Practice Policy

APPOINTMENTS

Southlands Medical Services is a mixed billing practice  from 1st June 2023. Patients who hold a valid pension card, health care card and children under 16 years of age will still be bulk billed.

All other patients and patients with no Medicare card will be privately charged as below.

Monday to Friday Mixed Billing	Fee	Medicare Rebate	Out of Pocket
Standard	$80.00	$41.20	$38.80
Long	$120.00	$79.70	$40.30

Private fees for the services which cannot be billed to Medicare:

• Insurance Medical
• Commercial drivers medical
• Cancelled Driving Licence
• Dive Medicals

Billing policy

• We are a mixed billing practice, billing is at the discretion of the doctor.
• Standard Consultation / Telehealth Consults $80 (Medicare rebate $41.20)
• Long consultation $120 (Medicare rebate $79.70)
• Extended Consult $140 (Rebate $113.30)

Saturday Fees: STRICTLY NO BULK BILLING, PRIVATE FEES APPLY

Cancellation / non-attendance policy:

If you can no longer attend the appointment, please cancel or reschedule through your confirmation email or Healthengine app as soon as possible.

Please note: a minimum fee of $50 (non Medicare rebatable) will apply if you cancel your appointment at short notice or fail to attend your appointment.

ACCOUNTS

– No payment is required if the appointment is covered by Medicare, Private fees apply for procedures etc..

– All other accounts are expected to be paid at the completion of your consultation. We accept cash, eftpos and most credit cards.

– If there are special circumstances or personal hardships please discuss these with your doctor at the time of consultation.

– A standard consultation at this practice costs a minimum of $60

– Overdue accounts may attract a 10% interest charge if not paid within 30 days.

TELEPHONE CALLS

The receptionist will be able to assist you in most cases, however if you wish to speak to your doctor, he/she may have to return your call when consultations have ended.

REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS

Patients must make an appointment for repeat prescriptions. They will not be issued without being seen by the GP

REFERRALS TO SPECIALISTS

If the doctor considers that a medical need exists for specialist treatment a referral will be provided. It is therefore important to make an appointment with the doctor who will discuss your problem with you and help you to decide on the appropriate course of action.

RECALLS

For patients who require regular check ups, immunizations and / or screening, we offer a recall service. This is done automatically unless we are advised that you would prefer not to be notified.

MEDICAL CERTIFICATES

Medical certificates are legal documents. In order to obtain a medical certificate for work a consultation with your doctor is required. It is not legal to back date a certificate.

RESULTS

Patients are required to make a follow up appointment to discuss any abnormal results. Normal and INR results can be obtained from our practice nurse.