicare Advantage plan very likely may cover the coinsurance or normal member copays after Medicare Traditional processes the claims. Please check with your Medicare Advantage plan for your plan policy.

*Routine patient care costs means the costs of any medically necessary health care service for which benefits are provided under a health benefit plan, without regard to whether the enrollee is participating in a clinical trial.