Surgery Information
OPENING HOURS
Monday to Friday 8.30 am - 6:00 pm
Saturday 8.30 am - 11.45 am
ACCREDITATION
Our practice is fully accredited.
APPOINTMENTS
To minimise delays, consultations are by appointment. If you anticipate that the consultation would be long, please advise the receptionist when making the appointment.
A Minor Service (Level A) is defined as a brief service for an obvious problem characterised by the straightforward nature of the task that requires a short patient history and, if required, limited examination and management.
A Specific Service (Level B) is defined as a service which requires of the General Practitioner a selective history and examination of the patient, to assess and manage the problem.
An Extended Service (Level C) is defined as a service distinguished by more complex tasks required of the General Practitioner when confronted with several alternative diagnoses which require a detailed history, multiple system examination, possible investigations and management.
A Comprehensive Service (Level D) is defined as a service which requires of the general practitioner a complex intellectual process, involving exhaustive history, multiple system examination and the possible arrangement and evaluation of complex investigations in consideration of multiple alternative diagnoses.
To avoid the wait on the day of the consultation, PLEASE ring the Receptionists and check if the doctor is running on time.
CANCELLATION
We do need 24 hours notice if you wish to cancel a long appointment. This enables us to reschedule the day for other patients.
EMERGENCIES
Emergencies will be attended to at any time. If you have an emergency please telephone immediately and discuss the problem or just come direct to the surgery.
URGENT APPOINTMENTS
If you think you need to see the Doctor urgently on the same day, please discuss with the Receptionist and she will make sure that you are seen by a Doctor.
Distressed children will be given priority in being seen.
BILLING
This practice expects that patients are directly billed ($45.00 - $106.00) depending on the complexity of the consultation. However, there are certain circumstances when patients are bulk billed. Home visits are charged $100.00-150.00 depending on contents and timing. We do not bulk bill home visits.
Surgical and investigative procedures are billed according to their complexity.
PROFESSIONAL PHONE ADVICE
As required by accreditation, all professional phone advices by the Doctor, should be documented in Patients’ files for continuity of care. This will require some administration work. To cover the cost, there will be a minimal charge, which is not refundable by Medicare. The fees are as follows:
Less than 5 mins $15.00
More than 5 mins & less than 15 mins $25.00
More than 15 mins & less than 30 mins $60.00
You will receive a bill accordingly. Note you are required to settle the account A.S.A.P within 7 days.
We encourage you to talk to the office staff. In most cases, they will be able to help you with your inquiry. Unless your matter is urgent, eg. chest pain, someone has fainted or fitting, your call will be returned by the doctor later.
SMOKING
This surgery is a non smoking environment. Smoking is not allowed inside the building.
CORRIDOR AND MALL CONSULTATION
Please do not stop the Doctor in the mall or in the bank to ask about a blood test or for medical advice as he or she does not have your file and will not be able to answer your questions.
TRANSFERRING YOUR FILE FROM THE PRACTICE TO ANOTHER PRACTICE
For continuity of care, your Doctor has to go through the file, which could be for years of attendance and write a summary and photocopy or scan important medical papers for the new Doctor. This could take from 30 to 60 minutes, sometimes longer. For this service, there will be a charge (according to file size), which is non-refundable by Medicare.
REFERRAL LETTERS
Backdated referral letters will not be issued. Please check with the Specialist’s receptionist if you require one and get it from the Doctor before you go.
AFTER HOURS
Drs Sue & George Guirguis can provide AH advice by phone (if appropriate).
Please ring 02 6241 6183.
If the doctors are unavailable, you may contact CALMS (Canberra AH Locums) on 1300 422 567 for an alternative arrangement. CALMS is a reputable organization run by Canberra GPs (including your doctor) to provide quality AH cover all over Canberra with adequate feedback to your doctor.
