Patient Information Bridgeview Family Centre

Please advise our reception staff if you have recently changed your address or telephone number. It is important to keep your information up-to-date on our system should we need to contact you.

The introduction of new privacy laws became effective in Australia on 12th March 2014. The changes include a new set of Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) that will regulate the handling of personal information by all private health service providers. All medical records and communications concerning patients are stored electronically and are available to your treating doctor at our surgery at all times. Your medical information is password protected. Access to our computer is not available from organisations outside the surgery. Patient information is not provided to an outside body (e.g. for reports or insurance purposes) without prior written consent by the patient. Written consent will be gained from each patient should we ever be involved in any research or similar program. The act allows patients to access the content of their medical record by arrangement with the practice. A copy of our full privacy policy is available to you upon request.

Our doctors and staff endeavour to provide a comprehensive, high quality service for our patients. If you are unhappy with any aspect of our care we are keen to hear about it. Please discuss any problem you may have with your doctor, our practice manager or our reception staff. If you wish to pursue the problem outside of the practice, information is available from Health & Community Services Complaints Commission (HCSCC) South Australia Ph:

(08) 8226 8666 or www.hcscc.sa.gov.au

Standard consultations are booked in 15 minute time slots. Longer consultations are available with our doctors for the following: medicals, minor surgery, care plan preparation, complex or multiple medical problems. If you need to cancel your appointment please advise us with as much notice as possible so we can allot the time to another person. Upon arrival to your appointment please report to the reception desk.

we are dedicated to providing the highest quality healthcare services to all of our patients. To ensure that we can continue to deliver the best possible care, we are implementing a new policy, effective Monday 20th March 2023. Under this policy, if you are unable to attend a scheduled appointment, we kindly request that you provide us with a minimum of 2 hours notice to cancel or reschedule. Failure to do so will result in a non-attendance fee of $20.00, which must be paid prior to booking another appointment. Additionally, if you miss a double booking, the non-attendance fee will be $40.We understand that unforeseen circumstances may arise, and we will always try to accommodate any changes to your appointment whenever possible. However, we also recognize that missed appointments can have a significant impact on other patients who are waiting to be seen by our healthcare providers. We hope that this new policy will help us to manage our appointment schedule more efficiently and enable us to provide the best possible care to all of our patients. If you have any questions or concerns about this policy, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Our friendly reception staff are able to arrange an interpreter for your appointment should it be required – please advise when booking the appointment.

• Monday to Friday 9.00am to 6.30pm
• Saturday 9.00am to 5.00pm
• Sunday 9.00am to 5.00pm
• All Public Holidays 9.00am to 5.00pm

After hours services are provided through Murray Bridge Soldiers Memorial Hospital. Ph: (08) 8535 6777 Also, you can call Country Health SA for Medical Advise on 08 8226 6000.

Regular patients of our practice are able to obtain visits in their home, residential aged care facility, residential care facility or hospital, both within and outside normal opening hours where such visits are deemed safe and reasonable.

Patients of our practice are able to obtain timely advice or information related to their clinical care by telephone and electronic means where a GP determines that this is clinically safe and that a face-to-face consultation is unnecessary for that patient. All telephone calls for doctors will be relayed through reception staff via message and the doctor will return your call at their earliest convenience. Consultations will not be interrupted unless in the event of an emergency

Patients are required to make a follow up appointment with their doctor for test results. Test results are not discussed over the telephone due to their sensitive nature.

Repeat prescriptions and specialist re-referrals will not normally be issued without doctor / patient contact. Where it has been agreed that such repeats / re-referrals will be issued, please provide a minimum of 24 hours’ notice.

Sickness certificates will not be issued unless a doctor has been consulted in relation to that illness, and cannot be backdated.

The doctors at this practice are committed to preventative healthcare and as such we may issue you with reminder and recall letters appropriate to your care. If you do not wish to be a part of this system please advise your doctor.

For health and hygiene reasons our practice has a strict No-Smoking policy on or within the premises.

We would like to inform you that, starting from 3^rd October 2023, Bridgeview Family Practice will be implementing Gap Charges for consultations and Surgical Procedures. Please refer to the table below for more information:

Bulk Billing remains available for the following categories:

• Pension and Concession Cardholders
• Repatriation Gold Cardholders
• Children under 16 years of age
• Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander individuals

At Bridgeview Family Practice, we take pride in offering specialised surgical procedures without the inconvenience of hospital wait times. However, please note that for these procedures, gap charges apply as the surgical procedure costs exceed the Medicare rebate. Please contact the staff or refer to our website for detailed information regarding the individual procedures and the gap charges.

Note:- Cardholders must present their cards at each consultation.

Gap Charges for Procedure Charges

We require payment in full for these services on the day of consultation and accept cash or eftpos.

Please note that there are some services that are not covered under Medicare e.g. pre-employment medical examinations and reports, diving medicals & commercial driving license assessments. Our practice informs patients about the potential for out-of-pocket expenses for healthcare provided within our practice and for referred services

All work Cover Patients have to pay all medical expenses for all medical treatment provided (This is until my claim is approved, not only when claim number is obtained).