Patient Information

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At the Banyo Clinic we are committed to providing excellence in patient care. This page contains patient information to help you understand how the clinic operates.

If you have further questions about the Banyo Clinic, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

In case of life-threatening emergency or serious injury, such as chest pain, severe bleeding , shortness of breath etc, please call triple zero (000) directly.

It is the policy of Banyo Clinic to uphold our duty of care when patients who arrive without an appointment and need to be seen by a doctor.

Please phone reception on 07 32675088 first if possible to assist us in preparing for the patient’s arrival. We will also be able to provide advice as appropriate.

Urgent cases will be triaged promptly. The patient will be fitted in around other patient bookings, and seen by the doctor who is running the best to time that day.

These walk-in – or “extra” – consultations incur an out of pocket cost. The only exception is for our DVA gold card patients, who will not incur a fee.

 
Private Patients
There will usually be fee $10 higher than the regular fee, plus a fee for any extra procedures if they are needed.

 
Pensioners and Concession Card Holders:
There will be a reduced out of pocket expense usually less than $30.

 
Work Injury Patients

Injured workers are entitled to pursue an WorkCover Claim through the relevant State department, or thought their self-insured employer.

Note that injured workers must consent before we send any information to WorkCover or their self insured employer.

Self-employed workers are not entitled to claim WorkCover unless they have an explicit policy.

 
Payment

Patients who need to be seen but cannot pay on the day are given an account at the end of their consultation.

Payment within a 30 days is expected, unless otherwise advised. A payment plan can be negotiated with the Practice Manager.

This practice strictly follows the Department of Health guidelines concerning the prescribing of sedatives, strong analgesics and narcotics. Prescriptions of such medications will only be provided under appropriate clinical circumstances with supporting medical documentation. No Schedule 8 drugs (drugs of addiction) kept on the premises.

Banyo Clinic is an accredited training practice committed to quality training and education of our GP registrars. Our GP registrars offer comprehensive and quality medical care under the guidance of our senior doctors who are all fellows of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

All non disposable instruments are sterilised in accordance with the Royal Australian College of General practitioners standards & guidelines . We use an S class autoclave for this process and it is regularly serviced and tested to ensure we meet or exceed current sterilisation standards.

Banyo Clinic accommodates a diverse multicultural population. As provisions of quality medical care require accurate and concise communication between patient and doctor, we encourage non-English speaking patients to utilise the Government funded (no cost to patient) translating and interpreting service (TIS). This also protects the privacy of the patient and assists them in discussing issues of a personal nature. A government funded interpreting service (AUSLAN) is also available for patients who are deaf and use Australian Sign Language. Please let our staff know at the time of booking, if you require one of these services.

Telephone Interpreting Service
Our standard consultation is 15 minutes in duration. During a standard consultation, our doctors are usually able to address your presenting health concerns. The clinic recognises that sometimes patients have complex or multiple issues that will require extra time to address these concerns. If you feel you may require a longer consultation please advise reception when booking your appointment or select a 30 minute consultation when booking online. If you are uncertain to the length of consultation you require, please phone reception on 07 3267 5088 to discuss further.

 

Please keep our reception staff informed of any changes to your name, address, phone number, Healthcare card, Pension or Medicare Card numbers. We also record contact information regarding your next of kin and emergency contact, for use in emergency situations.

Standard consultations have a gap fee of approximately $45 above the Medicare rebate. Extended consultations, extended care item numbers, consultations without appointments, and appointments before 8am on weekdays and on Sundays attract a higher fee.

Bulk billing is available for patients who have a current Medicare Card and are 16 years and under or have a Commonwealth Concession /Healthcare Card and have a pre-booked appointment Monday to Friday between 8am – 5pm. DVA Card holders are bulk billed at any time. Appointments before 8am, after 5pm, weekends and public holidays will attract a Privately Billed after hours fee at a reduced rate for concession card holders.

Different fees apply for Workcover, procedures, Q fever consultations and vaccinations, medicals (including workplace, pre-employment, commercial driver’s license) as well as afterhours consults.

Payment is to be made on the day of consultation.
Eligible Medicare rebate payments can be processed by our receptionists, either via Easyclaim using a card, or via direct deposit.

If you have difficulty paying your fee, or have questions about our fees, please talk to one of our friendly receptionists before your appointment with the doctor.

An appointment with the doctor is required to obtain a medical certificate. A medical certificate is a legal document, as such cannot be backdated. They will be issued for medical conditions where the doctor deems time off is required.

In the event of an emergency, please call an ambulance on 000.

