Health Matters - Plan your way to good health
Stay well and live well. If you feel like you could do with some extra help in getting your health back on track, then talk to your doctor about a health assessment and plan.
Your health plan starts with a health assessment. During this consultation, your doctor will assess
your risk factors for disease, identify what steps are required to prevent health issues from developing
or worsening, and further investigate or treat any health concerns.
What is a health plan?
A comprehensive health assessment allows your doctor to identify and keep on top of any medical issues before they start to cause you problems. During this consultation, we can assess your risk of disease based on factors like your family history and observe for any physical signs of disease, such as high blood pressure. Where appropriate, we can also order blood tests and other investigations to provide us with more information. Based on our findings, we can tell you how well your health is stacking up, agree specific health goals and develop a plan to help you achieve these goals in 2019.
Did you know that healthcare plans could prevent over 700,000 hospital stays each year?
When should I have a health assessment?
Regular health screens and assessments are always a good idea, but are particularly important at certain ages and stages of life. As such, Medicare provides rebates for health assessments
for certain individuals, including:
- Patients aged 45–49 years who are at risk of developing a chronic disease
- Patients aged 75 years and older
- Patients aged 40–49 years who are at risk of type 2 diabetes.
If you are not sure if you fit into one of these groups, your doctor can advise you further. And if you don’t fit into one of these groups, don’t worry! You can still book in for a health assessment and plan with your doctor. You will simply be charged our normal consultation fee.
- Do you smoke?
- Are you carrying extra weight? Or do you tend
- to carry extra weight around your middle?
- Do you have high cholesterol or high blood pressure?
- Do you maintain healthy eating habits?
- Do you consume more than two standard alcoholic drinks a day?
- Do you have issues with your blood sugar?
- Do you exercise less than 5 hours per week?
- Do you have a family history of disease?
- Are you of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent?
Help to manage an existing health issue
Special health assessments and plans also exist for people who already have a medical condition. These are called disease management plans. They are designed to keep everybody involved in your care informed and up to date regarding your current health needs and goals. Having this kind of plan in
place is particularly important if multiple health providers are involved in your care.
Are you eligible?
- Have you had a medical condition for more than a few months?
- Have you been taking medication for more than a few months?
- Have you been ignoring any new or worsening symptoms for more than a few months?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, a health management plan could be right for you.
Getting the most out of your health plan
If your health plan indicates you require treatment or referral to other providers, some of these costs may also be covered by Medicare. For example, if you are referred to an allied health service, up to 5 sessions will be partially or fully covered by Medicare (depending on the service) – as long as these
services are provided within the following 12 months.
The types of services covered include:
- Aboriginal Health Services
- Diabetes Services
- Audiology
- Exercise Physiology
- Dietetics
- Occupational Therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Podiatry
- Psychology
- Osteopathy
- Speech Pathology
- Mental Health
By having a formal health plan, not only will you have better treatment overall, you will also lower your out-of-pocket healthcare costs.
Getting started is simple.
Just call your Modern Medical clinic to make an appointment today! Simply mention that you would like a health assessment and the team will book the appropriate appointment.