For Patients
Our commitment to serving the residents of Columbia, South Carolina, and the surrounding Midlands region is shown through a number of support programs for patients who need access to high quality health care. These Cooperative Health programs are designed to benefit patients who may otherwise not have access to medical services.
Find helpful resources for patients below:
It is our pleasure to help everyone in any way that we can. Should you need to ask a question or schedule an appointment, please contact us.
Patient Registration Forms
What to Bring to Your Appointment
- Picture ID
- Payment / co-pay for services
- All medications you are currently taking (over-the-counter and prescription)
- Insurance card
- Up-to-date immunization records
- Documents from recent:
- Emergency room visits
- Urgent care visits
- Specialty office visits
At Cooperative Health, we accept Medicaid, Medicare, and most major insurance plans. Please contact your insurance company or you may call the location nearest you to find out if we accept your plan.
If your insurance plan requires you to pay a co-payment, co-insurance, and/or a deductible, you will need to pay at the time of your visit. For your convenience we accept cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.
We also work with uninsured and underinsured patients through our Good Samaritan Plan.
If you have a question related to your bill or insurance, please ask to speak with a billing specialist when you call.
Good Faith Estimate Notice
You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical and mental health care will cost.
Under the law, health care providers must notify patients, who are out of network, uninsured or have health care coverage but wish to self-pay and not use the coverage, of the availability of an estimate of their bill for health care items and services before those items or services are provided.
- If you meet the above criteria, you have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any health care items or services upon request or when scheduling such items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and facility fees.
- If you schedule a health care item or service at least 3 business days in advance and you wish to have a Good Faith Estimate, make sure your health care provider or facility gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing within 1 business day after scheduling. If you schedule a health care item or service at least 10 business days in advance, make sure your health care provider or facility gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing within 3 business days after scheduling. You can also ask any health care provider or facility for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an item or service. If you do, make sure the health care provider or facility gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing within 3 business days after you ask.
For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises.
If you believe you’ve been wrongly billed, you may contact Cooperative Health’s billing Department at 803-799-5080 Option #1
If you have an urgent medical need and need to talk to our doctors after our regular hours, please call the location nearest you. A doctor is on-call 24 hours a day. Your call will be returned promptly.
If one of our primary care doctors suggests a specialist evaluation or diagnostic testing that requires a referral, we will make every effort to provide this for you as soon as possible.
Some referrals require insurance preauthorization and cannot be processed immediately. Insurance guidelines prohibit us from backdating referrals. We require 3 business days for the processing of routine referrals.
Prescriptions and refills for established patients of Cooperative Health are routinely issued during our regular office hours (see above). You can make your request by calling your doctor’s office location.
No refills are issued during the evenings, weekends, or holidays. It is helpful to anticipate your refill needs to avoid an interruption in your medication therapy.
Cooperative Health offers assistance to patients through a number of affordable health coverage programs:
- Good Samaritan Plan
- Health Insurance Marketplace
- Richland Care
- Best Chance Network
- South Carolina Migrant Health Program
- Healthy Connections and Healthy Outcomes Plan (SC Medicaid)
The Good Samaritan Plan is a sliding fee scale payment plan that provides financial assistance to uninsured patients. No one is turned away because of their financial status. The sliding fee scale is based on a person’s household income.
The Health Insurance Marketplace offers health insurance plans and, depending on income, lower premiums with a tax credit that can be applied immediately to monthly premiums. Individuals may also qualify for cost-sharing reductions, which lowers out-of-pocket costs like deductibles and co-payments. For more information about enrollment into the Health Insurance Marketplace, please contact our certified application counselors at (803) 754-0887.
Ask about any of the programs listed above when you schedule your appointment.
To obtain copies of your medical record, you will need to download and complete the medical records request form and submit it to your doctor’s office location.
Requests for medical records are routinely issued during our regular office hours. No requests can be fulfilled during the evenings, weekends, or holidays.
Your appointment time is very important. Arriving late for your visit affects other patients who arrive on time for their scheduled visit. If time does not permit, we may need to reschedule your or your child’s appointment.
If you have an emergency, please call 911 immediately or go to the nearest emergency room.
Any patient who has an urgent matter but does not require emergency attention can call the location nearest you to be connected to a medical provider on call.
For your convenience, any Cooperative Health patient needing non-emergency care on Saturdays can receive medical care at the Saturday Walk-In Clinic with no appointment necessary. The Saturday Walk-In Clinic is located at:
Five Points Pediatrics
1228 Harden Street
Columbia, SC 29204
(803) 748-7002
Hours:
Adults & Pharmacy Services: Saturday, 9 am – 1 pm
Pediatrics: Saturday, 9 am – 4 pm
- Conflict of Interest Policy
- Notice of Privacy Policy
- Patient Rights Policy
Access your health information 24/7 online or on your mobile device. Patients can request appointments, request prescription refills, view test results, send a message to your care team, view account statements, and pay bills.
Access the Cooperative Health patient portal now.
Cooperative Health offers interpretation and translation services to patients. If you are in need of an interpreter, please request one when scheduling your appointment. Interpretive services include in-person interpreting, American Sign Language, telephone interpreting, and translation.
There are many benefits to seeking health care from Cooperative Health in South Carolina, formerly known as Eau Claire Cooperative Health Centers. Find out how becoming a Cooperative Health patient can benefit you by calling (866) 405-9438.