Doctors at this practice can be contacted during normal surgery hours. Please advise the Receptionist of your request/problem and in most cases they will relay the message and arrange the appropriate follow-up.

If you have any suggestions for improving our service we would like to hear from you as we take your concerns, suggestions and complaints seriously. Please complete one of our feedback forms in the clinic, or post your feedback in writing to Banyo Clinic, PO Box 183, Banyo QLD 4014. Alternatively, you can phone the clinic on 3267 5088 and ask to speak directly to the Practice Manager.

If you which to take a matter further or feel the need to discuss the matter outside the surgery, the Office of the Health Ombudsman will consider your health care related complaint and can be contacted on 133 OHO (133 646) Monday to Friday 9am – 4:30pm, or more information can be found or submitted here:

https://www.oho.qld.gov.au/

If you are unable to attend your scheduled appointment, please phone reception on 07 3267 5088 to cancel or rebook your appointment. Due to high demand for appointments, cancellations should be notified ideally at least 2 hours prior to scheduled time where possible, to allow other patients to be fitted in with the doctor. Repeated missed appointments may result in a fee charged or future appointments not being offered.

A consultation with a doctor is required for a referral to a medical specialist, as it is important that the referral is appropriate and the relevant up to date medical information is included. Referrals are usually valid for twelve months from the date it was written, and as referrals can not be backdated, please ensure you have an up to date referral prior to your specialist appointment. Failure to have a valid referral will result in losing the  Medicare rebate entitlement for the specialist appointment.

Your doctor will only collect information that is relevant to you medical care. If you are uncertain as to why information is being requested, please ask your doctor. 

What type of information does the practice collect? Your doctor needs information about your past and present health in order to provide you with high quality care. Information is called “personal health information” if it concerns your health, medical history or past or future medical care and if someone reading it would be able to identify you. This Practice follows the Guidelines on Privacy in the Private Health Sector developed by the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner. This means that your personal health information is kept private and secure. This Practice has a written policy on how your personal health information is handled and it is available to all patients for inspection. 

Where does the practice store my ‘personal health information’? We store your personal health information in a medical record. Your doctor will do his/her best to make sure that your medical record:

  •   Is accurate, comprehensive, well organized and legible.
  •   Is up to date.
  •   Has enough information to allow another doctor to care for you
  •   Does not contain offensive or irrelevant comments about you.
  •   Contains a summary of your care and
  •   Can be used to remind you, with your permission, to return for follow ups, check ups and review.

Will my health information be provided to others? The doctor(s) in this Practice respect your rights to decide how your personal health information is used or disclosed (for example to other doctors). In all but exceptional circumstances, personal information that identifies you will be sent to other people only with your consent. Gaining your consent is the guiding principle. Sometimes it is important that other people are involved in your care, such as other doctors, and they are informed of relevant parts of your medical history so they can best care for you. After discussion with you, your doctor will write a letter to the other doctor, which will either be posted or given to you to take to them. If you have any concerns about this, discuss them with your doctor. In most group practices it is customary for all doctors in the practice to have access to all the medical records. If you have any concerns about other doctors at this Practice being able to see your records discuss your concerns with your doctor.

  • We consider that patients attending this Practice expect that information provided will be used only to assist in managing their health care.  We also consider that patients would reasonably expect that selected personal health details will be disclosed to other health services directly involved in providing a health service to the individual.

Unless you would reasonably expect it, your doctor will not disclose your personal health information to a third party unless:

  •   You have consented to the disclosure: or
  •   This disclosure is necessary because you are at risk of harm without treatment and you are unable to give consent. For example you might be unconscious after an accident;
  •   Your doctor is legally obliged to disclose the information (e.g. notification of certain infectious diseases or suspected child abuse, or a subpoena or court order); or
  •   The information is necessary to obtain Medicare payments or other health insurance rebates
  •   This disclosure is necessary for the doctors in the Practice to carry out a review of their Practice for the purpose of improving the quality of care provided and the activity has been approved under Commonwealth or State legislation or by a medical college. This provides safeguards to protect the confidentiality of the information provided; or
  •  There is an overriding public interest in the release of the information.

In any of the above cases only information necessary to achieve the objective will be given. If you are concerned about any related use or disclosure of your personal health information you should speak to your GP (or practice staff, if appropriate) about your concerns.   

