About your appointment & other useful info

The following information will help you prepare, attend and follow up on your appointments with us.

Making an appointment

• Appropriate appointment types and duration
• Costs associated with your care
• Medical care outside of our opening hours
• Reminders

Attending your appointment

• Continuity of care
• Verification of identity
• Interpreter services & culturally appropriate care

After your appointment

• Pathology tests and x-ray results
• Repeat prescription
• Home visits
• How to communicate with Medical Practitioners
• Communication Policy
• Feedback & complaints
• Privacy Policy

Making an appointment

Appropriate appointment types and duration

We understand that your medical needs are as individual as you are. Our convenient online appointment system caters for standard appointments (typically 15 minutes which can cover one or two health issues).

Need a longer consultation to discuss multiple issues? Our team can help you book a longer appointment time with your medical practitioner. Please phone the centre so our team can assist you to arrange the following types of appointments:

• Long or pro-longed appointments (used to discuss multiple issues)
• Health Assessments
• Vaccinations
• Immunisations
• Travel medicine
• Preventative healthcare (e.g. Diabetes or a chronic illness)
• Mental health
• Skin checks

We give priority to patients who have booked appointments. If you are a walk in patient with a medical emergency, our team will initiate a triage process where the first available Medical Practitioner will see you. If you are a non-urgent walk in patient, you will be offered the next available appointment time.  If you prefer to wait to be seen, the duration may be up to 2 hours or longer depending on availability. Please call us before you arrive to ensure you get an appointment time that suits you.

We understand that sometimes you may not be able to attend your appointment. Please let us know as early as possible to avoid any non-attendance fees.

Book your appointment online.

Reminders

We send reminders to prompt you about your booked appointment or to encourage you to make an appointment. Reminders help manage and encourage your preventative health care.

An SMS or letter or email is sent for:

• your scheduled appointment.
• if you are due for an immunisation, including children and high risk groups.
• if you are due for a routine screen such as CST, mammogram or skin check.
• if you are due for a preventative health check (once off for people aged 45-49 or annually over the age of 75).
• preventative health activities, programs and promotions that we run throughout the year (when we use clinical data to assess the clinic population to identify patients eligible for or who require certain services and treatments).

Costs associated with your care

Our medical centres are predominately mixed billing. Bulk Billing is available at our Dandenong and Craigieburn clinics. However, patients who are eligible for bulk billing or reduced fees are patients that:

• have a Pension Card
• have a Health Care Card
• have a DVA card
• are children 15 years of age or under.

To help you make an informed decision about the cost of your healthcare and out-of-pocket fees, our fee schedule is available on each centre's profile page and at reception. Patients without a Medicare card will be required to pay a private fee. International students may be able to claim a rebate via their own private insurance fund.

Please note that all consultations are payable on the day and any payments made via credit card will incur a surcharge.

The Medical Practitioner may elect to bulk bill your consultation and this is at the full discretion of the Medical Practitioner. Please discuss this with your Medical Practitioner at the time of your appointment.

There may be additional out of pocket costs associated with treatments or procedures at the centre.  Please discuss this with your Medical Practitioner at the time of consultation or a team member. Generally, additional fees will apply for:

• Dressings (not claimable from Medicare)
• Facility Fee (non-claimable from Medicare), which is to cover the cost of consumables, sterilisation of equipment, etc. 
• Iron Infusions
• Cortisone injections
• Mirena removal/insertion

There may be additional costs associated with investigations or consultation with referred medical specialists, allied health professionals or other allied health services. Please ask the referred service provider or specialist about an their fees.

Medical care outside of our opening hours

If you or a family member needs to consult a Medical Practitioner outside opening hours, please call our nominated after-hours provider 13SICK (137 425). This service will arrange a Medical Practitioner to visit you at your location or home. When you book your appointment we recommend that you enquire about the fees payable.

Attending your appointment

Continuity of care

When you are making an appointment or attending our centre, you can request your preferred Medical Practitioner. For continuity of care, we make every endeavour to ensure you have the opportunity to see your preferred Medical Practitioner. However, from time to time, your Medical Practitioner may be unavailable or not consulting that day. Our team will try and assist by offering you an alternative Medical Practitioner and/or appointment time.

