Does my child need to attend the appointment? Medicare has requirements that need to be met for you to receive the rebate. At the initial appointment, your child needs to be in the room for at least 45 minutes. At subsequent appointments, I need to see them and get enough information to be able to clinically assess them.
Do I need a referral? You need a valid referral to claim a Medicare rebate. See this website https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/referring-and-requesting-medicare-services-for-health-professionals?context=20 for further information about what is a valid referral.
How long does a referral last? It depends. A standard GP referral lasts 12 months. They may be able to write an indefinite one. A referral from a specialist only lasts 3 months.
Can two prescriptions for the same medication be written? There are very strict rules around prescriptions. For most prescriptions, a second prescription cannot be written. A new prescription for most of the medication I prescribe has a 4-week window before the prescription expires before it can be written. My staff work hard to time an appointment to this 4-week window. If you think we have timed it wrong, your pharmacist can help you check our timing.
Can the prescription be shared between parents? A single prescription only can be written. The medication can be split into two or even three amounts by a pharmacist. This will probably require you to pay an extra fee.
Can a prescription be written without an appointment? The Medical Board has put out a comment about prescriptions written without an appointment. They have strongly advised this should NOT occur. Occasionally a prescription is written a short period after an appointment as the appointment was too soon. It will always be linked to an appointment.
What if my child reacts to medication? Please re-read the information given to you about medication side effects. Follow those instructions. You can contact your pharmacist. They have access to larger databases than I do.
What if my child has had too much medication or accidentally taken/been given the wrong one? The poisons hotline is 131126
I have been given a cybersecurity number. What is it used for? Each patient is being given a 6-digit random code. This code should not be shared and should never be emailed to anyone. If we email you a document with your child’s full name and DOB or your full name and DOB, this code is used by you to unlock the document.
Responding to emails We get around 1-2 emails a week that are unexpected wanting information to be released. Email communication is the easiest to be hacked. Consequently, we are required by the Privacy Act to be very cautious. If we receive communication that is not expected from a recent appointment, we will NOT simply give you information without a process to verify who you are. This will include a small fee to cover the cost of my staff’s time to do this. This fee is standard across all of health, but is waved when communication occurs between health professionals in most instances.
Cyber Security https://youtu.be/KyFemf829aY See the Youtube Clip