Patient Information

Practice Open Hours

Monday: 8.00am to 5.30pm
Tuesday: 8.00am to 5.30pm
Wednesday: 8.00am to 5.30pm
Thursday: 8.00am to 5.30pm
Friday: 8.00am to 5.30pm
Saturday: 9.00am to 12.30pm
Sunday: Closed

After Hours Care

If you require medical assistance outside of our normal consulting hours, please call our practice on 1300 472 273 or the National Home Doctor Service on 13 74 25 to be advised of after-hours care options. Alternatively, you can present to the Mt Barker District Soldiers Memorial Hospital Emergency Department located at 87 Wellington Road, Mount Barker (Phone: 8393 1777).  This service provides 24-hour emergency medical care and is a walk-in service.  Patients are triaged in order of priority and appointments for this service cannot be made.

In a medical emergency, please call 000.

Appointments
Phone 1300 472 273 during Practice hours to make an appointment or make an online appointment.

The “HotDoc”  app is available for online appointments on your iphone or android device.

Cancellation Policy
If you can’t make your appointment, please phone GPcare on 1300 472 273 and cancel your appointment.  This courtesy call makes it possible for another patient to be offered an appointment.

If you need to cancel your appointment, please advise us at least 4 hours before your appointment time. A charge of $44.00 will be made for failure to attend an appointment. This fee is not Medicare claimable and will need to be paid before your next appointment.
Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

 

Late Arrival Policy

It is always appreciated that you arrive on time for your booked appointment with the doctor. If, for any reason, you are running late, please notify reception on 1300 472 273.
If you are 15 minutes or more late, you may be asked to reschedule your appointment, unless it is urgent.
Communication Policy
In the interest of patient confidentiality, doctors will not take phone calls during consulting hours.  If you need to speak directly with your doctor, please leave a message with the GPcare reception staff and they will request for the doctor to return your call.  Your doctor will endeavour to return your call when they are free.

With patient consent GPcare sends automated SMS appointment reminders 24 hours before your appointment.  Our practice is committed to preventative care, so we offer our patients a recall service, which enables us to remind you of preventative health services appropriate to your care. We use HotDoc to send SMS clinical recall notifications.  Patients can request to disable SMS recalls and reminders at any time by contacting GPcare reception staff.

GPcare uses email communication with patients consent, however it is not encouraged for urgent communication or communicating sensitive information.  Email communication is not protected by encryption, so patients are advised when communicating sensitive information, using this method of communication is at their own risk.

Billing & Fees

GPcare Billing/Fees Policy

Payment is expected in full on the day of your appointment.

We accept cash, credit card and EFTPOS to facilitate all payments. Our Medicare Tyro facility enables an immediate refund from Medicare, providing you present with a card linked to a cheque or savings account and a pin number.

Patients are billed privately including a reduced fee charged to Pensioners and Health Care Card Holders. 

Bulk billing applies to Health Assessments, Care Plans and children aged 15 years and under.

Saturday morning appointments are NOT routinely bulk billed, and ALL patients WILL incur a gap fee. 

Please note that treatments and procedures involving a Nurse in Triage may incur an additional fee which requires an upfront payment for all patients on the day. After your treatment you will be given a Facility Fee (FF) card, please give this card to GPcare reception prior to leaving. There is no rebate through Medicare for this fee. 

A list of common fees is available at the reception desk. All patients are asked to bring their current Medicare card and concession cards with them to each appointment. 

New Patient Consultations Pre-Payments

To secure a New Patient Consultation pre-payment will be activated from 7 November 2022.

This will apply for all new patient appointments booked online in our HotDoc booking platform or arranged with our reception staff.

  • You will be asked for your credit card details to secure your appointment.
  • After completion of your appointment, please present to reception to make payment and receive your Medicare rebate (if applicable).
  • Following in-person payment with reception, your stored credit card details are automatically deleted, and no money will be deducted.
  • You may choose the option to securely store them in your HotDoc application.

We thank you for your cooperation and patience as we implement this system.

Telehealth Phone Consultations Pre-Payments

Pre-payments for Telehealth Phone Consultations will be activated from 19 September 2022.

This will apply for all phone appointments online in our HotDoc booking platform or arranged with our reception staff.

  • You will be asked for your credit card details.
  • After completion of the phone consultation, the fee will be deducted from your credit card on the day.
  • Following payment, your credit card details are automatically deleted.
  • You may choose the option to securely store them in your HotDoc application.
  • No payment will be charged if your consult has been bulk billed.

We thank you for your cooperation and patience as we implement this system. It will be a great help to our reception staff.

Feedback
 We always welcome both positive and negative feedback. Improvement in our service can only be achieved if we know what you think of us – we like to hear about what we do well and what we could do better.

Please direct your complaint to Kim Saunders and compliments to anyone.

There is a suggestion box in the waiting room for anonymous feedback. You can also provide feedback online using this form.

