APPOINTMENTS
You can phone the practice to book your appointment, or book online via our website. SMS reminders are sent the day prior to your appointment if you have consented to this.
When you book an appointment at Jimboomba Pharmacy Medical Centre, we’ll always provide you with the first available appointment with the doctor of your choice. In case of an emergency, however, the first available doctor will see you.
All our appointments are arranged via an appointment system, so you’ll always know exactly when you’re booked in to see your doctor. Patients should be aware, however, that these times may change if emergencies occur, and the doctors are diverted. Patients presenting with complicated problems may also cause appointments to run over the standard 10-minute slot, which is designed to address one issue only. We endeavour to inform you of any delays or changes to your appointment and apologise for any inevitable delays you might experience.
On arrival, please check-in with the receptionist and present your Medicare card and any concession cards.
For new patients, please allow 5 minutes to register your details with the practice.
“Walk-ins” are welcome but might have to wait to be seen since it is subject to appointment availability and will be triaged accordingly.
APPOINTMENT TIMES
The practice offers standard 10-minute appointments to discuss one issue only. If you need to discuss more than one issue, please inform the receptionist when booking so a longer consult can be booked.
Appointments such as ECGs, Spirometry (lung function test), surgical procedures, health checks, child immunisations, mental health consults, etc. may require a longer booking or a booking with both doctor and nurse. Please advise reception when booking since allocating the adequate amount of time will ensure the smooth and timely running of the practice.
If you deem you need an urgent appointment, you will be triaged by the receptionist or nurse. In case it is an emergency, you will be advised to attend your local hospital or call an ambulance on 000.
APPOINTMENT CANCELLATION POLICY
We understand that unplanned issues can arise, and you may need to cancel an appointment. Should this occur, we respectfully ask that scheduled appointments be cancelled at least 24 hours in advance. Doing so will help you avoid the CANCELLATION FEE which is charged in accordance with the duration and type of appointment (charged at doctors’ discretion).
Our doctors and allied health professionals want to be available for your needs and for the needs of all our patients. When a patient does not show for a scheduled appointment, other patients lose the opportunity to be seen. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.
FEES AND BILLING ARRANGEMENTS
JPMC is a mixed-billing practice.
Note: Dr Dev Kawol, Dr Snya Chadha and Dr Manas Gupta will PRIVATE BILL all patients. They will consider Bulk-billing their existing patient base as and when they can (e.g. follow up appointments, results, telephone appointments). Please check with our reception team to confirm any payable fees prior to your appointment.
Bulk-billed consults will remain available for DVA card holders, Pension/Healthcare card holders and Children under 16 years of age. However, treatment room usage will incur a private fee.
- We offer bulk-billed standard face-to-face consults for our regular patients with a valid Medicare card. (‘Regular’ refers to ‘active’ patients who have visited our practice three times for a face-to-face consult in the past two years, not including vaccine or telehealth appointments.)
- Only patients who have attended the practice in-person for a consult in the last 12 months are eligible for a medicare rebate for their telehealth appointment.
- Non-medicare rebate services, like medical examinations for work, commercial drivers’ medical, insurance forms, medical reports, etc. will be billed privately.
- All treatment room procedures like the Mirena, Implanon, Skin Excisions, Iron Infusions and Joint Injections attract a private fee.
- New patients, walk-ins, same-day appointments, lacerations, etc are privately billed.
- If you have flu-like symptoms, we strongly encourage you to book a phone consult. A face-to-face consult will incur a private fee due to additional PPE and cleaning costs.
- All visiting specialists’ consultations are privately billed.
Please check with our friendly receptionist prior to booking your appointment for potential charges and any medicare rebate, if available.
Payment is required on the day. A full table of fees is available at our reception.