HOME VISITS
These are usually scheduled between 12.30 pm and 2 pm or in the evening. Of course, emergencies will be attended to at any time. Please just ring the surgery and discuss the problem. We do ask you to limit requests for visits to occasions when you are in real need for the visit.
TEST RESULTS
This includes blood tests and Pap smear reports. We ask if patients could ring for test results preferably around 11.30 am or 3.30 pm.
ALLOW 2 DAYS FOR RESULTS; IF A FOLLOW UP APPOINTMENT IS NEEDED WE WILL RING.
- When you ring for your results, the receptionist will only inform you if the results of your tests are normal.
- For abnormal results you will be asked to make an appointment for a consultation to discuss the results with the Doctor.
If you wish to discuss the implications of your tests, you can make an appointment to see a doctor, they will be pleased to explain the results to you.
PARKING
Car parking is available at the front of the surgery, including disabled parking.
DISABLED ACCESS
There is a ramp at the front entrance. Ambulance Bay via treatment room for critically ill patients.
CHILDREN
Books are provided for children in the waiting room. Disturbed children will be given priority in being seen.
INTERPRETER SERVICES
We can speak few languages. Please ask at the counter if you need help with interpretation. If we are unable to speak your language, we can communicate via interpreter. This service is available on demand by phone (phone: 131 450).
MEDICAL CERTIFICATES
Patients should see the doctor to get a medical certificate or to extend their certificate. If you require one, please ask at the time of the consultation. Back dated medical certificates are illegal and will not be issued.
REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS
Modern medications are potent and can cause harmful side effects if it is taken inappropriately. It is important for the doctor to review your health and your medication at least every 6 months to ensure that you are taking the right medication for the right condition.
Adverse drug reactions account for over 30 % of all hospital admissions. Simply telling the doctor one takes some yellow and blue tablets is not very helpful and can mislead the doctor into prescribing the wrong medication or dosage. It would be a great help to yourself if you can write down the exact name, strength and daily dose of the medications you are taking or bring the boxes or bottles with you, when you see the doctor.
Repeat prescriptions are not available if the doctor has never prescribed the drug for the patient before or if the patient has not seen the doctor for over 6 months.
A nominal fee of $15 per script is charged for the service. The fee covers the time taken for preparing the script, as well as for the retrieval, updating and filing of your records. Some medications are covered by authority either because they are very potent or very expensive or both. The need to continue such medications must be ascertained before another application for authority script can be made. Appointment with the doctor is necessary if you need to renew an authority script.
To avoid receiving the wrong medication, please ensure you give the receptionist the exact name, strength, quantity and dosage of the medication you want, otherwise the doctor will not be able to comply with your request.
Please allow 24 hours after your request before picking up the script.
REPORTS
Medico-legal reports are legal documents that require careful scrutiny of your records and judicious choice of wording so that your interest will not be jeopardised. Your written consent is required. The doctor will provide a report based on factual information and offer his/ her opinion, if asked to do so, based on known facts.
Other incidental reports, letters and complex account statements as requested by patients, health funds, insurance companies etc will attract a fee charged on a pro rata basis of $240.00 per hour depending on how long it takes the doctor to produce the report.
TELEPHONE INQUIRIES
As you no doubt understand, it is unfair to the patient who is seeing the doctor if his/her consultation is frequently disrupted by telephone calls. Unless the doctor is free or has no patient with him/her, or if the matter is urgent, the receptionist will take down the details and the doctor will return your call at a later time. In the interest of devoting maximum time to their patients, the doctors in this practice will not answer phone calls related to surveys or commercial canvassing.
CONTINUITY OF CARE
We have policies in place to ensure continuity of care. Doctors in this practice follow standard protocols and they communicate continuously to encourage adhering to the latest developments in general patient care.
Doctors in this practice have regular meetings to define common protocols. They also exercise autonomy in clinical decision making where appropriate.
We use computerised system to manage patient care and we are paperless. Doctors have access to general medical patient information, except in very few circumstances where there is a need for strict confidentiality, to ensure continuity of care.