If you have a serious complaint about the Practice address it to:
Health & Community Services Complaints Commissioner SA
PO Box 199, Rundle Mall SA 5000
P: 08 8226 8666
Toll Free 1800 232 007 (Country SA)
F: 08 8226 8620
W: hcscc.sa.gov.au

Home Visits

Home visits may be provided if necessary, at the doctor’s discretion for regular patients that live close by to the practice whose medical condition prevents them from attending the practice.

If you require a home visit please speak directly with your doctor who will deem if it is appropriate, safe and reasonable for both patient and doctor.

Management of your Personal Health Information

All medical records and personal information is treated as strictly confidential.  It is the policy of this practice to always maintain security of personal health information and to ensure that this information is only available to authorised staff members.  We abide by the ten National Privacy Principles available at http://www.oaic.gov.au.

We have a comprehensive Privacy Policy on the management of Personal Health Information which can be viewed here. Please ask at reception for a copy of this policy at any time.

Please also be advised that we use video cameras in the Summit Health Centre to protect you and our staff.  If you have any concerns please speak to a GPcare staff member.

MyMedicare

MyMedicare is a new voluntary patient registration initiative by the Federal Government aimed at strengthening the relationship between you, your general practice, general practitioner (GP) and primary care teams.

By registering for MyMedicare you’ll get access to:

  • greater continuity of care with your registered practice, improving health outcomes
  • longer Medicare Benefit Scheme (MBS) funded telehealth consultations with your GP
  • triple bulk billing incentive for longer MBS telehealth consultations for children under 16, pensioners, and concession card holders, from 1 November 2023
  • more regular visits from your GP and better care planning for people living in a residential aged care home, from August 2024
  • connections to more appropriate care in general practice for people who visit hospital frequently, from mid-2024.

If you choose not to register in MyMedicare, you’ll still be able to access the same quality of care from your healthcare providers.

You’re eligible to register in MyMedicare if you have:

  • a Medicare card or Department of Veterans’ Affair (DVA) Veteran Card
  • face-to-face visits recorded with the same practice, including either:
    • one face-to-face visit for practices in remote locations (MMM 6 and 7)
    • two face-to-face visits for practices in other locations in the previous 24 months.

People who are facing hardship will be exempt from all eligibility requirements. This includes people experiencing domestic and family violence and homelessness.

Parents/guardians and children can be registered at the same practice if one of them is eligible and registered. A parent/guardian must register a child under 14 years and provide consent on their behalf. Young people aged 14 to 17 years can register and provide consent without a parent/guardian.

GPcare is registered with MyMedicare and you can register us as your chosen practice in the below ways:

  • Start the registration process in your Medicare Online Account or Express Plus Medicare Mobile app. GPcare practice staff will then accept the registration in the MyMedicare system.
  • GPcare staff can start the registration process for you in MyMedicare. This will trigger a registration in your Medicare Online Account or Express Plus Medicare Mobile app, which you can then complete.
  • Fill out a registration form by asking GPcare support staff. By signing the form, you are giving consent to participate in MyMedicare. Practice staff will then complete the registration in the MyMedicare system.

For more detailed information on MyMedicare click here.

Prescriptions and Referrals
Our doctors are serious about patient care and safety, as there is increasing concern about medication interaction and medico legal issues, your doctor will not issue repeat prescriptions or referrals without a consultation.

When seeing your doctor discuss all your medications with them and ensure that you have enough prescriptions to last until your next consultation. Brief prescription only visits may be bulk billed at the doctor’s discretion.

Drugs of Addiction Prescribing Policy
The Doctors at GPcare will NOT prescribe Schedule 8 drugs and drugs of addiction to new patients at their first consultation

Results Policy

Your doctor will let you know how you can receive your results and when they expect your results to be available during your consult.

GPcare does use a secure automated SMS system to communicate with patients that require a non-urgent follow up appointment to receive their test results.

It is the patient’s responsibility to follow up on their test results, and it is recommended that patients book a follow up appointment for results prior to leaving the practice.

GPcare has a system to ensure every effort is made to contact patients with abnormal results.  It is important that patients do not assume that test results are normal if there is no contact from the practice.  Patients should consider the potential seriousness of not attending follow up appointments, recalls or investigations.

Training Practice

GPcare is a training Practice. Medical students and Registrars are part of the Practice.

Registrars are GPs who are fully qualified to see patients, they are undertaking extra training to gain fellowship of the Royal Australian College of GPs.

Medical students work alongside one of the doctors. Your permission will be sought before a student is permitted to be part of your consultation.
GPcare is a registered training organisation.

Your Health Care Rights

All consumers have the right to safe and high-quality health care. The Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights (the Charter) describes what consumers, or someone they care for, can expect when receiving health care. There are seven rights in the Charter. They apply to everyone and everywhere health care is provided in Australia.  All people who work in health service organisations are responsible for upholding the Charter.

Please click here to download a copy of the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights brochure.