From Monday 3^rd June 2024 our consultation fees will be increasing.

Each year the costs of operating a medical practice increase. To ensure the viability and sustainability of Health Matters we need to increase our consultation fees to cover these higher operating costs. In this way, we can guarantee that Health Matters will be here to continue to deliver the high-quality health care that you, your family, and the community deserve, in the long term.

NEW CONSULTATION FEES: From 3^rd June 2024 our practice will be charging you the following fees for our most common services:

Saturdays (Fee payable for ALL patients - No Bulk Billing)

To some of our Health Matters’ friends who are not eligible for concession cards, we have been charitable in the past and accepted your Medicare Rebate as full payment for your consultations. Unfortunately, such payment arrangements are no longer sustainable moving forward. The indexation of Medicare Rebates has not kept pace with the increasing costs of operating a medical practice and bulk-billing incentive payments are not applicable in these circumstances. Health Matters needs to remain viable and sustainable for the benefit of you, your family, and the community, so please expect an out of pocket fee in the future if this situation applies to you.

Please keep in mind that most general practice out of pocket fees you pay will go towards your Medicare Safety Net threshold. Once you’ve reached the thresholds, you’ll start getting higher Medicare benefits. This means you’ll get more money back from Medicare for certain services. For more information on the Medicare Safety Nets, please go to https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/medicare-safety-nets

2024 Medicare Safety Nets thresholds

Health Matters Karalee and Health Matters Fernvale both provide a comprehensive primary care medical service to the families and visitors in our local community. We keep up to date with medical innovations and aim to offer a personal and caring service in a friendly relaxed atmosphere.

NEW PATIENTS ARE WELCOME!

All new patients will be asked to complete a New Patient Form and Privacy Consent Form.  This can be completed on arrival for your appointment, or via the AMS link in the text message that you may receive upon booking a new patient appointment. 

Please bring with you your Medicare Card, and any current health care cards or pension cards you may have. Full Privacy Policy is also available for you to read upon request.

It is important that you keep us up to date with any changes in contact information, including phone numbers, address changes and who you would like us to contact in an emergency. This is especially important, so we can get hold of you regarding test results in a timely manner.

Changes and updates that are coming into effect from 22^nd August 2022

All our doctors are Independent Health Practitioners.  As such, each doctor has the option to charge as they see fit depending on the length and complexity of consultations, independent of the practice billing policy.

As a general guide:

Private Fees will be incurred for the following:

• Appointments before 9am, Monday to Friday
• Appointments after 5pm, Monday to Friday
• Saturday appointments
• Skin appointments 

Bulk Billing is available between the hours of 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, for the following patient groups:

• Children 12 years and under
• Health Care Card Holders
• Pensioners
• Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA)
• Chronic Disease Management Plans (CDM)
• Vaccination Clinics

Please present your valid Medicare card, concession card, or DVA card when you come for your appointment.

If you have any concerns about fees or payment, please discuss with your General Practitioner at the time of your appointment. 

Skin Appointments

The following changes will come into effect from the 1^st February 2024 relating to skin appointments. 

Full Body Skin Checks (30 minutes) will incur Out-Of-Pocket (OOP) expenses for all patients:

• Pensioners and Health Care Card Holders $50 OOP
• Standard Private Fee $100 OOP

Skin Spot Check Appointments (10 minutes):

If you have a localised skin concern, we can offer 10-minute spot check appointments for:

• Pensioners – Bulk-Billed Monday to Friday between 9am to 5pm
• Health Care Card Holders - Bulk-Billed Monday to Friday between 9am to 5pm
• Standard Private Appointment Fee for all other patients

We are happy to provide a written estimate of cost for skin procedures. Just ask your doctor or one of our receptionists if you need more information.

Women’s Health – Mirena and Implanon Appointments

Medicare Rebates

Your Medicare claims are processed by us for Medicare to return your rebate. Rebates are often returned instantaneously. 

Appointment Notifications and Communication:

Our automated communication system will send you an SMS reminder the day before your appointment.  For this service to be effective, clients are required to ensure their details are kept up-to-date with HMK.

If you receive an SMS, please follow the instructions and prompts.  Please do not free text.

Appointment Cancellation:

We respectfully request that you provide a minimum of 2 hours’ notice of appointment cancellation.  If you have replied ‘Yes’ to our SMS, acknowledging attendance, but cannot attend, please reply ‘No’ to the SMS service prior to 2hrs before your scheduled appointment.  Replying ‘No’ will cancel the appointment unless the cancellation notification is forwarded within 2hrs of the scheduled appointment. 

If you do not provide more than 2hrs notification of cancellation from your scheduled appointment, a fee of $88 maybe be charged to you unless extenuating circumstances apply.  Cancellation fees must be satisfied in full prior to subsequent bookings.