We also use CALMS (After Hours Service) for out of hours consultations. CALMS provide prompt and next day feed back to your GP to ensure continuity of care.
MEDICARE, BULKBILLING AND THE PHILOSOPHY
Of Kaleen Professional Centre
WHAT IS "MEDICARE"?
"MEDICARE" is a health insurance scheme operated by the Commonwealth Government and administered by the Health Insurance Commission (HIC). It covers its members for all treatments in a public hospital and it offers to reimburse its members for medical expense incurred when the member sees a doctor.
"MEDICARE" is, therefore, similar to any other health insurance funds except for the following aspects:
(1) Membership of "MEDICARE" is compulsory.
(2) Member contribution is proportional to income, however, increased contribution
does not entitle the member to increased benefits. Coverage is at the 'basic' level
and there is no optional extras.
HOW DOES "MEDICARE" WORK?
The HIC defines every possible type of medical service a doctor can provide and give each an ITEM NO.
The HIC determines how much each service is worth and assign it a Medical Benefit SCHEDULE FEE. Note that the SCHEDULE FEE is determined by the HIC, not by doctors. It is not index linked to inflation and it does not reflect the dedication and labour of the doctor or the overhead cost of running a medical practice. For this reason, many doctors, including this practice, charge a fee which does reflect the human and financial effort invested by the doctor and which is higher than the Schedule Fee.
MEDICARE, however, is adamant that the SCHEDULE FEE it sets is fair and just and it will reimburse its members 85% of the schedule fee for medical services they receive from their doctors. This refund from Medicare is called the REBATE.
Thus: REBATE=SCHEDULE FEE less 15%
WHAT IS "BULKBILLING"?
If you want to buy a birthday cake for your child, you go to a baker and choose the best cake you want which you can afford, then you pay the baker and you take the cake. Naturally, the quality of the cake you get and the price you pay varies. The baker who is proud of the cake he makes charges more and it is up to the consumers to decide whether or not they agree.
Imagine the scenario whereby the government introduces "CAKECARE". It dictates how much a cake is worth.
Then it will pay any baker 85% of the cost of the cake if he agrees to supply the cakes to any consumers who want birthday cakes provided that he does not charge them anything. Two consequences are immediately obvious: (1) on the consumer's side, since one doesn't have to pay for the birthday cake, the temptation is there for one to claim a few more whether or not one is celebrating a birthday. (2) on the bakers side, he is demoralised because he gets paid a fee far lower than he would charge no matter how good he makes the cake. There is no recognition for the extra labour and dedication he puts into the making of his cake. There is no further incentive for him to strive for excellence.
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT BULKBILLING DOES TO A MEDICAL PRACTICE.
The doctor who bulkbills agrees to be a subcontractor of the government. He/she bills the government instead of the patients for medical services provided to the public. In return he/she accepts the government's verdict that his/her service is only worth 85% of the already insultingly low SCHEDULE FEE set by the government.
No matter how thorough or dedicated he is, he will be paid the same rebate as another doctor who simply performs his/her duty to the minimum required standard. There is no incentive for him to strive for excellence while there is ample pressure for him to adopt the "good enough will do" attitude in order to see more patients in less time so as to make up for the loss income. We believe universal bulkbilling is morally wrong because it may lead to a lowering of medical standard which is not in the patient's interest. For this reason, we do not bulkbill every patient indiscriminately.
COMPLAINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
We welcome any comments and feed back which would help to improve our service and from time to time we will conduct surveys to discover how our patients view us and to identify areas of weakness and strength.
Please feel free to discuss any problems with the reception staff or the doctor. If you prefer to leave a note, please do so at reception.
More serious complaints may be directed to:
The Medical Board of the ACT
PO Box 1309
TUGGERANONG ACT 2900
PH: 02 6205 1599
We prefer if you discuss any complaint with the doctor prior to action.