Patients

The Occupational & Environmental Physicians are leading experts in occupational and environmental medicine. The specialist physicians are self-employed, private specialist medical practitioners. They do not work for, or represent, any company or third-party organisation. 

Here are some frequently asked questions. If you have any questions that are not listed below, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Table of Contents

Your first appointment

Before your appointment please remember to obtain and bring the following:

  • Current photo ID is mandatory and must be in the name of booking. We accept driver’s license, passport, 18+ card.
  • Name changes: you must bring evidence of name change details such as certificate of marriage or official government letter.
  • Medicare Card (secondary ID purposes only)
  • Copies of scans/x-rays/pathology investigations relevant to your claim.
  • Completed patient details form here.

A support person may accompany you during your assessment, but no children are permitted during the assessment.

Fees and Payments

Consultation and in-room fees

CONSULTATION FEES
ITEMFEEMEDICARE REBATE
Initial Consultation (45-60 minutes)$380.00$73.85
Prolonged initial Consultation (> 60 mins)$450.00$73.85
Subsequent Consultation$190.00$37.15
Non-attendance Fee or late cancellation fee$380.00$n/a

Note: 10% GST is additional for consultation if referral is from a third party referrer (e.g. Workers’ Compensation insurer, solicitor, employer etc). Medicare rebate is not available for self-referred or third party referrals.

IME Report fees – please call our rooms for fee and charges applicable.

Workers’ Compensation specialist fee rates are applicable for gazetted fees of each State.

Consultant fees are payable within 24 hours of booking the appointment.  Report fees are payable on receipt of invoice. 

Billing for Reports

Private Patients:

  • Report quotes may be requested and prepared for all patients and this quote discloses the payments required by our practice prior to your requested report being done.
  • Please note, we do not Bulk Bill any service provided by the Specialists.
  • Our fees have been developed in accordance with the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Medical Benefits Scheme (MBS) as set out by the Australian Health Service Alliance (AHSA) and Medicare.
  • All payments are required at upon receipt of your invoice. The specialists report will be released upon receipt of payment in full.

Third party referrals:

  • Referrers may request a quote for specialist reports upon receipt of referral brief.
  • Our payment terms are 14 days from date of invoice.
  • Legal/Solicitor referrals – payment of invoice before release of report is required.

Payment Methods

We accept the following Payment Methods:

  • Credit Card – including VISA and MasterCard.
  • Electronic funds transfer at point of sale (EFTPOS).
  • Direct deposit via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).

We do not accept American Express (AMEX) or Diners Club.

Forms

Results and Reports

Your report will be sent (normally electronically) to the organisation or person who referred you to see us.

It will take approximately 10 working days for your referrer to receive your report.

You may request a copy of the report be released from your referrer, usually through to your GP so that your findings in the report can be explained to you.

You will not receive a copy of your report directly from us.

Patient Feedback

Please address all patient feedback to:

The Practice Manager
OccPhyz Consutling
info@occphyz.com.au

Recalls and Follow ups

Recalling a patient is an essential part of the healthcare system, a recall could be issued for a number of reasons and is an indication that the Specialist does require your attendance in a follow-up appointment.  The Specialist will determine if you require a recall by reviewing your medical history, results and any new information to help determine if it is considered significant to your health care.

The doctors want the best for you, this includes not only managing current conditions but also implementing preventative care. We understand that you live a busy life and it’s easy to forget important health checks throughout the year.

 

Why Am I Receiving a Recall?

There are a number of reasons the Specialist may recall you, some of these include:

  • Test results
  • Routine health surveillance monitoring
  • You may require further testing

 

The Specialists Have a Duty of Care

The Specialist has a legal and moral obligation to provide the best possible care they can to patients. Part of this duty of care is sending reminders and follow-ups where required to ensure continuing and preventative measures are in place.

 

How Will I Receive a Recall?

If you are issued with a recall you may receive a phone call, SMS or an email to your email address, you will then have the ability to make your appointment over the phone to our administration team.

If you are waiting for results and haven’t received a recall, you are still able to phone the clinic and follow them up, you will then know for sure whether they require any further action.

Test Results

You can contact our reception staff after 2pm for your results, they can advise if your pathology or radiology results have been received or if further action is required.

No test results will be discussed or disclosed over the phone to you by our administration team or nursing staff.

The specialist will contact you with results, if necessary. Third party referrals such as workers’ compensation claims, results will be sent to the insurer with your report.

A copy of your test results can be sent to your family GP or treating Specialist/s upon request.

 

Why is it essential to come in for a recall?

If you are issued with a recall it is essential that you book an appointment at your earliest convenience, this allows the doctor to:

  • Discuss the issue with you
  • Treat you in the quickest and most efficient way
  • Conduct further testing
  • Discuss preventative care

If you receive a recall, it is necessary that you book a follow-up appointment with your Specialist. The doctor needs to see you for a reason whether that be test results, preventative care or a reminder for an appointment.

 

Fees

Recalls and follow up appointments are billed as a subsequent consultation if within 12 months of initial consultation/date of referral.
Our fee is $190.00
Medicare rebates are available for treating referrals only.
Third party referrals – our fees have 10% GST added as it is provision of a service

Proof of Identity - Photo ID

Upon arrival you will be requested to complete our Patient Information Sheet. This assists us, and the specialist Physicians with providing basic information relating to your contact details and medical history.

You will be asked to provide photo identification – this is mandatory.  We must record your details of ID for proof of your identity on the day.  Your name on your ID must match with our appointment details.

If you have recently changed your name, you must provide proof of name change to proceed with your assessment.

