Fees and Payment
Standard Consultation: $85.00 (rebate of $41.20)
Long Consultation: $130.00 (rebate of $79.70)
We offer bulk billing medical services to Pensioner Concession Card Holders, Commonwealth Seniors Card Holders, Health Care Card Holders and Department of Veterans’ Affairs Card Holders.
We accept cash, cheque, Eftpos, Visa, or Mastercard. Unfortunately, we do not accept American Express. We kindly request that accounts are paid at time of consultation. Medicare rebates are processed at reception for your convenience.
Results
If a follow-up appointment is deemed necessary by your doctor, one of our friendly receptionists will contact you and set an appointment. However, please be advised that results will not be given over the phone.
After Hours
If you require medical attention outside of surgery hours please call our deputised after-hours service, National Home Doctor Service, on 137 425.
Appointments
In order to avoid long delays, please contact our friendly reception staff in advance to make an appointment. Walk-ins appointments are subject to availability. Please advise our reception team if you require an interpreter.
Telephone Calls
Our Doctors do not take calls from patients while consulting, however, you are welcome to leave a message during surgery hours. Staff will endeavour to attend to your enquiry as soon as possible. Emergency calls will be triaged accordingly.
Complaints
We strive to provide our patients with the very best care. We take your compliments, concerns, suggestions and complaints seriously. Please do not hesitate to speak or write to your doctor or the practice manager.
Email Policy
Only appropriate non-clinical matters are dealt with via email exchanges. Consulting or advice services are not conducted by email, this must be communicated face to face by a medical practitioner or other appropriate health professional, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Practice policy
For reasons of health promotion and disease prevention, our practice has a range of posters, leaflets and brochures about health issues relevant to the community either on display in the waiting area and/or in the consulting rooms.
When used appropriately, this information will assist patients in making informed decisions about their health.
GPs and clinical staff use written information to support diagnosis and management of conditions, as well as for the purposes of health promotion and illness prevention.
If the practice cares for a particular ethnic community, written health information is made available in the most common languages spoken. Translated health information is available from:
· Victorian Government Health Information, Health Translations Directory
· NSW Health, Multicultural Health Communication Service.
Information about medicines and medicine safety is provided to patients and this information can be accessed via the RACGP website.
Information from the Australian Council for Quality and Safety in Health Care such as ‘Ten tips for safer health care’ should also be made available to encourage patients to discuss the purpose, importance, benefits and risks relating to decisions about their health care.
This brochure plus other information can be downloaded from the Safety and Quality Council website.
GPs and staff need to be aware of alternative modes of communication used by our patients, such as those who are not proficient in the primary language of the practice GPs or those with a disability. These issues are addressed in Interpreter services.
Burleigh Town Medical Centre’s Privacy Policy
Part A – Purpose and Context
Burleigh Town Medical Centre Centre is committed to ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of all personal information affiliated with Burleigh Town Medical Centre’s business undertakings.
Burleigh Town Medical Centre follows the terms and conditions of privacy and confidentiality in accordance to the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) as per schedule 1 of the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Cth), forming part of the Privacy Act 1988 (‘the Act’).
The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to clearly communicate how Burleigh Town Medical Centre collects and manages personal information.
Part B – Australian Privacy Principles
As a private sector health service provider and under permitted health situations, Burleigh Town Medical Centre is required to comply with the APPs as prescribed under the Act.
The APPs regulate how Burleigh Town Medical Centre may collect, use, disclose and store personal information and how individuals, including Burleigh Town Medical Centre’s patients may:
address breaches of the APPs by Burleigh Town Medical Centre;
access their own personal information; and,
correct their own personal information.
In order to provide patients with adequate health care services, Burleigh Town Medical Centre will need to collect and use personal information. It is important to be aware that if the patient provides incomplete or inaccurate information or the patient withholds personal health information Burleigh Town Medical Centre may not be able to provide the patient with the services they are requesting.
In this Privacy Policy, common terms and definitions include:
"personal information" as defined by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Meaning
"information or an opinion including information or an opinion forming part of a database, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material format or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion"; and,
"health information" as defined by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). This is a particular subset of "personal information" and means:
Information or opinion about the health or disability (at any time i.e. past, present or future) of an individual that can be classified as personal information;
Information or opinion about an individual’s expressed wishes about the future provision of health services that can be classified as personal information;
Information or opinion about health service provided, or to be provided, to an individual, that can be classified as personal information;
Other personal information collected to provide, or in providing, a health service.
Personal information also includes 'sensitive information' which is information including, but not limited to a patient’s:
race;
religion;
political opinions;
sexual preferences; and or,
health information.
Information deemed 'sensitive information' attracts a higher privacy standard under the Act and is subject to additional mechanisms for the patient’s protection.
Part C – Types of personal information
Burleigh Town Medical Centre collects information from each individual patient that is necessary to provide the patient with adequate health care services.
This may include collecting information about a patient’s health history, family history, ethnic background or current lifestyle to assist the health care team in diagnosing and treating a patient’s condition.
Part D – collection & Retention
This information will in most circumstances be collected directly from the patient through but not limited to the following mediums:
Patient consent form;
medical treatment form; and or,
face to face consultation.
In other instances, Burleigh Town Medical Centre may need to collect personal information about a patient from a third party source. This may include:
Emergency contact; or,
other health service providers.
This will only be conducted if the patient has provided consent for Burleigh Town Medical Centre to collect his/her information from a third party source; or, where it is not reasonable or practical for Burleigh Town Medical Centre to collect this information directly from the patient. This may include when:
the patient’s health is potentially at risk and his/her personal information is needed to provide them with emergency medical treatment.
