Sports Medicine Information

Athletic Trainers:

Cody Fletcher, ATC/LAT     Head of Sports Medicine

Garrett Clouse, ATC/LAT   Assistant Athletic Trainer

Team Physicians:

West Tennessee Bone and Joint

24 Physicians Drive Jackson, Tennessee 38305

Welcome to the athletic programs at Freed-Hardeman University. The following is very important information explaining what, when, and how our Sports Medicine Department serves our student-athletes.

The team physicians and athletic trainer are responsible for determining if student-athletes are medically cleared to participate. The below requested information must be completed and submitted to the Sports Medicine Department, initially, at the beginning of the student-athlete’s first semester enrolled and renewed annually every fall semester .  All requested information must be available to the Sports Medicine staff before medical clearance will be granted to each athlete.

You are required to have Primary Medical Insurance that includes intercollegiate sports accident/injury coverage in order to participate in intercollegiate athletics at FHU. You are required to contact the athletic department immediately if there are any changes in the information you provide. If not, there will be a delay in insurance processing and increase possibility of bills being turned over to a collection agency.

PRE-PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS

Please complete ALL medical forms prior to your arrival on campus to expedite your medical clearance in order to being practice/conditioning with your team.

Athletes not submitting ALL pages of the required forms will not be permitted to condition, practice, train or compete until all information is completed.

Upon arrival to FHU for physical, please submit legible copies of the following (if not previously submitted):

1. Current Driver’s License
2. Current Primary Health Insurance card- Front & Back

Omission of these documents will result in the athlete not being allowed to participate in training, conditioning, practice and competition until received.

ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT POLICIES

Insurance Process

No student-athlete will be permitted to participate in practices or games until all required insurance and admission/medical forms are completed. A copy of the student-athlete’s driver’s license and front & back of medical insurance should be on file prior to participation.

All athletic injuries MUST be reported to the Athletic Trainer at the time of occurrence. Omission of reporting to the athletic trainer will release Freed-Hardeman University of any financial responsibility. Treatment MUST be provided within 30 days of injury. Reporting injury and receiving treatment from FHU Athletic Trainer is permissible initial treatment; seeing another Health Care Professional MUST receive pre-approval from Athletic Trainer (exception when at an ‘away’ event).

Our secondary insurance, will only cover injuries or conditions that occur as the result of participation in FHU intercollegiate team sports: conditioning, practice or competition.  Injuries that occur outside of Coaches’ scheduled events are not covered. FHU Athletics is not responsible for pre-existing injuries. Injuries that are not covered by the student-athlete’s primary insurance may not be covered by FHU Athletics’ secondary insurance.  Illnesses (sinus infections, flu, and common cold) are not cover under our secondary insurance. It is our experience that heart-related complications exacerbated by conditioning/practice/competition are not covered by our secondary insurance.

It is important that student-athletes and parents understand that they are responsible for getting physicians’ information: itemized bills, HCFAs/UB-04s, and Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) from your primary insurance to FHU Athletic Department or the secondary insurance company.  Our FHU Sports Medicine department work closely with secondary ins. and team doctors to ensure all required documents are submitted.

International Student-Athletes are required to purchase international insurance as their primary health insurance through the Office of International Education. For ALL illnesses and injuries, a claim form must be completed and submitted to the international insurance provider. You must be seen by the Athletic Trainer unless it is an emergency.

Athletic Trainer/ Team Doctor

The Athletic Trainer and team doctors are responsible for the physical welfare of each and every student-athlete. Coaches will follow the recommendations of the Athletic Trainer. Should a disagreement arise concerning the fitness/safety of a student-athlete to participate, the Athletic Trainer will notify the Athletic Director. The Athletic Director will have the final say in the matter.

Should the team doctors recommend that the student-athlete not be allowed to participate in practice or competition, the athlete will not participate.

Student-athletes are not to practice, condition, or play prior to having a physical exam.

Each athlete must have PRIMARY MEDICAL INSURANCE.             

For payable coverage, you must use the authorized medical vendor (clinics, physicians in your network) from the list your Primary Insurance provides you. If you choose not to use the authorized medical vendors of your primary insurance plan or do not receive written permission from your primary insurance to receive treatment from an out-of-network vendor, this Secondary Insurance will not pay the bills incurred.

It is your responsibility to know what vendors are within your primary medical insurance network. FHU Athletic Department is NOT responsible for knowing who is in your insurance network.

Treatment by a licensed practitioner of medicine MUST begin within 30 days of the accident.

All athletic injuries MUST be reported to the FHU Athletic Trainer.

“Only expenses incurred within 104 weeks of the date of the original accident are considered under the Guarantee Trust Policy.  “

“Notification of a claim (FHU Athletic Trainer) must be given to Secondary Insurance within one year from the date of the accident. All medical bills must be presented for payment with in fifteen (15) months of the date of the original accident.”  Submit all bills and EOBs to FHU Athletic Department (AthleticTrainers or Administrative Assistant) for processing.

“An Accident is defined as an unexpected, sudden and definable event, which is the direct cause of a bodily injury, independent of any illness, prior injury or congenital predisposition. Conditions which result from participation in sports do not necessarily constitute an accident, illnesses, diseases, degeneration and conditions caused by continued stress to a particular area of the body, and existing conditions aggravated or exacerbated by an accident may not be covered.”

EXCLUSIONS are (but not limited to):

• Non-prescription drugs
• Use of electric or bio-medical devices
• Expenses incurred for the use of orthotics unless used exclusively to promote healing
• Fighting
• Sickness or disease in any form
• Hernia in any form
• Loss covered by other valid and collectible insurance plan

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

(Keep this page open as it has word for word instructions)

1. Visit fhu2.atsusers.com

New incoming student-athletes: login: new; Password: new; Database = atsfhu 

- Select ATS Athlete Portal.

- Complete general information, save (enter a login ID and password of your choice and something you will remember) when complete and saved a new window will open.

- Complete information under EVERY tab (skip ‘immunization’ and ‘efile’ tab).  Be sure to include primary insurance information and emergency contact information.

- Under the Athlete Forms tab there are 6 forms in the drop down – ALL 6 MUST BE Completed, Signed, and Saved.

- To open these forms – select a form title in the drop down box and click ‘New’ for the form to open. (Medical History form is multiple pages – advance to next page using the arrows at the bottom and make sure each for saves correctly).

You have finished when all 6 forms show complete up above the drop down bar.

Returning Student- Athletes:  Contact the Sports Medicine office if you forgot your login or password.  Database = atsfhu

- Select ‘Athlete Information’ – verify general information; make necessary changes – save, sign. Verify all information under every tab (insurance information, contact information, medical information; make necessary changes – save, sign.)

- To open these forms select a form in the drop down and click ‘new’ for the form to open.

- Note: All 6 forms need to be NEW YEARLY, to accommodate any changes to your personal medical history or information.

Select form and click NEW.  Once completed it will show in the “Date/Time form was Saved”

1. Please check with your coach to verify your team’s physical dates and other details.
2. Bring copies of required documents (driver’s licenses, primary medical insurance card – front and back) ready to present to the athletic trainers or administrative assistant upon arrival at FHU.
3.  Be knowledgeable of what Providers in West Tennessee (Jackson, Henderson) are in your primary medical insurance network.

 NO athlete will participate until they have passed/turned in:

1. Primary Insurance

2. Online Medical Paperwork Completed (including all 6 New Forms)

3. Physical Passed/Clear

4.Impact Test Baseline Complete

      - Soccer, Volleyball, Basketball, Cheer, Baseball, Softball

Physicals will be on campus this fall, and your coach will notify you of those dates as we know them.