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New Patient Registration
As a new patient please make an appointment by telephone on (07) 3398 2222.
Your first appointment will be booked for 20 minutes, if you require more than this
time please advise when making your booking.
Please complete our registration and medical history forms then remember to bring these forms with you to your appointment.
Appointments
Please telephone for your appointment on (07) 3398 2222. Appointments are preferred as they minimise your waiting time and ensure that you see the doctor of your choice at a time convenient for you. Emergencies will be given priority and our reception staff will attempt to contact you if there is any unforeseen delay.
Appointments are usually booked at 10 or 20 minute intervals.
Sometimes a long appointment may be necessary; for example if you wish to discuss more than one issue or require an insurance medical. Please advise the receptionist of this when making your appointment. It is important to make separate appointments for each patient. Adding extra family members to a single appointment causes delays to other patients. If you or a family member requires an interpreter service, we can organise this for you. Please let us know when you make the appointment.
You may phone the practice before your appointment to check whether your doctor is running on time. As a courtesy to you, if the Doctor is running significantly behind, we will endeavour to contact you to let you know the wait time, or to allow you to rebook your appointment.
Delays
Our aim is to see our patients on time. We realise that you often have other time obligations. If we are running late, then it may well be the result of an emergency and we appreciate your patience in this situation. Please ask for assistance if you need to reschedule your appointment
When booking your appointment we ask you to consider what issues need to be discussed with your doctor and for you to book a longer consultation as necessary. Our reception staff will be able to advise you on a suitable appointment length.
If your consultation time has concluded but you may have further concerns to discuss with the doctor a new appointment will be arranged for you.
Please book an individual appointment for each family member who needs to be seen. This will help the Doctor run to time and avoid delays for other patients. This will also allow the Doctor to give each individual the time they deserve rather than being rushed.
Out of Practice Visits
These visits are available to practice patients who live in the local area and who are too sick to come to the practice, but do not, in the Doctor’s opinion, require hospital assessment. Requests are best made before 9am. Visits may be done at lunchtime or after hours. Home visits are not bulk billed.
After Hours Medical Care
For medical attention outside normal business hours please call 000 in the event of an emergency.
The practice provides 24 hours care for patients through Family Care Medical Services, an accredited deputising service. Please phone 137425
For further information on Family Care Medical Services please enquire next time you have a practice visit.
Missed Appointments
If a booked appointment is not attended by you and insufficient or no notice is provided to the practice, the practice may charge a cancellation fee of $25 per appointment. Please note that this fee is a private fee and is not refundable under Medicare. If more than one appointment is not attended without notifying the practice, you may not be able to rebook until you have settled your account. Please be considerate of fellow patients and the Doctor's and staff of the practice.
Prescriptions
We prefer that you request sufficient prescriptions until your next appointment date. However, at the discretion of your Doctor, and depending on your medical condition, a prescription may be able to be provided without an appointment. A non-Medicare fee of $23.00 applies for this service. 24 hours notice is advisable.
If you have not seen a GP in our practice in the last three months an appointment is required for a prescription.
Referrals
The Doctors at our practice prefer to see you to check on the ongoing need for you to see your specialist and update the specialist about your progress, so an appointment is generally necessary for renewal of referrals. In some circumstances at your doctor’s discretion, a referral may be able to be provided without an appointment. A non-Medicare fee of $33.00 applies for this service.
Referral to a new specialist doctor always requires a consultation with your doctor. Referrals cannot be backdated.
If you have not been seen by one of our practice doctors in the last three months an appointment is required to have a referral provided for you.
Telephone Access
Your doctor is accessible by telephone, however calls to the doctor can inconvenience patients whilst in a consultation. Please assist by keeping call requests to the doctor to a minimum. In some cases the practice nurse or the receptionist may be able to assist you.
Confidentiality – Privacy Policy
This practice has developed a policy to protect patient privacy in compliance with privacy legislation. You may request a privacy information pamphlet or inspect the privacy policy on request.
