Patients will be given an appointment with their preferred doctor.

Appointments are scheduled at 15 minute intervals, longer consultations can be requested.

Practice patients can request a visit at their home. Patients are encouraged to come into the Practice if able, otherwise the practice will endeavor to provide a home visit. If the matter is deemed urgent and the doctor or practice nurse is unable to attend we recommend attendance at the Casualty Department.

Please note that we are a fully billing practice.

All patients are directly charged for their consultations following appointments. Non payment will result in no further appointments. If at a later date the said person wishes their access to practice reinstated the full fee (which is no longer medicare rebated) is applicable as an administrative fee.

A fee equivalent to half of the consult fee for a non-attendance is payable, unless cancelled in advance at least a day prior to the appointment.

All services billed attract Medicare rebates. However some professional attendances including nurse visits and pre-employment medical examinations do not attract a Medicare rebate.

All doctors of the practice do not bulk bill. This applies to all patients, irrespective of whether a concession card holder or Repatriation Scheme/ DVA card holder.

On occasions the doctor may elect to bulk bill a consultation eg if a follow up is required within a few days.

Patients are expected to pay for their consultation at the conclusion of the appointment, after a doctor’s consult. For nurse service and request for prescription outside of a doctor consultation- payment is required prior to service. All payments can be by electronic transfer, credit card or cash. We encourage electronic and credit card payment and will provide immediate Medicare reimbursement using government software where applicable.

All communications regarding billing are to be addressed to- admin@nachiappans.com

Doctors are on an after-hours roster, including weekends. Generally, due to medico legal reasons, limited medical advice is offered by telephone and an out of pocket fee applies.

The practitioner on roster can be contacted on the Practice number 80873620, which will indicate the practitioner on duty and the mobile number to contact. On unavoidable occasions when there is no doctor available, the recorded message will indicate this.

The practice is willing to see WorkCover (work injury) related consultations. All WorkCover consults will need to be paid at completion of consult and be reimbursed by their employer or insurer.

Patients are encouraged to make an appointment to return to the practice after investigations including smears to obtain their results by appointment.

Results of investigation as well as other patient matters can be discussed over the telephone with a phone appointment. A Medicare rebate applies and applicable fees can be claimed under Medicare for telephone consultations.

Patients are encouraged to raise complaints directly with the practice receptionist if the matter can be dealt with summarily. If the matter is not adequately dealt with by a simple inquiry or it is a matter that a doctor or Practice Management needs addressing then patients are encouraged to lodge the complaint in writing (seal the envelope) and leave with Reception staff.

Most complaints can be dealt with by an adequate explanation by the individual concerned. Patients are encouraged to raise any complaint against the Practice with members of the Medical Practice prior to consideration of legal alternatives or authorities including the Health Care Complaints Commission.

Sorna Nachiappan, Principal Solicitor, is our legal practitioner.

Sorna’s areas of legal practice is predominantly
– Employment Law: Enterprise Agreements, wages/award, bullying, harassment,
disciplinary and termination;
– Health Law: consumer experience of the health system;
– Professional Boards: Registration issues;
– Corporate and contractual matters;
– Enduring Guardianship and Power of Attorney;
– Wills and Probate;

You are welcome to make a cost free appointment with Sorna on (08)8087 3620. You can also contact our legal staff member Jeremy Johnston by emailing jjohnston@nachiappans.com for any legal enquiries.

Sorna is looking forward to assisting you with your legal issues no matter the size and complexity.

Privacy Policy

Current as of: 1^st Jan 2022

Introduction

This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our patient, on how your personal information (which includes your health information) is collected and used within our practice, and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties.

Why and when your consent is necessary

When you register as a patient of our practice, you provide consent for our GPs and practice staff to access and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible healthcare. Only staff who need to see your personal information will have access to it. If we need to use your information for anything else, we will seek additional consent from you to do this.

Why do we collect, use, hold and share your personal information?

Our practice will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage your health. We also use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits and accreditation, and business processes (e.g. staff training).

What personal information do we collect?

The information we will collect about you includes your:

• names, date of birth, addresses, contact details
• medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors
• Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes
• healthcare identifiers
• health fund details.

How do we collect your personal information?

1. Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways.
2. When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration.
3. During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information.
4. We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or SMS, telephone us, make an online appointment or communicate with us using social media.
5. In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. Often this is because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly. This may include information from:

• your guardian or responsible person
• other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services
• your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (as necessary).

When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?

We sometimes share your personal information:

• with third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy
• with other healthcare providers
• when it is required or authorised by law (eg court subpoenas)
• when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent
• to assist in locating a missing person
• to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim
• for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process
• when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (eg some diseases require mandatory notification)
• during the course of providing medical services, through eTP, My Health Record (eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).

Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent.

Our practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services we offer to our patients through research and analysis of our patient data.

We may provide de-identified data to other organisations to improve population health outcomes. The information is secure, patients cannot be identified, and the information is stored within Australia. You can let our reception staff know if you do not want your information included.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms.

This may include electronic records, visual records (x-rays, CT scans, videos and photos).  Our practice stores all personal information securely.  Patient records are stored in electronic format on our server.  All staff who may have access to this information have completed and signed a confidentiality agreement and all programs are secured via username and passwords which are unique to the user.

How can you access and correct your personal information at our practice?

You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.

Our practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this request in writing via email to admin@nachiappans.com and our practice will respond within a reasonable time.

As per General Practice guidelines, medical records are charged at a nominal rate which our administrative staff are able to process on request.  Our staff will endeavour to have your request completed within 14 days.

Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to admin@nachiappans.com

How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled at our practice?

We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing to Nachiappans, 4 Chloride Street, Broken Hill NSW 2880 or via email: admin@nachiappans.com

We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure and be in contact with you as soon as practical.

Policy review statement

The privacy policy will be reviewed annually.