Oncologists work in a number of locations to provide care to their patients. In any given day, a cancer specialist may visit a patient having treatment in a treatment day centre and displaying a possible allergic reaction, a ward where a number of their patients may be hospitalised with health complications, and even an intensive care unit where a patient may be being treated for a serious illness or recovering from a significant operation.
At all times, our doctors give priority to patients who require critical care and attention. This means that sometimes our patients with existing or routine appointments may need to wait for our doctors. We respect your time and attempt to advise you if our doctors are running late – we appreciate your flexibility and understanding.
Yarra Oncology is a private practice, meaning fees are payable for consults with our doctors. You are welcome to contact our practice at any time to discuss the fee schedule applicable to you. A total fee will be charged on the day of the consult, either in person or via telephone; if a referral is in place and a patient has a Medicare card, we will submit our patient’s consult details to Medicare who will apply a standard rebate schedule and process this rebate payment directly to their bank account. Please let us know if you are a patient with a pensioner or healthcare card holder to allow us to adjust your private fee if applicable.
A referral is a written request from one health professional to another, asking them to diagnose and treat a certain condition. The referral outlines a patient’s background health information, and also indicates to Medicare that the medical condition is important enough to be subsidised. If you visit a specialist doctor without a referral in place, Medicare will not subsidise any fees associated with the visit.
Most referrals from GPs to specialists are limited to 12 months. Referrals from specialists to other specialists are limited to 3 months. If you have an ongoing chronic health condition, such as cancer, it is possible for your GP to write an indefinite referral to your cancer specialist.