16 Apr FAQ’s at Reception
At Brighton Spine and Sports Clinic, we are committed to providing exceptional patient care from the moment you contact us. If you’ve ever called or visited our reception, you know our team is always ready to help. But, as a team, we have found that many of the same questions come up daily from new and existing patients. To make everyone’s experience even smoother and enhance your understanding of our clinic’s procedure, we have compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) right here.
Who should I see?
Whilst our reception staff are extremely knowledgeable regarding our clinic and practitioners that work here, we do not have medical training and some questions cannot be answered by us. If you are interested about what practitioner or specialty is best for you, our website contains extensive information regarding our team, and different medical services we provide.
If you have more specific questions that cannot be found on our website, please feel free to give our reception a call and we will endeavor do everything we can to answer your question. We do just ask for politeness and patience if it is a question we cannot answer straight away, however, we will always get back to you after discussing with our practitioners about what may be best for you.
Can I claim with Medicare or Private Health?
Claiming with private health vs Medicare is all dependent on who you are seeing.
Private health extra’s are applicable to be used with all our allied health professionals including physiotherapists, osteopaths and myotherapists, as well as our dietitian and psychologists. The amount you receive back from your private health is dependent on your personal coverage. At reception, we are able to give you a quote through our HICAPs machine if you bring us the physical card, otherwise, you will need to get in contact with your provider.
At reception, we are able to claim specific appointments on Medicare for you. Most of our treating doctors will be claimable via Medicare, however a valid referral must be provided. For allied health appointments, an Enhanced Care Plan (EPC) can be used if you have received one from your GP.
What is an EPC and how does it work?
An EPC is a care plan created by your GP for use at allied health facilities. You are eligible to receive up to 5 partially rebated appointments that your GP will allocate to a multitude of allied health specialties within 1 year to receive a Medicare claim.
Reception will receive your EPC and add it to your patient file, then at payment time, you will need to pay the upfront fee for your appointment and reception will do the Medicare claim for you. You will receive a total of $60.35 back from Medicare for these sessions.
Please note, payment MUST be made at the end of your appointment, your EPC does not mean the appointment is bulk-billed.
To create your EPC or see if you are eligible for one, please see your GP.
Do you see Workcover and TAC patients and how does that work?
We see many patients who have a claim with TAC or WorkCover (WC), although some practitioners may charge a co-payment at their discretion. Other practitioners may require payment at the time of service, and request that you seek reimbursement from your insurer. If you would like to know which of our practitioners accept WC or TAC patients, please give reception a ring.
To ensure that reception is able to process your WC or TAC billing, please ensure you supply a current approval for your treatment from your insurance, as well as your claim number.
Do I need a referral and how long does my referral last?
A referral is only required for our specialists in the clinic. These practitioners include:
- Dr Kalman Fried
- Dr Nathan Johns
- Dr Lynette Kiers
- Dr Slava Poel
If you do not receive a referral prior to your appointment with these referrals, you will not receive any rebate back from Medicare for your appointment.
The length of your referral depends on who the referral was created from. Referrals created and sent by your GP will last 12 months, whereas if you have received a referral from another specialists, these will only last 3 months. If you are heading to the expiry date of your referral before your next appointment, reception will let you know in advance.
How do I see practitioners’ availability?
The best way to see our practitioner’s availability is on HotDoc, which you can find on our website. Hotdoc will show when the practitioner is next available and you can use this website to also book any appointments you are after.
Some of our practitioners availability will not be available on our website, in this case, please feel free to give reception a call.
How do I start Pilates at Brighton Spinal?
Pilates at Brighton Spinal are run by three different practitioners, Julie Schultz and Bruce Gilmore, physiotherapist and Dragana Obradovic, our myotherapist.
To start Pilates at the clinic, you will need to have a 1-on-1 45-minute exercise appointment, this will allow our practitioners to get to know you, any conditions you have and your goals/needs for Pilates. It is recommended to attend 2-5 1-on-1 classes. Once your practitioner is comfortable, you will be able to move to group classes. Group classes for Pilates consist of a maximum of 3 patients.
If you have any more questions regarding Pilates, would like to learn about our pricing or if you would like to book in, please give reception a call.