For Patients
Your care is our concern.
Our team will work together to provide an extensive support network through each step, including pre-surgery meetings with the surgeon and daily hospital visits by our surgical team after your operation.
Referrals
If you wish to claim Medicare rebates you must have a valid referral. A valid referral is required from your specialist. If you have no valid referral you will be liable for the entire payment of services.
Making appointments
In most cases, once the decision has been made in consultation with your cardiologist to seek advice or treatment from a cardiothoracic surgeon at Adelaide Cardiothoracic, an appointment will be made and posted out to you.
In cases deemed urgent by the referring doctors, they will ring Adelaide Cardiothoracic directly to make the appointment. Adelaide Cardiothoracic will always provide appointments at short notice for urgent cases, if possible. Where a patient is experiencing language difficulties, the referring doctor’s reception staff will make the appointment on the patient’s behalf.
Interpreters
Our reception staff is alert to the possibility of language difficulties impacting a patient’s diagnosis or treatment. They will, therefore, explore the need to make interpreter arrangements involving a relative, friend, or official interpreter where the circumstances suggest that this would be in the best interests of the patient.
Attending clinics
Patients can help us deliver the best possible care by following a few simple guidelines:
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Make sure Adelaide Cardiothoracic is given or is holding a valid referral on your behalf. This will ensure you can claim Medicare rebates and inform the cardiothoracic surgeon of the background to your condition.
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If you are attending for the first time, please arrive 15 minutes early to fill out the patient information sheet.
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For billing and Medicare rebate purposes it is vital you bring your Medicare, Private Insurance, and concession cards to the appointment.
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It is very important that your cardiothoracic surgeon knows what medications you currently use. The safest way to be sure we have the correct information is to bring the medications to the appointment.
Cancellation of appointments
If you are unable to attend your appointment it is in your own interest to ring and make another time without delay. That way we can also make the vacated appointment available to another patient. Waiting times for appointments to see our cardiothoracic surgeons can be kept to a minimum if all available appointments are made available to patients.
Billing policy
Adelaide Cardiothoracic is committed to providing quality care with a patient-focused approach. We choose to bulk bill all patients on the day of service.
For this reason, you must bring your Medicare Card.
The Government has announced it will not be indexing the Medicare Schedule fees in 2017 and rebates have now been frozen since November 2012. The Medicare schedule of fees represents what the Federal Government is prepared to contribute to the cost of health services.
For account enquiries, please call 08 8375 5950 (Anzac Medical Suites) or 08 8204 5626 (Flinders Private) during business hours.
Medicare rebates
All Medicare accounts can be lodged online at any of our rooms so that you can receive your Medicare Rebate directly into your bank account. Provided you have your details registered with Medicare the rebate will be deposited into your account within a few working days. If you would like more information about how to register your bank account details with Medicare please ask one of our Reception team.
Privacy
Patient records are protected by our compliance with all privacy legislation and the guidelines of relevant professional bodies such as the AMA.
Access to personal records
A request for access to your medical record held by Adelaide Cardiothoracic should be directed to your treating cardiothoracic surgeon.
Complaints
Our doctors and staff are passionate about being the first choice in cardiothoracic surgery for patients and referring cardiologists. We apply a culture of continuous learning and improvement to all aspects of our services, with patient wellbeing as the focus of all our actions.
If you feel there are instances where we could have done better we would welcome your feedback. Your concerns will always be treated respectfully and resolved promptly. Issues should be raised with your treating cardiothoracic surgeon or by emailing Adelaide Cardiothoracic at contact@adelaidecardiothoracic.com.au.
Contact us
Click here to go to the Contact Us page.