Patient Policy

Client Information and Agreement

Your Rights as a Client:

You have all the rights established by the Australian Charter of Healthcare, such as:

• The right to receive safe and high-quality care,

• To be shown respect, dignity and consideration,

• To be informed about services, treatment, options and costs in a clear and open way,

• To be included in decisions and choices about your care

• To privacy and confidentiality of your personal information

• To comment on your care and have your concerns addressed

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Confidentiality:

What you tell the doctor will be kept confidential and will not be revealed to other persons or agencies without your written permission, except when mandated by state and federal statutes, court order, or if there is any concern for your safety.

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Professional Records:

Dr Valeria Spivak keeps appropriate records of the medical services provide. Your records are maintained securely in the office or digitally on a password-protected system. These are only able to be accessed by staff who have signed confidentiality agreements.

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Emergencies:

Dr Spivak does not provide “emergency services” or after-hours crisis support. If you have an urgent concern, our reception team will try to schedule an appointment as soon as possible.

In the case of an emergency, please contact the emergency line, 000 or contact a 24-hour telephone mental health access line 1300 642 255 MH Call to speak to a trained mental health clinician.

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Appointments:

A new patient appointment usually takes at least 45min. This time includes completion of all pertinent paperwork such as scripts, letters to GPs, referrals, medical certificates. ** Please note, if you arrive late for the initial appointment, another appointment may be required to make up for the missed time. A full hour is required for the initial appointment. A standard follow up appointment with Dr Valeria Spivak can range from 30 – 60 minutes. If you arrive less than 10min into your appointment, your appointment will still conclude at its scheduled time with the full consultation fee being levied. If you arrive too late (more than 10min into your appointment), or do not arrive for a session, the full consultation fee will be charged (no associated Medicare rebate).

If you would like to book in for a longer review, please let our reception staff know, a higher fee will apply. If the length of your consultation runs over the time frame that you are booked in for, you are responsible for paying the difference, a higher fee will apply.

 

Phone Lines:

Please note that Dr. Valeria Spivak's phone lines are available only at 0435 074 567. Our office hours for phone support are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Kindly refrain from calling outside these hours, as your call will not be answered.

If you have called during our office hours and we have missed your call, we sincerely apologize. We may have been assisting another patient at that time. Please leave a message, and we will return your call as soon as possible.

Please note that our phone lines are not a messaging service. Text messages will not be answered. Additionally, any messages left outside of our administrative phone hours will not be responded to. You will need to call again during our designated hours. We thank you for your support and understanding.

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Booking an appointment:

All appointments are booked by phone only, please contact us on 0435 074 567 to speak with one of the friendly receptionists. No bookings will be made via email and the emails requesting that will not be answered.

Initial bookings require a deposit of 50% to be paid at the time of the appointment booked. The deposit goes towards the payment of the initial consultation and is completely refundable if you wish to change or cancel your appointment up until one week before your appointment. In case of non-attendance or cancellation less than one week from day of consultation the deposit will be forfeited as the clinic may be unable to reallocate the time slot to another patient.

We regret that this is necessary to reduce the likelihood of people booking a consultation and failing to turn up on the day. Such instances prevent others from accessing the limited appointments available.

Returning Patients

Please note that patients who are returning after a long period of time of no attendance ie 12months+ require the full appointment length (45min+) and potentially an additional appointment within the month, depending on circumstances, to undertake a full clinical assessment and update.

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Correspondence via email:

Please be advised that our emails are monitored three times a week. As such, we kindly request that you allow up to five business days for a response. Any emails asking for the paperwork completion outside of an appointment time, an appointment to be booked, or provide any medical advice will not be answered, should you require any assistance please contact reception on 0435 074 567 to book an appointment.

 

Locum of Responsibility:

It is the responsibility of the patient to keep a record of their schedule and appointment dates and times.

If an appointment time is misplaced or forgotten, please feel free to call on 0435 074 567 to inquire about your scheduled appointment time/day.

To confirm your appointment, we kindly ask that you reply "Yes" to the reminder text message we send one week prior to your appointment.

If we do not receive a response and you have not cancelled your appointment, you are still responsible for attending at the scheduled time. Failure to attend your appointment will result in a cancellation fee.

While our reception team can assist with letting you know when your referral has expired, it is ultimately the patient’s responsibility to keep track at each session, to avoid instances where you attend an appointment and may not be eligible for a Medicare rebate.

Referrals from General Practitioners last 1 year after the first session they are used. If you need to confirm whether you have an in-date referral, please feel free to call Brisbane Medical Specialists to check with the reception team, we are always happy to. Remember that the valid current referral is required to attract a Medicare rebate.

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Heidi Health:

Before we proceed with your appointment, we would like to inform you about an important aspect of how we document our consultations. We utilize a note taking tool called Heidi to accurately and efficiently capture the details of our discussions and the outcomes of our appointments (as per information on the previous page). Heidi ensures that we can focus more on our conversation and less on manual note taking, enhancing the quality of care you receive.

Your consent is crucial for us to use this technology. Please understand that your information will be handled with the utmost care, and Heidi’s use is aimed solely at improving your healthcare experience.

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Cancellation Policy

ONE WEEK NOTICE REQUIRED FOR ALL CANCELLATIONS AND RESCHEDULING.

