Practice Information

Practice Policies

Our goal is to deliver exemplary care and attention while upholding a secure and welcoming environment for all. We are committed to maintaining complete transparency regarding our policies, fees, and booking procedures. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out, and we will make every effort to meet your needs within the framework of our policies.

Referrals

All referrals are reviewed to ensure they are within scope of the practice and if there is availability to schedule an appointment. If an appointment is not able to be offered your referring GP will be notified to make alternative arrangements for your care.

Privacy policy

In accordance with the National Privacy Principles, our clinic is required to record your consent to enable us to collect and handle personal information about you. This medical practice collects information from you for the primary purpose of providing quality health care. We require you to provide us with accurate and up to date personal details and a full medical history so that we may safely and properly manage your health care needs.

We may use the information you provide to us in the following ways, including but not limited to:

Administrative purposes in running our practice
Billing purposes in compliance with Medicare or Worker’s
Compensation requirements
Disclosure to others involved in your healthcare, including specialists and other healthcare providers outside this medical practice. This may be in the form of referral letters and/or by collecting de-identified statistical information for clinical audits used for improved health care.

In collection, storage, release, and transfer of your personal information, this practice is bound by the Commonwealth Privacy Act and Australian Privacy Principles. And complies with the Health Privacy Principles. We require your written consent to collect your information so that we may properly assess, diagnose and treat you.

Confidentiality

All consultations are held in strict confidence, except in cases where specific and significant risks necessitate emergency care or the disclosure of information to relevant parties. Your personal information is handled with the utmost discretion. If you would like to grant access to appointment details, bookings, or accounts to family members, partners, or third parties, kindly indicate your preferences in your patient registration forms.

Appointments

We run an appointment system with designated time slots for each patient. When an appointment is scheduled for you, that time has been set aside for you and when it is missed that time cannot be used to treat other patients. The practice will provide text and email reminders prior to your appointment. As a virtual psychiatry clinic, consultations are conducted via secure video Telehealth or telephone. Telehealth appointments can only be offered if the necessary care can be provided via Telehealth. Appointment times vary, most commonly Initial and further assessment appointments are 45-50 minutes in duration. Medication and treatment review appointments are up to 25 minutes. The practice may not be able to offer appointments in the following circumstances: Potential or current legal matters, Family members or partners who are currently a patient of the clinic.

Doctor availability

We strive to do our best to ensure your appointment time is not changed. On occasion it may be necessary to reschedule your appointment due to unforeseen circumstances or emergent issues. This may sometimes be at short notice. We will endeavour to make this as convenient as possible for you and prioritise your re-scheduled appointment as soon as possible.

Fees

This is a private practice and fees are payable for consultations, reports and other items such as third party requests. Our fee structure is not negotiable. Fees are payable at the time of consultation for in clinic bookings, however, as a virtual clinic you will not be present in the clinic on the consultation day and so full payment is required 24 hours prior to your appointment in order to secure the booking. Fee structure is provided with patient registrations forms or can be requested from administration. We do not offer bulk-billing.

Cancellation policy

All payments are fully refundable with at least 2 business days notice although credit card fees are not refundable. We require this notice so that your appointment time can be offered to others on our wait list if you are unable to attend. Non-arrivals for appointments are non-refundable and will be invoiced to you as a cancellation fee. We understand emergencies happen so please let us know as soon as possible to assist with your appointment needs as a reschedule may be possible at short notice.

Late arrival

We aim to minimise wait times for all. If you are late to your appointment, please notify as soon as possible as alternate arrangements may be possible. If you arrive late, your appointment will end at the designated time and cannot be extended. The quoted fee will still apply; however, your Medicare rebate may reduce as consultation rebates are dependent on the time spent in consultation.

Report writing and out of consultation requests

The practice reserves the right to deny providing reports. If you require a report for the NDIS please request the report writing fee structure from reception as these are not written during a consultation time and incur separate fees. This fee structure includes time to read supplied material in order to generate a comprehensive and relevant report. Other requests may also incur a fee e.g. completion of forms.

Medicare and the Medicare Safety Net

A rebate will apply for consultations with valid referrals only. Rebates will be processed electronically at the end of your appointment. Rebates increase substantially when an individual reaches their Medicare safety net entitlement level. Please make sure you are familiar with this and have ensured your details are up to date with Medicare as this initiative provides significant financial benefits when your threshold is attained. Medicare rebates cannot be processed unless there is a valid referral on file. A referral must be provided by your treating GP (valid for 12 months) prior to your appointment or rebates cannot be provided. Please note the practice will ensure to remind you prior to your appointment, however, it is your responsibility to ensure referrals are obtained and current.

Report writing and out of consultation requests

Scripts

We are unable to provide scripts outside of an appointment. Please ensure you request necessary scripts during your consultation.

Urgent appointments

The practice will try and accommodate these requests as soon as possible but there may be several days prior to an appointment being available.

Crisis or emergency care

This is not available. Public mental health services provide crisis care in addition to some other options listed on our website. Immediate options include dialling 000 or attending your nearest emergency department. There are additional options listed on our website. 1300 MH CALL (1300 642255) is a 24 hour/7 day per week service to link to community mental health services.

Doctor communication policy

To minimise disruption to the doctor as they are in consultation with another patient, phone calls from patients will not be put through. Any enquiry about medication condition, side effect, symptoms, prescription, medical report, medical certificate and application forms will not be responded to by our doctors via phone or email. We encourage email feedback for consideration at your next appointment. If your enquiry requires a response from your doctor this will require an appointment to be booked. If your doctor has requested for you to provide information for feedback please ensure this is clear in the request and a follow up call will be arranged.

Feedback and complaints

We value your input in helping us enhance our services. If you have a complaint or feedback to share, kindly send an email to our reception team with a detailed message intended for review by our management and doctors. Please allow us some time to thoroughly investigate your complaint. Once the investigation is complete, we will promptly reach out to you, and together, we will work towards finding a solution to address and resolve the issue. Your feedback is crucial to our continuous improvement.

Zero tolerance policy

Our entire staff is equipped to support your journey in accessing care, ensuring courtesy and respect throughout the process. Our primary aim is to deliver expert care and attention while upholding a safe and welcoming atmosphere for everyone. It's important to note that any aggressive or threatening behaviour during interactions with our staff is not acceptable, and it may result in the discontinuation of ongoing care at the clinic.

Right to terminate

Our clinic retains the right to conclude the provider-patient relationship in cases of practice policy violations, which may occur under the following circumstances:

When the services are no longer advantageous to the patient.
When the involvement of another professional may better serve the patient's needs.
When payment is not received for services rendered.
When a patient exhibits late cancellations or non-attendance on two or more occasions.
When a patient fails to cooperate with the agreed-upon treatment plan or misuses medication contrary to prescribed recommendations.
When the patient, a family member, or a significant other displays hostility, aggression, or disrupts the clinic's operations.

The above are conditions and policies upheld by the practice. The practice and doctors reserve the right to enforce the above.

These policies may be updated from time to time. It is your responsibility to be aware of any changes so please ensure you remain familiar with practice policy information located on our website or by contacting reception.

If more detailed information is required and it is not available on our website emmeco.com.au, please contact the practice via email admin@emmeco.com.au