Your personal and health information is stored electronically and filed securely on our premises. Our practice is fully compliant with the safe and secure storage of medical records according to the Australian Privacy Act 1988.

Accepted forms of photo ID: 

  • Driver’s License
  • Passport
  • 18+ Card
  • Photo Work ID
  • Student Cards with photo
  • Other ID with identifiable photo

We do not accept the following as proof of ID:

  • Medicare Cards
  • Centrelink Cards
  • Pension/ Concession Cards
  • Bank/ Credit Cards

Privacy and Confidentiality

Our practice is committed to best practice in relation to the management of information we collect. This practice has developed a policy to protect patient privacy in compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (‘the Privacy Act’).  Our policy is to inform you of:

  • the kinds of information that we collect and hold, which, as a medical practice, is likely to be ‘health information’ for the purposes of the Privacy Act;
  • how we collect and hold personal information;
  • the purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information;
  • how you may access your personal information and seek the correction of that information;
  • how you may complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles and how we will deal with such a complaint;
  • whether we are likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipients;
  • we will obtain your written permission prior to disclosure of your personal information to any overseas entity or recipient.

What kinds of personal information do we collect?

The type of information we may collect and hold includes:

  • Your name, address, date of birth, email and contact details
  • Medicare number, DVA number and other government identifiers, although we will not use these for the purposes of identifying you in our practice
  • Other health information about you, including:
    • Notes of your symptoms or diagnosis and the treatment given to you.
    • Your specialist reports and test results.
    • Your appointment and billing details.
    • Your prescriptions and other pharmaceutical purchases.
    • Your dental records.
    • Your genetic information.
    • Your healthcare identifier.
    • Any other information about your race, sexuality or religion, when collected by a health service provider.

How do we collect and hold personal information?

We will generally collect personal information:

  • From you directly when you provide your details to us. This might be via a face to face discussion, telephone conversation, registration form or online form.
  • From a person responsible for you.
  • From third parties where the Privacy Act or other law allows it – this may include, but is not limited to:  other members of your treating team, diagnostic centres, specialists, hospitals, the My Health Record system, electronic prescription services, Medicare, your health insurer, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Why do we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information?

In general, we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

  • To provide health services to you.
  • To communicate with you in relation to the health service being provided to you.
  • To comply with our legal obligations, including, but not limited to, mandatory notification of communicable diseases or mandatory reporting under applicable child protection legislation. 
  • To help us manage our accounts and administrative services, including billing, arrangements with health funds, pursuing unpaid accounts, management of our ITC systems.
  • For consultations with other doctors and allied health professional involved in your healthcare.
  • To obtain, analyse and discuss test results from diagnostic and pathology laboratories.
  • For identification and insurance claiming.
  • If you have a My Health Record, to upload your personal information to, and download your personal information from, the My Health Record system.
  • Information can also be disclosed through an electronic transfer of prescriptions service. 
  • To liaise with your health fund, government and regulatory bodies such as Medicare, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) (if you make a privacy complaint to the OAIC), as necessary.

How can you access and correct your personal information?

You have a right to seek access to, and correction of the personal information which we hold about you.

For details on how to access and correct your health record, please contact our practice as noted below under ‘Contact Details’:

We will normally respond to your request within 30 days.

How do we hold your personal information? 

Our staff are trained and required to respect and protect your privacy. We take reasonable steps to protect information held from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. This includes:

  • Holding your information on an encrypted database.
  • Holding your information in secure cloud storage (you can explain whether this information is encrypted or what other security measures are taken with third party storage).
  • Our staff sign confidentiality agreements.

Privacy related questions and complaints 

If you have any questions about privacy-related issues or wish to complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles or the handling of your personal information by us, you may lodge your complaint in writing to (see below for details).  We will normally respond to your request within 30 days. 

If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may refer the matter to the OAIC:

Phone: 1300 363 992

Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au

Fax: +61 2 9284 9666

Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001

OAIC Website

Anonymity and pseudonyms

The Privacy Act provides that individuals must have the option of not identifying themselves, or of using a pseudonym, when dealing with our practice, except in certain circumstances, such as where it is impracticable for us to deal with you if you have not identified yourself.

We have determined that it is largely impracticable for our practice to deal with patients anonymously or via a pseudonym. The provision of medical services is likely to be impacted, and billing via Medicare or a health insurer where applicable is likely to be impracticable.

Therefore, we require that you use your name and not a pseudonym.

Overseas disclosure

We may disclose your personal information to the following overseas recipients:

  • Any practice or individual who assists us in providing services (such as where you have come from overseas and had your health record transferred from overseas or have treatment continuing from an overseas provider).
  • Anyone else to whom you authorise us to disclose it.

Updates to this Policy

This Policy will be reviewed from time to time to take account of new laws and technology, changes to our operations and other necessary developments. Updates will be publicised on the practice’s website.

Privacy and websites

See our Privacy page.

For privacy related issues, please contact our Practice Manager via the General Enquiry email..

Practice Policy: Aggressive/ Abusive Behaviour

Our aim is to always treat all persons visiting our Practice with dignity and respect.  In return, we ask our patients and visitors to behave appropriately.

This Practice will not tolerate any form of aggressive or abusive behaviour towards any member of staff or health professional. Any form of aggressive or abusive behaviour, verbal or physical, may result in the cessation of consultation and your removal from the premises. 

 

 All queries, complaints or concerns are to be addressed in writing to:

The Practice Manager
OccPhyz Consulting
PO Box 5172
MANLY QLD 4179

Clinic parking and directions

For all our consulting locations and directions on how to get there please go to our contact us page.