Your psychiatry sessions and wellbeing are important to us. Arriving late or missing appointments limits the service Dr Spivak can provide.

If you arrive less than 10min into your appointment, your appointment will be shortened to the remaining time and charged in full.

If you arrive too late (more than 10min into your appointment), or do not arrive for a session, the full consultation fee will be charged (no associated Medicare rebate). If you are unwell and would prefer to stay at home, Dr Spivak can provide phone consultations as an alternative. See Non-attendance and Cancellation Fee Policy below for more details.

 

Payment Policy and Consent

Payment Due Date

All fees are to be paid in full on the day of your appointment. Dr Spivak does not provide a bulk billing service.

We use SMS invoicing software for phone consultation payments. You may pay via the link sent as a text online, call the practice to pay with card details over the phone or come into the practice to pay at our reception desk. Our reception staff will send your claim to Medicare, if you have a current referral and Medicare card, for the rebate to be transferred to your nominated account within 48 hours.

For all phone consultations, prepayment is required one day before your scheduled appointment. If payment has not been received on the day of your appointment and we are unable to contact you, your appointment is at risk of cancellation.

At times, Dr Spivak may request pre-payment for appointments to ensure that payment is settled promptly. If the appointment is missed, this deposit taken for pre-payment may be kept to settle the cancellation fee.

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Workcover:

If you are under a work cover claim, it is the patient's responsibility to pay for the consultation. We are unable to bill any fees to Workcover directly. Once you have paid the consultation, we will provide a receipt, and you can claim this back with your Workcover provider.

Non-attendance and Cancellation Fee Policy

Please provide at least one weeks’ notice if you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment to avoid a fee. By giving us appropriate notice, you will allow another patient in need on our waiting list to have the chance to access Dr Spivak’s appointment.

Dr Spivak charges a fee equal to the consultation price in the event you do not attend an appointment or fail to give a minimum of one weeks’ notice. Cancellation fees are not claimable through Medicare. We are unable to book further consultations for patients with outstanding cancellation fees.

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Insurance and Legal requests:

If your insurer or lawyer requires a report from Dr Spivak this can be arranged subject to Dr Spivak’s work capacity and pre-approval. If agreed, Dr Spivak requires a copy of the request, prepayment and an appointment prior to their completion. Depending on who is covering the cost, the patient or their insurer/legal representation will be invoiced for this. These are not eligible to claim through Medicare, so will incur a private fee.

Cold and flu symptoms:

If you are experiencing any cold and flu symptoms, please do not enter the rooms. Your appointment can be changed to a telephone consultation, no additional fees apply, to change your appointment, please contact reception on 0435 074 567.

 

 

Scripts and letters:

If you require a script, a medical certificate, a letter written by Dr Spivak or a form completed, you must have a booked appointment. Dr Spivak is unable to complete any out of consult works.

Confirming your appointment:

Dr Spivak has a one-week cancellation policy on all appointments. It is the patient's responsibility to keep track of your appointments, however, we do send a courtesy text message reminder to you one week prior to your appointment, if you are unable to provide the correct notice, cancellation fees will apply. Please note, all appointments can be changed to telephone, this is an alternative method of cancelling. If there is an emergency or crisis, cancellation fees may be waived, subject to Dr Spivak’s approval upon receipt of relevant medical certificate.

For all new patients, if we are unable to contact you to confirm within the week coming up to your appointment, your appointment will be cancelled. Please note, we do always have several patients on our waiting list, for Dr Valeria to provide the best continuity of care, we do require all appointments to be confirmed, as we do not want to run the risk of a last-minute cancellation, and therefore, a missed appointment for another patient.

 

Services Requested Outside of Consult

If you require a script, certificate, letter or service from Dr Spivak, an appointment is the only means to receive this. Please remind the doctor during your appointment if you require script repeats.

Dr Spivak must see patients who are prescribed ADHD medications at least once every six months in order to continue safely prescribing. These appointments require at least 30min and they include interview with a patient, scripts completion and preparation/transfer of a letter to the referring GP. Patients must book in advance to ensure they will receive a new script prior to their previous one running out. It is the responsibility of the patient to manage their scripts and bookings.

Dr Spivak is unable to provide scripts for patients who are not attending review appointments and have no appointments booked.

Dr Spivak does not write reports to the Courts.

 

Fees

Dr Spivak’s fees are subject to change, but you will be notified of any changes that may occur. Normally the fees are reviewed annually.

There are no “short appointments” available for booking.

Please ensure that you are aware about Medicare latest policy on Medicare Safety Net. Remember you need to get registered every calendar year.

We suggest that you book at least two follow up appointments when you see Dr Spivak to make sure you do not miss out on an appointment later.

Returning Patients

Please note that patients who are returning after a long period of time of no attendance are likely to require the full appointment length (45min+) and potentially an additional appointment within the month, depending on circumstances, to undertake a full clinical assessment and update.

 

Frequency of Appointments:

Dr Spivak undertakes to review patients as often as is appropriate. New patients require more frequent reviews, as do patients who are needing more support. When Dr Spivak recommends a review (e.g. “in 8 weeks”) this constitutes medical advice and represents her recommendation.

As an example, maintenance appointments are often every three months for patients with mood disorders, and every six months for patients with ADHD. Please note that dosage changes in the treatment of ADHD usually require follow-up within one to three months.

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