How do I access my ‘personal health information’? You have access to the information contained in your medical record. We believe that sharing information is important for good communication between you and your doctor and for optimal health care. Information in your record can be provided to you by way of an accurate and up to date summary of your care, for instance if you are moving away and are transferring to a new doctor. Do not hesitate to ask your doctor if you want a summary of your care for any reason.   If you request a summary or direct access to your full medical record your doctor may need to take out any information provided by others on a confidential basis. Your doctor will also need to consider the risk of any physical or mental harm to you or any other person, which may result from disclosure of your health information. There are sometimes circumstances in which access may be denied however you will be advised of the reasons if this is the case.   In most circumstances, however, your doctor will be pleased to provide a full explanation of the health summary of medical record provided. A small but reasonable administration fee may be charged to provide such access as well as time with your doctor.

What happens if I feel the information in my record is wrong? If you find that the information in your record is not accurate, complete or up-to-date, you can request to have it corrected.  The doctor may update it via a note or additional information in your record.  We don’t recommend erasing information from your record as this may cause it to be incomplete.

To ensure patient and staff safety, Banyo Clinic reserves the right to refuse service to patients if they appear to pose a threat through threatening, abusive, disruptive or aggressive behavior. These behaviors will not be tolerated and will be referred to the police where appropriate.

Generally, a consultation with a doctor is required to obtain a prescription. This is to ensure that the appropriate medication is prescribed and to allow the doctor to assess the ongoing needs and effectiveness of such medication. If you have seen your doctor within the last month, an appointment may not be required. Please phone reception on 07 3267 5088 to request your prescription. In this situation, a small administration fee of $11.00 will apply and please allow 24 hours for your request to be processed.

As part of our commitment to your ongoing medical care, our practice utilises an in-house recall system for clinically significant results. Results are not given over the phone. Please make a follow up appointment by phoning reception on 07 3267 5088 to obtain your results. Our in-house reminder system, for pap smears, immunisations and other health initiatives is a friendly reminder that these health checks are due. Our practice also participates in national/state reminder systems and registrars, such as Breast screen and the Queensland Pap smear registry. Please inform our reception or doctor should you wish to be excluded from one or both of these reminder systems.

 

To comply with the privacy legislation we cannot give results to patients or family members over the phone. If you are expecting results please make a follow-up appointment with our reception on 07 32675088, generally with 4-5 days after the test has been completed, with the requesting doctor.

As a committed and recognized teaching practice we regularly have medical students sitting in with our doctors. Your permission for the student to sit in on your consultation will be sought prior to your appointment. Please inform reception if you prefer not to have the student present during your consultation.

Banyo Clinic contacts patients for the health management purposes via electronic communication. This is done only when appropriate, and only if the patient has consented to being contacted electronically. Sometimes, electronic contact can be an unavoidable necessity, for example, if someone cannot be contacted via phone, or cannot be seen in person. Occasionally, patients prefer electronic contact methods, and this can be updated as their contact mode preference. Information about our electronic contact policy are below:

Forms of electronic communication used:

  • SMS
  • Email

Health management purposes include:

  • Appointment scheduling (online appointment system)
  • Appointment reminders
  • Health reminders (e.g cervical smear)
  • Health recall (e.g follow up of routine results)
  • Telehealth

Before we send an SMS or email, we need:

  • Patient verbal authorisation at the time of the request
  • Signature in the appropriate section of our New Patient Registration form if applicable (scanned to patient file, or signed electronically and imported).
  • Confirmation of mobile number at each visit.
  • Confirmation of email address prior to sending an email (must be encrypted).
  • The message not to include sensitive health information (e.g pathology results) unless explicitly requested and consented by the patient, and that consent is documented.
  • The message to include practice identification and how to contact the practice (e.g Banyo Clinic, Ph 3267 5088).
  • Inclusion of outgoing messages in your health record, unless it is solely clerical e.g. an appointment reminder only

Email communications

  • Email communication is not preferred, and should not be considered for time sensitive information.
  • Before sending information by email, consider the information and the security risk.
  • Encrypted email communication is the gold standard.
  • If patients email with a request for information, the email format of the request is implied consent for the patient to receive the information by email. Gold standard is to confirm this with the patient prior to sending sensitive information.

Telehealth as a patient electronic contact

  • Patients need to provide informed consent for the Telehealth consultation (recorded in patient file).
  • Our IT consultant has assured that the data transmission and storage is secure.

SMS Communication 

  • SMS information is limited in detail to protect patient privacy. An SMS will usually provide information such as “please contact Banyo Clinic regarding your appointment” or “please contact Banyo Clinic regarding results”.
  • Reception staff can then verify patient identity and provide the information needed over the phone.