Out of pocket expenses -Surgical Procedures
Health Funds’ payments to surgeons have not kept pace with the costs of running a practice. Therefore, there will be out of pocket expenses for surgical procedures. Dr Miller participates in the “Known Gap” scheme of most Health Insurance Companies. Patient Known Gap refers to the cost of surgery which you, the patient, will pay yourself where Medicare and health fund rebates do not cover the entire cost of the surgery. The Known gap is an out of pocket expense not covered by your health fund.
The Gap for the surgical fee depends on the complexity of the condition and the length of the procedure, and will be discussed with you prior to your operation
If you are insured with NIB you will be required to settle the entire account pre-operatively. Part of this fee can be claimed from Medicare and your health fund after the operation, however your rebate may be less and your out-ofpocket expense will therefore be greater than that described above depending upon the complexity of your operation. We can provide the contact details of your anaesthetist if you wish to discuss anesthetic fees.
You will be advised of your gap prior to surgery. A separate account will be raised for this amount and is payable one week before surgery. Post-operative consultations are free of charge for four weeks.
This is not a Bulk Billing Practice. However, our top priority is caring for you and your health needs. If these costs represent an undue hardship for you, please discuss them with us.
Investigations
If you have had any previous investigations, (ultrasound, CT scan etc), it is VERY IMPORTANT that Dr Miller has these at the time of the consultation. Please bring the films or disk with you to the appointment. If you do not have a copy, please enquire at the imaging company. They may be able to re-print these, on film or disk.
Getting to Parkville
For information about public transport and parking at Parkville, please visit the Women’s Hospital website by following this link: https://www.thewomens.org.au/patients-visitors/transport-parking/.
Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy (FNA)
If you need a thyroid biopsy, it can be performed on the day of your consultation, in the Parkville rooms. No specific preparation is required for this simple procedure, much like having a blood test. You may eat and drink normally before and after the procedure. In most cases you may have the initial consultation with Dr Miller, then return around one hour + later for the biopsy, so please take this into consideration when planning parking or other appointments.
Privacy Information and Consent Forms
This medical practice collects information from you for the primary purpose of providing quality healthcare. We ask you provide us with your personal details and a full medical history so that we may properly assess, diagnose, treat and be proactive in your health care needs. We may use the information you provide for administrative purposes in running our medical practice, including billing and compliance with Medicare and the Health Insurance Commission requirements. Correspondence will be sent to your referring doctor, as well as other practitioners involved in your care. Confidentiality will always be maintained if any information related to your care is used for research or quality assurance purposes.
While every endeavour is made to keep medical and personal history confidential, at times it may be necessary to send patient correspondence via unencrypted email.
I consent to the handling of my information by this practice for the purposes set out above, subject to any limitations on access or disclosure that I have advised.