Appointments
Consultations at the clinic are by appointment only. A typical appointment is allotted 15 minutes. Double appointments are available if you feel more time will be required or if you are a new patient. Longer appointments are generally advised for situations such as first antenatal visits, pap smears, multi-country travel vaccinations, and Medicare care plans. Walk-in appointments are generally not available – patients requesting this kind of appointment will be triaged according to current health needs and booked for the next available appointment.

Fees and Billing Arrangements - Updated 1 November 2023

Please Note Bulk Billing WILL NOT be reintroduced based on increased incentive payments introduced 1 November 2023. The reality is, even with increased incentive payments, the amount paid will not equal the amount needed to cover costs. Increased incentive payments are not increased rebate amounts, so patients will not see larger rebates from Medicare for bulk-billed consultations.

Associate Doctors may set their own fees for their services.

• An indicative standard consultation fee is $89. The Medicare rebate is $41.20.
• Payment is expected at the conclusion of your consultation. If an account is taken the relevant fee will be increased by a $10 handling charge.
• Longer appointments will incur additional fees. The indicative fee for a long appointment (30 minutes) is $178 with a Medicare rebate of $80.10.
• A nurse consultation is $25 which is non-rebateable from Medicare. This fee applies to appointments such as childhood immunisations/wound care/immunisations/vaccinations.
• Your doctor will discuss fees for procedures with you. Removal of sutures for procedures not done at our clinic will incur a non-rebateable fee of $30.00. Application of dressings will incur a non-rebateable fee of $15.00 basic dressing or $30 for complex dressing. Dressing and suture removal appointments will not be bulk billed.
• A procedure fee is required for services for any procedure that requires specialised equipment or nursing care. Ask reception for further information. Iron infusions incur a $200 fee.
• DVA Gold Card Holders are direct billed for consultations. Financial pre-approval from DVA will be sought for procedures on your behalf.
• If you are experiencing financial difficulty, please discuss this with your doctor during your consultation. Please note, Reception staff communicate the fees determined by the doctor, they do not set the fees.
• Fees will change from time to time and will be update on our website/via reception/Hotdoc messages/in various other ways.

Bulk billing WILL NOT be reintroduced based on increase incentive payments promised to General Practice in the Federal Budget. The reality is, even with increased incentive payments, the amount paid will not equal the amount needed to cover costs.  If you wish to let the Government know that the Medicare rebate is insufficient to assist you in meeting the cost of your medical care, please contact your local Member of Parliament at https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members.

The Medicare Safety Nets can help to lower out-of-pocket medical costs for out of hospital services. For information and to learn how to register, visit Services Australia www.servicesaustralia.gov.au website or call 132 011.

Non-Attendance Fee

If you fail to attend your scheduled appointment, you will be charged a $55.00 non-attendance fee. There is no rebate for this fee.

Transfer of Records to Another Practice

If you wish to transfer your record from this clinic to another clinic, please ask the new clinic/provider to arrange for this to occur. Please be advised that:

• Health summary will be faxed free of charge
• Full history transfer maximum $25 paid to practice before transfer is made.

Medical practices are permitted to charge a reasonable fee for transferring medical records which covers equipment and staff time to organise the transfer securely.

No Appointments Available/Not Available with Your Preferred GP?

Frustration in regard to booking an appointment with a GP is totally understandable. We work hard to continually improve GP and appointment availability. If your preferred GP is not available, we often can assist with an appointment with another GP and/or can put names onto a waiting list in case of a cancellation. Unfortunately, as much as we work to ensure appointments are available, sometimes a wait to see a GP is unavoidable. We understand that health issues can be unpredictable and have built in as much flexibility into our booking system as we can to accommodate demand, but to also ensure enough appointments are pre-booked to make running a medical practice viable. HotDoc is always a great resource to check for GP availability and/or give our friendly reception team a call on 5622 0444.

We also have a great resource in our local area with the Baw Baw Priority Care Centre, for care when it’s urgent, but not an emergency open 8AM to Midnight 7 days a week (5642 6655).