Verification of Identity

Modern Medical has achieved accreditation against the general practice standards of the Royal Australian College General Practitioners (RACGP). As a requirement of this accreditation we need to verify your identity using 3 identifiers every time you attend the centre. Examples of these are:

• Name (family name and given name)
• DOB
• Address (can be location e.g. 55 street name or suburb)

Your Medicare number or card, a HCC, DVA or social security/concession card are not approved identifiers. If you are uncomfortable in providing this information verbally, we can offer you alternate means to verify your ID. Please discuss this on arrival with our friendly team members.

Interpreter Services & Culturally Appropriate Care

Our health services accommodate a diverse multicultural population, including those with a disability. If you are caring for someone who does not speak English, we can access translating and interpreting services. Fees may apply if a free service is unavailable.

For patients with disabilities and who are not fluent in English we use the following services:

• National Relay Service (NRS) for patients who are deaf https://relayservice.gov.au/
• Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) for patients from a non-English speaking background https://www.tisnational.gov.au/ This may be changing to another provider.

After your appointment

Pathology tests and x-ray results

When your Medical Practitioner asks you to undergo a diagnostic test, it is recommended that you book a follow up appointment prior to leaving the centre.  During this consultation they can then explain and discuss the results with you as well as review your clinical presentation. If you need to attend the centre earlier than your scheduled appointment, we will contact you.

Repeat prescription

Do you need repeat prescriptions? To ensure you get the best quality care, your Medical Practitioner prefers to see you face-to-face. In certain circumstances, your Medical Practitioner may be prepared to write a prescription without your attendance. Any such request is likely to incur a charge and should be made via phone, early in the day.

Home visits

Are you confined to home due to illness or disability? Our nominated after hours service provider 13SICK (137 425) provides home visits after 4pm. They will provide your nominated Medical Practitioner with a report of your visit the next clinic day.

Are you or a family member transitioning to a residential aged care facility or hospital? Your Medical Practitioner can discuss ongoing medical care and management options with you.

Feedback & complaints

Our patient centred clinic values your opinions. By collecting and responding to your feedback, we gain a unique insight into how we can improve the quality of your experience. Our commitment to listening and responding to negative and positive feedback extends to every patient and visitor at our centre. We have trained all of our staff to appreciate the importance of handling patient complaints carefully and appropriately. This is included as part of all staff induction and ensures all patients of the centre feel that they are being heard.

In accordance with the Health Complaints Act 2016, the Health Complaints Commissioner recommends raising your concerns with us directly, as it is often the quickest and easiest way to resolve a complaint. Patient feedback forms are available from reception or we invite you to contact our Practice Manager to discuss your feedback. If the feedback or complaint is in relation to a Medical Practitioner, the complaint is given to the Medical Practitioner to respond to directly. Modern Medical has a process in place where all complaints are documented and forwarded to our team for review and follow up.

If you feel you are unable to take the complaint to us directly, or if the response you receive from us does not meet your standards, we invite you to contact the Health Complaints Commissioner Victoria: 1300 582 113. Please visit https://hcc.vic.gov.au/public/about-complaints for more information.

How to communicate with Medical Practitioners

We understand how important the trusted relationship you have with your Medical Practitioner is to you and your family. If there are reasons why you cannot attend our centre to see your Medical Practitioner face-to-face, you may wish to call them.

It is important to note that our Medical Practitioners are unable to accept calls whilst consulting, unless it is an emergency. Our friendly reception team will notify your Medical Practitioner by electronic communication of your call so they can respond accordingly. We aim to have all calls returned on the day received (unless your Medical Practitioner is not consulting that day). On some occasions, there could be a delay that is beyond our control due to unforeseen circumstances.

Communication Policy

You can review our full Patients Privacy document by downloading a PDF version.

In summary, patients are advised that:

• email and SMS communication is not a substitute for a direct consultation with their doctor;
• emails and SMS communications are not monitored in the same manner as telephone communications. Therefore, it may take up to 7 days to receive a response to their request;
• requests for prescriptions cannot be made by email or SMS. Such requests can only be made by telephone or face to face consultation with a doctor;
• health-related information will not be sent by email, unless otherwise advised as appropriate by a legal representative;
• if a matter is urgent, they must telephone the practice to make an appointment

If patients contact the clinic via email, they will receive an automatic response advising them that communication via email is not monitored on a regular basis and any health related information needs to be discussed via a phone call to the practice.

Privacy Policy

Please review our Privacy Policy page.