Making an appointment

A patient will need a referral letter by their GP to obtain an appointment. Once the referral is sent to Jane, Mary will contact the patient to arrange a convenient appointment time. Alternatively the patient can ring the rooms on (03) 544 8818 to get an appointment time.

Jane is an affiliated provider for Southern Cross and Nib for endoscopy, skin lesion excision, laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal) and hernia repair. This means that if the patient has insurance with Southern Cross or Nib they may not need to pay the initial consultation fee directly. Jane can get preapproval for procedures such as gastroscopy, colonoscopy, hernia repair and gallbladder removal for the patient, rather than them having to contact the company.

For patients with other insurers

The initial basic consultation fee is $244. Payment is made at the clinic after the consultation with EFTPOS and credit card facilities available. The patient is given a receipt they use to claim back from the insurer.

If a procedure is planned Jane will give the patient a copy of the GP referral letter, an estimate of costs and a letter from the consultation they then forward to the insurance company to get approval. Once approval comes through from the insurance company Jane’s team will contact the patient to plan a date. They can usually offer a date within 2 to 3 weeks of approval.

If the patient has haemorrhoids Jane can consult and do banding on the same day. The cost of this is $623. If the patient contacts their insurance company prior to the appointment, they can be sure it will be covered. Most companies seem to be happy to give the patient verbal approval for smaller claims.