FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

General

What should I bring with me when I come for a scheduled office appointment?

Apart from Medicare and your insurance information

• A referral from your General Practitioner or family doctor.
• All pertinent x-ray reports and test results from your primary care or referring physician
• A list of all medications that you are currently taking
• A list of any known drug allergies and the symptoms you may have from taking these medicines
• If you have had surgery elsewhere, please bring a copy of your operation report.

Are my medical records kept private and confidential?

Your medical file is handled with the utmost respect for your privacy. Our staff are bound by strict confidentiality requirements as a condition of employment regarding your medical records. Ordinarily we will not release the contents of your medical file without your consent.

Do I need a referral to make an appointment?

You should have a referral from another doctor, generally your General Practitioner or another specialist if they have referred you on. This is partly to try to ensure that I am the appropriate specialist for you and your condition, and also because Medicare pays higher rebates for specialist services if you have been referred.

How can my family doctor help me to obtain specialist medical care?

Before seeing any medical specialist, it is always preferable to talk to your own family doctor, who can discuss your condition with you and advise on whether any specialist care is appropriate. If it is, he or she can help you to choose the specialist best suited to your needs. Your family doctor can help the specialist to care for you better by providing relevant information about your health. Communicating with the specialist will also enable your family doctor to care for you better during and after your specialist treatment.

Fees

Initial consultation $175.00

Follow up consultation $80.00

Initial consultation - Obesity $200.00

Follow up consultation $100.00

Day Case Surgery Most day case procedures will be billed directly to your health fund and you will not be out of pocket if you are fully insured

Inpatient Surgery For more major procedures there will generally be a copayment (out of pocket expense) of $100 to $400

Bariatric Surgery

Lap Band

$3000.00 copayment (includes anaesthetist, assistant and dietitian). This assumes you have full private insurance

No out of pocket expenses for review visits and band adjustments unless radiology required

Bilio Pancreatic Diversion

$5000.00 copayment (includes anaesthetist, assistant and dietitian). This assumes you have full private insurance

Please note:

This is a private practice – bulk billing is not offered – it is not possible to provide an appropriate standard of care at the rebate set by the government, which has not kept level with inflation for decades.

We expect payment for consultations on the day – you will be issued with a receipt and can claim the rebate back from Medicare.

We accept Eftpos, MasterCard, Visa and Diners Club

For most procedures a separate account from the anaesthetist and surgical assistant may be received. I cannot quote on their behalf (with the exception of bariatric surgery as above). If you are concerned about out of pocket expenses from the anaesthetist then we will give you their name and contact details so that you can enquire from them.