FAQ
Billing & Fees
Dickson General Practice is a Private Billing Medical Practice and we do not bulk bill*. Our fees reflect the quality of medical care provided and are competitive to other Canberra General Practices. This means privately billed patients will have an out-of-pocket expense due to inflation and the Federal Government not catching up with the Medicare Rebates for patients.
Please refer to our billing policy
*Preventative health and Chronic care plans will be Bulk billed for eligible patients.
These include:
Health Assessments for 40-49 year olds
Annual Health assessment for >75 year olds
Chronic Care Management Plans and Team Care Arrangements
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Health assessments
Childhood immunisations
Childhood immunisations are bulkbilled, but if there was anything else to discuss with the Doctor, you may be charged as per the billing policy.
Travel Vaccinations will be privately billed as consultations are not Medicare rebateable.
COVID vaccinations are provided with no charge to patients (People without Medicare card need to attend Govt Centres or Respiratory Clinics).
If it has been over three months since your last review with your doctor, you are advised to have a consultation with your doctor.
Otherwise, your request will be forwarded to your usual GP who will decide to either see you or do a script. However, you MAY be charged a 15.00 admin fee.
If you have not received your rebate, then there has been an issue with Medicare. In these cases, you must contact Medicare directly to resolve this. Medicare is a Federal Government organisation and therefore we cannot do anything to resolve this issue for you.
However, we can assist by checking that everything is correct on our end, and if so, we can put you in the right direction. We can also send you your receipt which you can take directly into Medicare to get further assistance from them. If you require a copy of your receipt, please get in touch and we can provide you with one.
All Telephone consultations are treated as proper consultations and a fee applies.
Not all issues can be sorted on phone or via telehealth and the Doctor may need you to attend in Person. Usually, you will be charged only for 1 consultation if you attend on the same day, but you may be charged for a separate consultation if you attend later.
A gap payment is an out-of-pocket expense you must pay when you receive medical treatment. Privately billed patients will have an out-of-pocket expense due to inflation and the Federal Government not catching up with the Medicare Rebates for patients. Due to this inflation, the costs of running a doctors Practice have gone up therefore the fees reciprocate this and if they didn’t we would not be able to provide the services we do.
Bookings
You can cancel your booking by calling our practice on 02 6247 5833 or
- If you booked through HotDoc you can cancel through HotDoc
- If you booked through AutoMed you can cancel through AutoMed
Patients are charged a cancellation fee of $40.00 in the case of no show or cancellation less than 4 hours to your consultation.
This is because of the time blocked by the Doctor for yourself and also for blocking off a time from another patient in need.
You can make a booking through our website by clicking ‘Book Appointment’ or alternatively you can call our practice on 02 6247 5833.
You can also book through HotDoc and AutoMed
When booking a consultation with the doctor, the fees are set for the time you chose to have with the doctor.
Irrespective of what it is for, the Doctor charges for the time.
Therefore, you may have to pay for follow up consultations , however, the doctor may chose to subsidise you or direct bill you and it is the doctor’s discretion and Practice Policies.
There is staff and limited patient parking on site. These parking spots are labelled Dickson General Practice or Unit 3 clients. If these spots are taken there is public paid parking across the road at Dickson Shopping Centre parking.
Chronic Disease
A number of medical conditions fall under the category of chronic medical conditions.
Generally, any condition that has lasted or is known to last more than 6 months is considered a chronic medical condition.
Chronic medical conditions can have significant impact on the life of the person affected in many ways. It can cause restrictions on their diet, physical activity, work, home life and not uncommonly relationships and family dynamics.
They are also known to cause long term complications.
Early diagnosis, regular check ups, appropriate services can help prevent or at least delay the onset of complications, help improve confidence in managing the condition and improve your quality of life.
A number of medical conditions fall under the category of chronic medical conditions.
Generally, any condition that has lasted or is known to last more than 6 months is considered a chronic medical condition.
Chronic medical conditions can have significant impact on the life of the person affected in many ways. It can cause restrictions on their diet, physical activity, work, home life and not uncommonly relationships and family dynamics.
They are also known to cause long term complications.
Early diagnosis, regular check ups, appropriate services can help prevent or at least delay the onset of complications, help improve confidence in managing the condition and improve your quality of life.
Patients who have chronic medical conditions (last longer than 6 months) are eligible by Medicare to have a Chronic Disease Management Plan (also know as a care plan).
Dickson GP commits to provide this service at NO OUT OF POCKET COST TO PATIENT FROM GP.
Having a CDM Plan helps the patient to understand the complications that a chronic condition could cause and come up with a plan to manage the condition appropriately and to delay the onset of potential complications thereby improving the quality of life.
Sometime patients might have multiple conditions.
Patients might have different goals and the Doctors might have different goals for their patients.