Our policy informs you
- That we need your consent to collect information about you
- Why we need to collect your information
- How your information will be used by us and to whom we may need to disclose it
- That you may request access to the information we hold about you
- That you may discuss any concerns you have about how we handle your information
Consultation Fees
Doctorz on Bennetts is a privately billing practice with payment required at the time of consultation. The fees will vary depending on the length and complexity of your consultation and any procedures performed. A major portion of your fee will be refunded by Medicare. Please ask our reception staff if you have any queries in relation to our fees.
We accept cash, EFTPOS and credit cards.
- A private fee for a standard consultation is $68 with a $35.60 rebate from Medicare (you are out of pocket $32.40), for concession cardholders the fee for a standard consultation is $63 with a $35.60 rebate (out of pocket $27.40). Please ask for our practice handout for a detailed fee list. We can now ensure that your Medicare Rebate is put back into a cash or cheque account as long as it has an Eftpos card attached. This applies only to accounts paid in full on the day.
- A private fee is charged for prescriptions and repeat specialist referral letters where you are not seen.
- Worker's compensation consultations may be billed to WorkCover, however appropriate documentation must be faxed through and accepted to permit ongoing payments. Until this approval has been obtained we will ask for payment for each consultation. You will be reimbursed by Workcover if they accept your claim.
- Longer consultations are charged at higher rates, the fees can vary depending on the complexity and time spent with your doctor.
Consultation Descriptions
When making an appointment please use the following examples to ask for an appointment length of consultation to suit your needs.
Standard Consultation (10-15 minutes)
This booking would be for a single medical problem, eg
- Urine infection
- Rash
- Blood pressure check
- Cold
- Review of chronic medical problem
- Ear syringe
- Pregnancy test
- Simple test results discussion
Long Consultation (20 min)
This booking would be for more than one medical problem or a first time visit.
- Multiple minor problems
- Children’s immunisations and growth checks – full care with doctor
- Complex investigations
- Multiple scripts and referrals
- Counselling, discussion of mental health plan
- Travel advice and vaccinations
- Acute cardiac assessment with ECG interpretation
- Acute respiratory assessment
Complex Consultation (30 minutes plus)
At the discretion of your doctor if your consultation falls between a long consultation and an extensive consultation.
Extensive Consultation (40 min plus)
- Insurance medicals or pre-employment medicals
- Mental health plan
- Life crisis counselling
- Excisions
- Complex management and investigations of chronic/acute illness
Recall Systems
Unless you request otherwise, we may place you on a recall list for preventive health checks, such as Pap Smears, Diabetes and Heart Disease care, annual ‘Health Assessments’ for the over 75's, and other advisable checks.
You may be contacted by phone, mail or email if you provide us with these details, unless you advise us otherwise.
Test Results
A consultation with the doctor is generally required to receive and discuss pathology/blood test results, and plan any further management. If agreed with your doctor during the consultation when tests are ordered, results of routine tests may be available over the telephone with the practice nurse.
Patient Feedback
From time to time, this practice invites patients to complete a questionnaire on their views of the practice and how we could improve. These surveys are confidential. If you are unhappy with any aspect of the care you receive, please feel free to discuss this with your doctor or the Practice Manager. If we are unable to resolve the issue, you may wish to contact the Health Rights Commission, GPO Box 3089, Brisbane 4001, or phone 1800 077 308. We strive to deliver the highest standard of family health care in a friendly supportive environment. We welcome your feedback to continually improve our services.
Nursing Staff
We have a dedicated team of professional nurses, who are highly skilled in all aspects of general practice. The nurses are committed to ongoing education to bring you the latest in health care.
Practice Facilities
At Doctorz on Bennetts we have designed our practice to enable patients with disabilities to access our rooms. We have specific wheelchair access ramps, disabled parking and tiolet facilities. Our practice has a designated treatment and minor surgery room with appropriate equipment to assist Doctors and nurses in performing clinical care.
Pharmacy
Located next door to the practice is Nance Pharmacy. They provide free prescription pick-up and delivery, webster packaging services, free script management service and is a member of National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS).
To contact Nance Pharmacy, please phone (07) 3398 2798.
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