Northside Clinic is a mixed billing clinic (both private billing and bulk billing) aiming to offer the same standard of healthcare to all.
Bulk Billing – available for Disability Pensioners, Aged Pensioners and children of Health Care Card holders (Monday to Friday only) excludes procedures and vaccinations.
Concessional Rate – all other government issued healthcare cards or pension cards may be eligible for a concessional rate excludes procedures and vaccinations.
A current valid concession/pension card and Medicare card must be presented at every appointment, otherwise a private fee will apply.
Private Fees – apply to patients who do not possess a government issued pension or concession card.
Procedure Fees – is charged by the Dr and applies to all patients regardless of bulk billing or concessional status (Medicare rebate available).
Treatment Room Fees – is charged by the practice in addition to procedure fees to cover the cost of consumables utilised regardless of bulk billing or concessional status (no Medicare rebate available).
Nursing Fees- for some nurse led treatments there will be a fee (no Medicare rebate available).
We do not invoice third parties or employers directly patients are required to settled accounts for TAC or WorkCover claims.
All fees owing, are payable at the end of the consultation and must be paid in full on the day. We accept cash, EFTPOS and credit cards (Visa and Mastercard).
Please note there will be a $5 late fee applied to your account for all appointments/procedures that are not paid on the day. You will be responsible for claiming rebates from Medicare for appointments not paid on the day.
For accounts paid on the day Northside Clinic will transmit your payment to Medicare. Medicare reimburses you the nominated rebate amount which is set by Medicare. Any concerns regarding your Medicare rebate payments should be directed to Medicare.
Northside Clinic Fees effective 1 July 2023.
Longer Consultations
Consultations over 30 minutes long will incur a higher fee. Ask reception staff for details.
Repeat Prescriptions,
Referrals & Pathology
Test Results
Require an appointment with your doctor.
Minor Procedures
There will be a procedure fee and a treatment room fee to cover the cost of dressings and equipment used. Please speak to your doctor before you book your procedure.
Reminders & Recalls
Northside Clinic maintains a confidential database for reminding and recalling patients for follow up treatments, immunisations, cervical screening tests, and other preventable healthcare issues. Patients who do not wish to be included on the database should advise their doctor. Whilst we make every effort to send reminder messages, it is still the responsibility of the patient to return for further visits if your doctor has indicated that this is necessary.
Registered patients of the clinic will receive SMS reminders of their appointments. This is sent out the day before the appointment. Please respond to the message to indicate your confirmation of attendance. Unconfirmed appointments may be cancelled. If you do not wish to receive reminder SMS messages for appointments, please advise the reception staff.
Access to After Hours
Healthcare
In an emergency situation, please dial 000. The nearest Emergency Department is at St Vincent’s Hospital, 41 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy 3065, phone (03) 9231 2211.
Locum Service
‘National Home Doctor Service’ can be contacted on 13 7425 for any out of hours medical services.
Weeknights 6:00pm to 8:00am.
Weekends from 12 noon Saturday, all day Sunday and Public Holidays.
Please discuss fees and payment options when booking services as they may differ from Northside Clinic fees.
For more information visit, https://homedoctor.com.au/
Home Visits
Please contact Northside Clinic to discuss.
Explaining Bulk Billing
& Private Billing
The Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) lists the services the Government will fund, a recommended (‘schedule’) fee for each service and a rebate amount. The rebate is the amount that is paid to you by Medicare when you access eligible health services. In most cases, Medicare rebates do not cover the full cost of medical services and are typically paid as a percentage of the schedule fee.
The MBS schedule fee is a guide only and doctors are free to set their own fees for services. Fee paying patients pay for their treatment and receive a rebate from Medicare. There is a gap between what patients pay for services and the amount Medicare reimburses. This gap is known as an out-of-pocket expense.
Bulk billing is where the Doctor agrees to accept only the rebate amount as a fee and bills Medicare directly for the medical service. There is no gap for the patient to pay. This means that you do not have any out-of-pocket expenses. It also means the doctor is receiving a lower fee for that service than if it is privately billed.
Note: Bulk billing is also available to any patient, at the discretion of the individual doctor.
Telehealth
Commencing 13 March 2020, Medicare telehealth items were temporarily made available to help reduce the risk of community transmission of COVID-19. Telehealth enables you to consult your Doctor via telephone or video call from the comfort of your own home. You can also request repeat prescriptions and referrals as well as receive test results via a telehealth consultation.
Telehealth appointments attract the same fees as if you were attending in person or Face-to Face (F2F).
From 1st July 2021, the Commonwealth Government has scrapped the majority of Medicare Telehealth items for general practice services provided by telephone. There are no changes to Telehealth videoconferencing items.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
Short (less than 6 minutes) Telehealth consultations and standard (6 – 15 minutes) Telehealth consultations can still be made by telephone. However, any longer Telehealth consultations (eg 30 minute or ‘level C’ consultations) can now ONLY be made by videoconference.
If you have a booked a ‘long’ / 30 minute Telehealth telephone consultation with your GP within the next few weeks, please note that your GP may need to contact you at the time of your consultation to convert to a Telehealth videoconference.
To participate in a Telehealth videoconference, all you need is a smartphone and you will be sent a link. If you do not have a smartphone, please call our reception team on 9485 7700 to discuss alternatives to your appointment.
OTHER MAJOR CHANGES
All Chronic Disease Management Plans (commonly known as EPC plans) by Telehealth – which includes preparation or review of GP Management Plans & Team Care Arrangements – can now ONLY be done by videoconference.
This applies to all EPC referrals / plans which provide 5 Medicare-rebated sessions to Allied Health therapists such as Physiotherapists, Osteotherapists, Podiatrists & Diabetes Educators (for example).
All initial / preparation of Mental Health Care Plans (including Eating Disorder Management Plans) by Telehealth can now ONLY be done by videoconference.
Any review of an existing Mental Health or Eating Disorder Management Plan (in order to get ‘extra’ sessions) can still be done by telephone.
There are many other changes to specific Telehealth items but if your consultation is affected, your GP will let you know if you consultation needs to be converted to a videoconference.
EXISTING RELATIONSHIP REQUIREMENT
The requirement to have a Face-to-Face attendance with the GP providing the service, or another practitioner at the same practice, at least once in the previous 12 months is still in place for the majority of GP Telehealth items.
The following new exemptions have been introduced from 1st July 2021:
- Pregnancy counselling
- Blood borne viruses, sexual or reproductive health consultations.
The Government is trying to move away from Telehealth telephone consultations, and more to videoconference consultations, which it believes to be superior. However we realise that this places some people at a disadvantage – for example, if you do not own a smartphone or a computer, have poor internet access or can’t afford, do not have the IT capacity to manage a videoconference, or just find videoconference uncomfortable to use.
* Please Note: to avoid these changes to Telehealth items you always have the option of attending your appointment in person / Face-to-Face
For more information, please see MBS Consumer Factsheet.