Having this discussion with your doctor will have everyone on the same page.
Patient who have a Chronic Care Plan are eligible for a total of 5 Medicare subsidised allied health visits in a year.
You may be referred to different allied health services to help manage your condition/s. For example, this could include a podiatrist and/or a physiotherapist.
A review of the Care Plan and the TCA is recommended between 3-6 months to assess that the plan is helping improve our outcomes and achieve our goals. This is an opportunity for the patients to discuss any difficulties or grievances so that the plan can be amended to suit our goals and needs.
A respiratory condition that can affect children and adults. Asthma can present as either mild irritating cough, shortness of breath, wheeze etc. It can usually be mistaken in children as lack of fitness or viral infection.
If diagnosed early and managed appropriately, quality of life can be improved and normal function can be achieved.
Many times our body might perceive some parts or organs of our own body as foreign body and start attacking them and cause damage to the structure or function of the respective parts.
The symptoms could present as muscle aches, tiredness, lethargy, inability to concentrate, or any other vague presentation and depends largely on the organ effected.
Early diagnosis and management could prevent ongoing damage and also improve symptoms and Quality of Life.
Careers
To join the Dickson General Practice team, please visit our careers page and view our vacancies. Once you hit submit, the team will get back to you within 72 hours.
There is staff and limited patient parking on site. These parking spots are labelled Dickson General Practice or Unit 3 clients. If these spots are taken there is public paid parking across the road at Dickson Shopping Centre parking.
All
As you age, life doesn’t remain the same as it used to be. Onset of early tiredness, joint aches, muscle pains etc are quite common. Decrease in functional capability is often reported. Memory loss, hearing defects, chronic pain are some of the common complaints.
Mental health can significantly be affected during this time due to lack of confidence in self and due to the reduction in quality of life.
There is a myriad of services that can be offered to help the people in need to make life simpler and so that you can use your energy and time in doing things that you actually like and routine chores like cleaning, gardening, home maintenance can be taken care of by others for you.
Mental health plays a very important role in the wellbeing of people. Everybody is different and they react and respond differently to different experiences.
Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health conditions but are heavily under reported or under diagnosed, let alone managed.
Quite often these conditions can be present even in young children and parents and teachers can overlook these and might even label the child as naughty, disruptive or uninterested.
You can provide feedback in person by completing a feedback form, via a google review: link and/or to our email: feedback@dicksongp.com.au
A gap payment is an out-of-pocket expense you must pay when you receive medical treatment. Privately billed patients will have an out-of-pocket expense due to inflation and the Federal Government not catching up with the Medicare Rebates for patients. Due to this inflation, the costs of running a doctors Practice has gone up therefore the fees reciprocate this and if they didn’t we would not be able to provide the services we do.
A mental health care plan is a support plan for someone who is going through mental health issues. During this process, you and your doctor will discuss your issues, agree on goals and so as to be able to refer you to medicare rebatable counselling sessions.
An advance care directive is sometimes called a living will.
The directive is a formalised version of your advance care plan. It outlines your preferences for your future care along with your beliefs, values, and goals. Having an advance care directive means you can also formally appoint a substitute decision-maker for when you can no longer make decisions yourself.
You can only make a valid advance care directive if you are over 18 and have decision making capacity.
Health professionals and family members must follow a valid directive. They cannot override it.
Your doctor should provide you with information and advice regarding your current health situation. They should also discuss what may happen in the future. It is a good idea to discuss your advance care directive with your doctor.
An enduring power of attorney is a legal document that lets you appoint someone to make decisions about personal matters or financial matters, or both. The appointed person/s have legal authority to act for you and to make legally binding decisions on your behalf while you are living.
You can limit the power to cover only specific matters, and you can choose when the powers start.
You can make an enduring power of attorney if you are aged 18 years or older and have decision-making capacity to do so.
Visiting a Drs clinic for the first time can be very intimidating and stressful for some, but our kind and compassionate staff will assist you through the whole process.
On your first visit to the clinic, you will be greeted by our friendly receptionist team who will update your patient information. Our nurse will then take your observations before your appointment with the DR. Once your observations have been completed the Dr will take you in for your appointment.
- The Dr may ask about your situation in detail
- The Dr may prescribe you medication
- The Dr may refer you to get preliminary testing done
- The Dr may refer you to a specialist DR
- The Dr may advise you about your situation etc.
On completion of your appointment, you will return to reception to complete the billing.
First appointments are always privately billed and every appointment after that will be in accordance with our billing policy.
A review of the Care Plan and the TCA is recommended between 3-6 months to assess that the plan is helping improve our outcomes and achieve our goals. This is an opportunity for the patients to discuss any difficulties or grievances so that the plan can be amended to suit our goals and needs.
