Practice Information
Referrals
In Australia, patients receiving care from a specialist doctor must have a valid referral from another doctor to be eligible for the Medicare Rebate.
Under Government regulation, referrals from other specialists are valid for 3 months from the date of your first visit. To be eligible for the Medicare Rebate for subsequent visits, a new referral must be provided if more than 3 months has lapsed since your first visit.
In the case of patients referred by GPs, Craignish Specialist Centre requires a new referral every 12 months. The GP is the co-ordinator of the patient’s overall care and the annual referral affords the GP the opportunity to update the specialist on significant developments in her overall health.
All new conditions or problems require a new referral and this includes a pregnancy following on from gynaecological treatment.
If your problem is of an urgent nature, your GP can contact Craignish or Dr McCallum to explain the problem and ensure that you receive an appropriate appointment.
Booking Appointments at Craignish Specialist Centre
Appointments may be made by calling the office on (03) 9761 0444. If the phone is unattended, you may leave a message and one of the Craignish staff will call you back.
Rescheduling and cancelling appointments
Please call the office on (03) 9761 0444 and, if the phone is unattended, please leave a message.
SMS reminders
With your permission, an SMS message will be sent to your phone a day to two prior to your appointment as a reminder.
Fees and Charges
Craignish Specialist Centre is not a Bulk Billing practice.
The Government Medicare Rebate for specialist services has been frozen since 2012 yet the costs of running a specialist medical practice continue to rise. As a result it is unavoidable that patients will be charged an out of pocket payment or gap for consultations. (That was also the intention of the Government policy.)
However Craignish does offer a significant discount to pensioners and Health Care Card Holders. Check with the staff at Craignish for more details.
Methods of Payment for consultations
Payment in full for consultations on the day of service is expected. Payment may be made by EFTPOS, credit card, or cash. If your bank account details have been registered with Medicare, for most services, we can lodge your claim online and the Medicare Rebate will be credited to your nominated bank account.
Medicare Safety Net
We strongly recommend that all patients register for the Medicare Safety Net as they will receive higher rebates on consultations and procedures once you have reached the Medicare Safety Net threshold.
To determine your individual Safety Net threshold, please contact Medicare.
Results of Tests
The results of antenatal investigations will be discussed at the next antenatal visit. However patients will be called if serious abnormalities have been detected requiring further follow up or management.
For the results of routine Pap smears, patients are requested to call during office hours, however where the result is abnormal, the patient will be offered an appointment to discuss the result with Dr McCallum and decide upon a management plan.
Results of histology of biopsies performed at Craignish and specimens from operations undertaken in hospital, will be discussed at the follow-up visit. The timing of follow-up visits is tailored to best fit the procedure which has been performed.
Where there is considered to be is a risk of cancer, or where cancer is discovered, Dr McCallum will organise an early post-operative appointment to coincide with the availability of the biopsy results.
Whether your condition is serious or minor, Dr McCallum believes that it is important that you have an accurate, factual understanding of its causes and the possible treatments, if any treatment is required.