Appointment Non-attendance:

Your time is valuable, and so is ours.  If you do not notify our practice of your appointment cancellation, and subsequently do not attend your scheduled appointment we have allocated for you, the practice fees will be applicable:

• If you have confirmed your appointment by replying ‘YES’ to our SMS, but do not attend the appointment, you will be charged the standard consult fee of $88. No rebate will be applicable, the full fee is payable by the patient.

Further appointments will be unable to be made until any fees on the account are paid in full.

Standard appointments are booked for 15 minutes where one issue will be discussed. Long and Prolonged appointments are available and are necessary if you have several problems to discuss with your doctor. These appointments are required for counselling, some procedures, full medical check-ups, insurance medicals and review of complex conditions.  Please let our receptionists know if you require a long or prolonged appointment at the time of booking.

Where you book an appointment that is not long enough to deal with complex or multiple problems, you may be asked to return for another appointment so your doctor can address each problem thoroughly.

Urgent clinical problems will be dealt with on the day and can sometimes take a bit longer than expected. As urgent problems need to be fitted in, there can be delays when a doctor must deal with an urgent medical problem ahead of your appointment and we apologise for any inconvenience incurred. We ask for your patience and understanding when this occurs, as it is often out of our control.

Script Requests:  All requests for prescriptions require an appointment to be booked.  This can be facilitated via a face-to-face appointment or a short ‘Script Only’ telephone consultation if you have attended the practice for at least one face-to-face appointment in the past 12mths, this is a Medicare ruling. This can usually be accommodated same day, for you to obtain your required prescriptions.

Health Matters Karalee and Fernvale are both able to provide telephone or video consultations with ALL patients.  Help manage your health care by utilising our telehealth system that is aimed at getting more people treated without having to attend our medical practice.

There are two options available:

• Telephone Consultation;
• Video Consultation;

To join the desired “waiting room’ click on the following link

Karalee - https://vcc.healthdirect.org.au/t/hmk/join

Fernvale - https://vcc.healthdirect.org.au/t/hmf/join

Once you have joined the waiting room, the doctor will then pick up your call and your consultation will take place.

PLEASE NOTE: You are required to have an appointment booked in at the practice. Please do not join the waiting room without contacting the practice either on-line or calling our practice.  It is important that you book an appointment first, as unfortunately your call will not be answered.

Test Results: We ask that you phone the practice on 38123133 ( Karalee) or 54267788 ( Fernvale) to follow up your test results and to make a follow up appointment, if required. If your doctor told you that the test was urgent, please ring within 24 hours of having the test.  It is always important that you follow up your test results.

If patients have consented to receive SMS correspondence, they will receive a text message once the doctor has checked all results received, which will also advise if a follow up appointment is required.

Please note that it is not our policy to bulk bill appointments for review of test results, as these appointments are often when your doctor has to decide ongoing management of a condition or make referrals for further tests or specialist review.

REMINDERS:  We also offer reminders via SMS correspondence, to let you know about preventative health activities that are recommended for you, for example PAP smear tests, blood pressure checks, or a colonoscopy.

If you no longer wish to receive reminders from us, just let us know by speaking to one of our team, and we will remove you from the system. We send reminders via SMS where you consent to receive SMS from us.  SMS will require you to enter some details such as your date of birth, prior to opening the full SMS message. This is to protect your privacy.

For all other urgent after-hours care required outside of our opening hours, contact either National Home Dr Service on 13 SICK ( 137425) OR Hello Home Doctor Service on 134100 to arrange an after-hours visit.  Please be aware that location services do apply.  Phone consultations can be offered if location cannot be met, and if appropriate for patient care.  Services will advise of this upon booking.

All patients can also attend the Ipswich Hospital Accident and Emergency Department. Or alternatively, you can attend St. Andrew’s Ipswich Private Hospital Emergency Department – however fees do apply for this service as it is a private hospital – for fees please call 3816 9999.

Please notify us if you are unable to attend an appointment so that another patient may be offered the time to see a doctor.

All doctors at the practice use computerised Medical Records to record information, order tests, provide prescriptions and file Specialists reports. Our computers are password protected, and backed up daily. All information recorded at our practice is confidential. We follow the Australian Federal Privacy Laws and Standards for the private health sector. A Practice Privacy Policy summary is available at reception, or on request. Copies of our full Practice Privacy Policy can be provided upon request.

We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Please talk to our staff, your doctor or the Practice Manager with any feedback that you wish to provide. If you wish to take the matter further, you can contact the Health Ombudsman.

Contact details
P: 133 OHO (133 646)
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Postal Address:
PO Box 13281 George Street
Brisbane Qld 4003
Website: www.oho.qld.gov.au

Please find below a series of links to relevant health organisations both local and national: