General Policies
Cancellation Policy/Non-Attendance Policy:
• You need to give 48 hours’ notice to cancel an appointment, or the non-attendance fee applies:
Non-Attendance Fee:
• $250 per 60 min apt
• $150 per 40 min apt,
• $75 per 20 min apt
NO Medicare or Private Health Care Rebates apply to cancellation fees.
Subsequent Non-Attendance Fee in the next 2 years – the full amount quoted.
Full payment Or Full Gap Payment is required at the apt. Accounting Fees & late payment fees apply.
Failure to pay the account may be a criminal matter.
IF YOU OR YOUR CHILD ARE INFECTIOUS OR POSSIBLY INFECTIOUS: Please stay home and ring or email ASAP. Our staff will discuss this and, if we need to we will cancel the appointment and there will be with no cost to you.
IF AN UNEXPECTED EVENT OCCURS, please ring us to discuss. We know that at times unavoidable things suddenly occur. We love to be understanding BUT if you do not talk to us, we cannot understand.
Restraining Orders/Domestic Violence or threats of DV:
it is our policy to refuse to see families of children with these types of conflict for everyone’s safety and recommend they go to the public health system or a male paediatrician in private, if there are parental restraining orders in place that need to be actively enforced or risk of threatening behaviour.
Legal Work: Separate fees are charged for legal work. Costs may be as high as $750 per hour with NO Medicare rebate. These matters can be very expensive. I have been told the Department of Health (public hospitals) have an agreement with the family court not to charge legal fees. Please talk to the reception staff before requesting ANY information/report about these matters. Do not expect reports to be written for free. Any report or letter written related to legal matters including parental conflict will be charged at the above rates.
If you have chosen not to tell your child’s diagnosis to them, please discuss this with my staff prior to making appointments. Medicare funding requires the child to be in the room for the entire appointment for most billing codes. Appointments can be arranged specifically to discuss issues when they are in the room for only some of the time, if we know in advance.
Privacy Policy
Dr Kathy Lee takes her obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) seriously and we are committed to handling your information in accordance with the Privacy Act and in particular the Australian Privacy Principles. Please read the following and contact us if you have any questions.
Collection of Your Personal Information
We need to collect your personal and medical information in order to properly assess, diagnose, treat and be proactive in your health care needs. All members of the team may have access to your medical records from time to time.
We hold your information in both electronic and hard copy formats.
We will collect your health information directly from you, but we may also collect information about you from a third party, for example from other health service providers, a family member or legal guardian.
Use & Disclosure of Your Personal Information
We will use or disclose your personal information for the purpose of providing health services to you. The multi-disciplinary team approach to health care is common to the Australian health system. Practitioners work together and share necessary information in order to deliver optimum health care. You will be able to choose which allied health professionals your child is referred to, and so who the information is shared with. No information will be shared with staff from your child’s school without your written consent.
We may also disclose your information to enable recording on medical registers (e.g. Cerebral Palsy register, Notifiable Disease reporting)
When the examination is performed under insurance claim, your information is disclosed to either your employer or the insurance company concerned for the purpose of invoicing payment. Billing information may also be disclosed to Medicare Australia.
In the circumstances of adverse incidents, your information may need to be disclosed to medical indemnity insurers.
In other situations, we would not disclose your personal information without obtaining your consent.
Data Quality & Security
We will endeavour to ensure that all personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up-to date.
To ensure the security of personal information held in this practice, the computer is password protected and only accessible by authorized staff.
If your details change or you believe our records are not up to date and/or accurate, please contact us.
Openness
This privacy policy clearly explains how we handle health information and is available on request. You can also access this policy on our website www.drkathylee.com.au
Access
We relate to a single parent only. Other parents/carers may have legal rights to information but we will not know who this person is. All requests for information by other parties should go to the parent/carer we ahve the relationship with.
The parent who registers the patient has a right to have access to the health information that we hold in the child’s health record. We will grant access unless to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) or other relevant law allows us or requires us to refuse such access. We may charge a fee to recover reasonable costs associated with supplying information to you.
Use of Identifiers
We will only use your Medicare number for the purpose of billing for medical services provided. Similarly, we would not use or disclose any other government identifying number which you may have given us for any other purposes.
Anonymity
Where lawful and practicable, you have the option of using health services without identifying yourself.
Trans Border Data Flows
Your information will not be transferred outside Australia unless that country has a similar privacy regime or only with your consent.
Complaints
If you have any concerns about the way we have handled your personal information or any other matter, then please contact our reception staff Torie, Sharon or Shayla. We prefer that your complaint is in writing. It is our intention to resolve any complaint fairly and as quickly as possible. If you are unhappy with the response provided by us, you may refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner for privacy issues and The Medical Registration Board, AMA or Health Care Complaints Commission (HCSCC) for other matters.