Patients: Making an Appointment
Patients
Making Appointments
Medicare requires that a valid GP referral is provided for all consultations. Please note that a referral from a GP is generally valid for 12 months, whereas a specialist referral from another specialist is valid for 3 months.
GP referrals can be sent via medical objects, email, or fax to us.
Due to demand, several of our specialist cardiologist are heavily booked, and as such, we may request that you send in your referral for triage prior to being able to offer an appointment time. Triage means identifying who is most urgent and requires the soonest appointment. In the case you have an urgent referral, our staff will endeavour to have it triaged swiftly and contact you at the soonest convenience with an appropriate appointment time.
Our Specialists ask if you may bring any recent scans and test results with you to the appointment. If you don’t have access to these, we may be able to assist in obtaining them. It will help the doctor and you if everything needed for your appointment is on hand to help us by providing information about test results that you think the doctor may need.
The Specialist writes to your GP after each visit. Your GP will have been informed about changes to your medication so further prescriptions can be obtained from your GP unless higher approval is required (e.g. authority scripts from a specialist to be dispensed by a chemist).
Attending Appointments
You can help us deliver the best possible care by following a few simple guidelines:
- Make sure you bring along a valid referral. This will ensure you can claim Medicare rebates and inform the specialist of the background to your condition.
- If you are attending for the first time, please arrive 15 minutes early to clarify details and chase any outstanding correspondence you may require.
- For billing and Medicare rebate purposes it is vital you bring your Medicare and concession cards to the appointment. If you are attending a consult, it is vital to bring your private health insurance details, too.
- It is very important that your specialist knows what medications you currently use. The safest way to be sure we have the correct information is to bring the medications to the appointment.
- Any form of medical imaging which may pertain to your condition should also be brought to appointments.
Cancelling Appointments
If you are unable to attend your appointment it is in your own interests to ring and make another time without delay. That way we can also make the vacated appointment available to another patient. Waiting times for appointments to see our specialists can be kept to a minimum if all available appointments are made to available patients.
Please be aware that most of our specialists are often booked weeks ahead. If for no reason you dishonour your appointment without 24 hours minimum notice to us, you will incur $100 charge.
Complaints
Our doctors and staff are passionate about enhancing service delivery and patient care. We apply a culture of continuous learning and improvement to all aspects of our services, with patient well-being as the focus of all our activity.
If you feel there are instances where we could have done better, we will welcome your feedback. Your concerns will always be treated respectfully and resolved promptly. Issues should be raised with your treating cardiologist and/or centre team lead.
