The Care Plans as well as Team Care preparations at Pakenham Medical Clinic are done for all the patients with chronic diseases.
All our doctors and nurses assist patients with different types of chronic diseases such as Asthma, Coronary Heart Disease, Osteoarthritis, Obesity, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Diabetes, and other Renal Failure Lung Disorders. We have a dedicated network of specialists and our allied health care professionals are also there on-site to help you enhance your health condition.
These care plans will be reviewed on a 3-6 monthly basis based on the illness and goals to be fulfilled. The time when you are due for a new care plan or the review, a reminder in the form of a text SMS will be sent to you.
The patients are requested to responsibly ensure whether the Medicare has accepted the particular care plan before any appointments are made with any Allied Health Professionals. We suggest you give us a ring 2-3 days post your visit to ensure the approval of Medicare.
Appointments with the general practitioner are necessary. Any requests done over the phone will not be accepted. The appointment can be found in 1-2 days. We request you to book an appointment in advance before the medications end. In case any scripts are lost, a make an appointment .
For those seeking advice from specialist practitioners, yearly referrals can be required. The general practitioner will not reissue any referrals without seeking a consultation. Kindly make sure your appointment is done in advance since the GP won’t be able to reschedule them.
Patients consulting Specialist Practitioners require referrals yearly. The GP cannot re issue a referral without a consultation. Please ensure the appointment is made in advance as the GP cannot back date them.
Patients will need to make sure they take the referral prior to booking an appointment at the Pathology for any tests such as blood tests and radiology.
When making the appointments, do inquire about fees since not all radiology departments offer bulk bills.
Medicare also regularly changes rebate rates for pathology tests. Make sure you ask the particular provider about fees and any additional costs prior to doing the tests. For any lost requests $5.00 will be charged as a fee which will be non-rebatable..
Regarding loss of any documents such as EPC, any Medical Health Plans or certifications will result in a charge of a non-rebatable fee.
Yes. Since the results won’t be allowed to be discussed over the phone, in-person follow-ups are necessary. Patients can meet their respective doctor to discuss results through a follow-up appointment.
For patients requiring urgent results, a practice nurse will contact them to come and visit the doctor on that day. Those with normal or abnormal results would get a call from one of our nurses followed by an SMS requesting them to book a doctor’s appointment. If any tests are ordered then it’s the patient’s lookout to check them during the doctor’s visit.
If your test results show “Normal” it doesn’t always mean everything is fine. Since not all problems will show in the test results, further assessment would be required.
In order to protect your privacy and confidentiality, we at Pakenham Medical Clinic make sure all results are managed using best privacy practices. We do not, in any way, share or discuss results over the phone.
Make sure you do a followup appointment with your GP.
At Pakenham Medical Clinic, we have a software that sends out SMS or email reminders to those patients previously registered through their cell phones a day prior to their scheduled appointment. In case if you don’t wish to receive notifications, kindly let our receptionist know on the day of your visit.
Yes. Our practice maintains a no smoking policy.
At Pakenham Medical Clinic, we always do our best to maintain the privacy of our patients. We realise privacy protection of health details as well as confidentiality are essential to offering quality health care. That’s why we commit to protect any type of medical information
Privacy protection and confidentiality of health information is essential for quality health care and we are committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the information we handle about you.
If you want to submit a complaint regarding any privacy issue from our end, kindly send us your concerns in writing and address your complaint to our practice manager. Our team would confirm receipt of the complaint before 14 days and strive to send across a full response in 20 days of acknowledging your receipt.
If you’re not satisfied with our response, you can also file a written complaint to the Victorian Privacy Commissioner at https://www.privacy.vic.gov.au or the Victorian Health Services Commissioner by visiting http://www.health.vic.gov.au.
You can also send us a query regarding the privacy policy of our practice by getting in touch with our practice manager. They will be happy to discuss it with you.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We don’t take any responsibility for citizenship/passport forms in order to meet any deadlines. The doctors need 2-3 days to finish the forms if there aren’t any appointments booked.
The passport or citizenship form, the doctor can sign only if they know you for about 12 months or more. The forms should be kept at the reception desk so that you can be contacted for the pick of the forms post signing.
If the appointment is done for form filling for the following, the consult will get billed privately. Also, they’re not rebatable by Medicare.
- Any passport or citizenship form
- Any taxi form
- Any health insurance form
- Any Centrelink form: Appointment is necessary for any type of Centrelink forms. All the necessary information needs to be filled by you except that section that will be filled by the GP
At Pakenham Medical Clinic, we offer treatment to TAC patients and work cover.
The early visits have to be paid by the patient till an appropriate claim number is offered to us. Patients under workcover and TAC have to ensure the claim is accepted before getting a consultation from any allied health professionals.
Any appointment requests regarding a case conference need to be provided in writing by your company’s employer. The consent form must be attached to it and should be pre-approved by the general practitioner. A lengthy consultation is necessary.
For injured patients we always do our best to examine you immediately. In case you need any procedure done, you are required to pay some amount upfront. At certain times it won’t be possible for doctors to visit or emergency doctors would be busy with some emergency work.
Those patients that arrive without an appointment are taken as walk-ins. We request you to inform the reception in case if it’s an emergency with all the needed information on arrival. Since there is no booked scheduled appointment, the consultation will be shorter in duration and booked appointments will be given priority.
In case you need additional time with doctors, we request you to book an appointment time at the reception.
Yes. We do offer longer appointments for new patients, mental health care plans, medical or insurance forms, minimally invasive procedures, prolonged checks as well as more than two medical problems.
Make sure you inform the receptionist for the reason behind long appointments such that the doctor can be notified.
On a daily basis, our practice invites you to finish a questionnaire on what they feel about the practice and how its service can be improved. When doing this we maintain full confidentiality in order to maintain great service. You can also leave comments anonymously in the waiting area.
Regarding informed decisions, our practice provides all the needed information regarding the purpose, benefits, risks, and costs regarding any type of treatment or investigations to ensure patients make informed decisions for their health.