Burleigh Town Medical Centre stores and retains a patient’s personal & health information electronically onto a secure domestic server.
Part E – Purpose of collection, Use & Disclosure
Burleigh Town Medical Centre only uses a patient’s personal information for the purpose(s) they have provided the information for unless one of the following applies:
the patient has consented for Burleigh Town Medical Centre to use his/her information for an alternative or additional purpose;
the disclosure of the patient’s information by Burleigh Town Medical Centre is reasonably necessary for the enforcement of criminal law or a law imposing a penalty or sanction;
the disclosure of the patient’s information by Burleigh Town Medical Centre will prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to somebody's life or health; or,
Burleigh Town Medical Centre is required or authorised by law to disclose the patient’s information for another purpose
Health Professionals to provide treatment
During the patient’s treatment at Burleigh Town Medical Centre he/she may be referred to alternative medical treatment/services (i.e. pathology or radiology) where Burleigh Town Medical Centre’s staff may consult with senior medical experts when determining a patient’s diagnosis or treatment.
Burleigh Town Medical Centre’s staff may also refer the patient to other health service providers for further treatment during and following the patient’s admission. These services include, but are not limited to:
Allied Health professionals; or,
Outpatient or community health services.
These health professionals will be designated health service providers appointed to use the patient’s health information as part of the process of providing treatment. Please note that this process will be conducted whilst maintaining the confidentiality and privacy of the patient’s personal information.
Alternative Health services
At any point a patient wishes to be treated by an alternative medical practitioner or health care service that requires access to his/her personal/health information Burleigh Town Medical Centre requires written authorisation. This written authorisation is to state that the patient will be utilizing alternative health services and that these health services have consented for a transfer of personal/health information.
Other Third Parties
Burleigh Town Medical Centre may provide the patient’s personal information regarding a patient’s treatment or condition to additional third parties. These third parties may include:
Legislative Requirements such as Subpoena, Court Order or Summons;
WorkCover, Insurance Groups or law firms;
A medical practice when patient care is being transferred.
Where information is relevant or reasonable to be provided to third parties, written consent from the patient is required. Additionally, the patient may at any time wish to advise that no third parties as stated are to access or be informed about his/her personal information or circumstances.
A subpoena, court order or summons has the authority to compel production of medical records. GPs are obligated to comply with a Legislative requirement or subpoena, and written consent from the patient is not required in this instance.
Other Uses of Personal Information
In order to provide the best possible environment to treat patients, Burleigh Town Medical Centre may also use personal/health information where necessary for:
activities such as quality assurance processes, accreditation, audits, risk and claims management, patient satisfaction surveys and staff education and training;
invoicing, billing and account management;
to liaise with a patient’s health fund, Medicare or the Department of Veteran's Affairs, as necessary,
Part F – Access and changes to personal information
If an individual patient requests access to their personal information under the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (HRIP Act) he/she must follow the guidelines as laid out by the Information and Privacy Commission (IPC).
Once an individual patient requests access to his/her personal information Burleigh Town Medical Centre will respond within the required period of time to provide the information as per IPC current instructions.
All personal information will be updated in accordance to any changes to a patient’s personal circumstances brought to Burleigh Town Medical Centre’s attention. All changes to personal information will be subject to patient’s consent and acknowledgement.
If an individual requests access to his/her personal information from Burleigh Town Medical Centre. A fee will be charged. Please note that this fee is associated with administrative costs only and the current fees are available from the Practice Manager.
Part G – Complaints handling
A patient may complain about a breach of their privacy to the Practice Manager or directly to the Information and Privacy Commission. Complaints must be received within 6 months of the patient first becoming aware of the matter.
Upon receipt of patient complaint regarding a breach of his/her privacy, the Practice Manager will undertake a full investigation and report the findings in writing to the patient. If it is deemed that a privacy breach has occurred, the practice manager will follow the current IPC procedure for reporting, and report the breach to IPC.
Part H – Personal Information and overseas recipients
Burleigh Town Medical Centre does not engage with any overseas entities, with which personal or health information would be transferred, appointed or disclosed without explicit and detailed consent from the patient.
Signed consent acknowledging the risks involved when transferring information overseas is to be obtained from the patient prior to release of information to any overseas entities and recorded in the patient file.
Part i – Disposal of personal/health information
Burleigh Town Medical Centre receives any unsolicited personal information that is not deemed appropriate for the permitted health situation, Burleigh Town Medical Centre will reasonably de-identify and dispose of the information accordingly.
If Burleigh Town Medical Centre holds any personal or health information that is no longer deemed relevant or appropriate for the permitted health situation, Burleigh Town Medical Centre will reasonably de-identify and dispose of the information accordingly.
Part J – Access to policy
Burleigh Town Medical Centre provides access to this Privacy Policy for patients on our website: www.jamesstburleighmedical.com.au Hard copy of this policy will be provided upon request.
Part K – Review of Policy
Burleigh Town Medical Centre in accordance with any legislative change will review the terms and conditions of this policy to ensure all content is both accurate and up to date.
Notification of any additional review(s) or alteration(s) to this policy will be provided to patients through our website within 30 days.
Part L - Patient Feed back and Complaints
For all Patient complaints and feedback please email directly to our team at reception@burleightownmedical.com.au or call us on 0755935561 and our practice manager will be in touch with you as soon as possible.