COMMUNICATION POLICY – Phone & Electronic
Doctors may be contacted during practice hours for emergency situations via phone. However, if the doctor is busy, a message can be left with our friendly receptionist, and you will be advised about a response as soon as possible via your preferred communication method (phone or email). If the nature of the call is complex, you may be advised to book an appointment to see the doctor face to face or via telehealth. All communication is documented in your patient record.
Our team endeavours to respond to all emails within two business days (Monday to Friday only). We will only send non-urgent information via email. Any private health information, when requested by you, will be encrypted to protect privacy and confidentiality and will require your prior written/verbal consent.
PATIENT TEST RESULTS
Patients are usually not called to inform of ‘normal’ results and are advised to call 2-3 days after their test/scan to check if their results are back.
As part of our recall system, our reception/nursing team will contact patients via secure SMS and/or phone call regarding any pathology/radiology results that the doctor has marked as needing to be discussed. Patients are required to make an appointment with the doctor to discuss these results. For privacy and confidentiality, they will not be given over the phone – only regular patients can access results via a bulk-billed telehealth consult with the doctor.
For any urgent results, the doctor will advise the nurse or admin team to contact the patient immediately.
REMINDER SYSTEM
Our practice is committed to preventative care and our staff will seek your consent before including you in our reminder system.
You will receive secure SMS/phone/mail reminders about preventative health relevant to you, such as skin checks, cervical screening, blood pressure check, medication review, health assessments, immunisations, and so on.
Please inform our staff if you do not wish to be included.
HEALTH INFORMATION AND PRIVACY
Your medical health record and any discussion you have at the practice are strictly confidential. It is our practice policy to ensure your personal health information is only available to authorised staff.
Our practice uses a computerised medical record system which is password protected and only available for our use. All information at the practice is confidential.
When referrals are made to other health professionals for specialised treatment, only relevant health information is included in the referrals and these referrals are sent via secure means.
Written consent must be provided by you to release your private information to a third-party. A fee may be incurred for this which may be payable by you or the third-party requesting information.
If you require a full copy of your records, there will be an administration fee.
COMPLAINTS
Despite our best intentions, complaints may arise. Our practice deals with complaints in a courteous and understanding manner.
Perceptions of what is reasonable and fair can change when people are unwell or anxious.
Patient satisfaction affects health outcomes and our practice acknowledges that patient complaints are an important source of customer feedback.
If you have a complaint with a Doctor or our staff, please contact the reception.
If despite any actions taken, you are still not satisfied with the outcome, you may contact the:
Office of the Health Ombudsman
Email: complaints@oho.qld.gov.au
Phone: 133 646 (133 OHO)
Online complaint form: https://www.oho.qld.gov.au/make-a-complaint
FEEDBACK
We strive to provide patient-centred care and we would like to have your feedback.
If you have suggestions that could help us improve our services, please feel free to let us know. You can write to us at the practice, email or drop a letter in our ‘Suggestion Box’ at our reception.
If you feel you had a great service, our staff would love to hear your compliments.
PANDEMIC POLICY 2023
- Patients can expect practice opening hours to be variable during this pandemic. We are a small family business and will inevitably experience staff shortages. We recognise that this can be an inconvenience for our patients and we apologise in advance.
2. DURING ACTIVE OUTBREAKS: Our doctors will consult patients via telehealth until the outbreak settles down. We understand that some urgent issues might require a face-to-face consult. Our receptionists cannot book you for a face-to-face consult without prior approval from the treating doctor. You can request a face-to-face consult at reception, and we will get back to you. You must be symptom free to attend a face-to-face consult, where approved by the doctor.
3. Long appointments are only available at doctors’ discretion until further notice.
4. Medicare is constantly updating their guidelines on who is eligible for telehealth consult rebate.
Bulk-billing will only be offered if patients meet criteria a or b:
a. Patient is our “active patient” (as per the defition above) and has attended our practice face-to-face in the past 12 months
b. Patient is homeless
In other cases, patients may have to pay privately for their telehealth consult and a rebate may or may not be able.