All Medicare-eligible consultations are bulk billed for patients with a valid Medicare card. Some items, including privately purchased vaccines and consumables, attract a fee.
A review is not a formality. Done properly it is the most useful half hour of the year. Tap each one.
Four things worth doing first
Blood pressure readings, blood sugar levels, peak flow, weight — whatever you have been recording. A fortnight of home readings tells your GP more than a single measurement taken in a room that makes most people's blood pressure rise.
“I've brought my readings from the last few weeks.”The exercise plan you never started, the medicine you stopped, the appointment you did not make. A plan built on what you are actually doing works. One built on what you agreed to in a room does not.
“Here's the part of the plan I haven't managed.”A plan covers several conditions, several medicines and several providers. Ask for a long appointment when you book — it costs you nothing extra and it is the difference between a real review and a signature.
“I'd like a long appointment for my care plan review.”A care plan gives you a set number of Medicare-subsidised allied health visits each calendar year. They do not roll over. Plenty of people finish the year with several unused because nobody mentioned it.
“How many allied health visits do I have left this year?”Open any of these for how a plan helps. If you have a condition likely to last six months or more, it is worth asking whether you qualify.
Diabetes
What happens A plan sets out your targets, your medicines, when your HbA1c and kidney function get checked, and which other professionals are involved — a dietitian, a podiatrist, an optometrist, a diabetes educator.
Diabetes care is a schedule as much as a treatment. Eyes, feet, kidneys and blood pressure all need checking at set intervals, and it is easy for one of them to quietly lapse.
The plan is what keeps the schedule visible, and the review is where the drift gets caught.
Cardiovascular
What happens Blood pressure, cholesterol and overall cardiovascular risk are reviewed together, along with the medicines and the things that are harder than medicines — activity, weight, salt, alcohol, smoking.
Cardiovascular risk is calculated from several factors at once rather than any single number, which is why reviewing them together is more useful than checking them one at a time.
Where you have already had an event, the plan coordinates the cardiologist, the pharmacist and the exercise physiologist so nobody is working in isolation.
Lungs
What happens Your inhalers get reviewed — including whether you are using them correctly, which a surprising number of people are not — along with your triggers, your spirometry and a written action plan for when things get worse.
Inhaler technique is checked properly rather than assumed. A great deal of poorly controlled asthma turns out to be well-chosen medicine going nowhere near the lungs.
A written action plan tells you what to do as symptoms escalate, which is worth considerably more than remembering what was said a year ago.
Mobility
What happens Arthritis, chronic back pain and reduced mobility are reviewed with pain relief, activity and function in mind — and the plan brings in subsidised physiotherapy and exercise physiology.
For most musculoskeletal conditions, movement does more than medication. The subsidised visits are the practical part of that, and they are the ones most often left unused.
The plan also covers what to do when things flare, so a bad week does not undo a good six months.
Multiple conditions
What happens Where you live with three or four things at once, the plan is what stops them being managed separately by people who never speak to each other.
The medicine for one condition frequently affects another. The specialists involved rarely see the whole list. Your GP is the only person holding all of it.
This is where a review earns its keep — not in any single condition, but in the interactions between them.
Most people think of a care plan as paperwork. It is closer to a subsidy you have to apply for. Tap a card.
A current plan gives you Medicare-subsidised visits to allied health each calendar year.
A schedule that does not rely on anyone remembering.
The number of subsidised visits and the eligibility rules are set by Medicare and change from time to time. Your GP works with the current ones — ask at your review rather than relying on what applied a few years ago.
What actually happens in the appointment, and why it takes longer than a standard one. Tap any card.
Say it is a care plan review when you book. This is not a fifteen-minute job and it costs you nothing extra to do it properly.
Flip backYour GP may order tests a week or two ahead so the results are in front of you both rather than arriving afterwards.
Flip backHome blood pressure, blood sugars, peak flow, weight. A fortnight of real numbers beats one taken in a clinic room.
Flip backNew symptoms, hospital admissions, specialist appointments, medicines started or stopped by someone else.
Flip backThe honest part. What you have not managed is more useful than what you have, because that is what the plan needs to change.
Flip backEvery one of them, including the ones from the supermarket shelf. Reviews are where medicines that are no longer needed get stopped.
Flip backHow many subsidised visits you have used, how many are left, and which providers would actually help this year.
Flip backA copy for you, a copy for anyone else involved, and a date for the next review booked before you leave.
Flip backTap whatever applies and print the list. A review is only as good as what you tell your GP has actually been happening.
Continuity matters more here than anywhere else. Book with the GP who wrote your plan, and ask reception to keep your reviews with them.
Our GPs hold general registration with AHPRA. Areas listed are special interests within general practice rather than recognised specialist registration. Every one of our doctors provides this. If the GP you usually see is booked, any of the others can help — your records are shared across the practice, so nobody is starting from scratch.
Pick your situation and what you're coming in for. We'll show you what to expect before you book.
What are you coming in for?
Figures shown are what you pay at the clinic for the appointment itself. Medicines, devices, imaging and specialist fees are set elsewhere. Reception will always confirm the cost with you before anything goes ahead.
A GP chronic condition management plan is a written plan for a condition expected to last six months or more. It sets out your conditions, your treatment, your targets and who else is involved — and it gives you access to Medicare-subsidised allied health visits.
Yes, on weekdays, with a valid Medicare card — both writing the plan and reviewing it. The allied health provider you are referred to may still charge a gap, so ask them when you book.
Regularly, and your GP will set the interval to suit your conditions. A plan that is not reviewed drifts out of date, and out-of-date plans stop being useful.
If you have a chronic condition expected to last six months or more — diabetes, heart disease, asthma, COPD, arthritis, kidney disease and many others — it is worth asking. Your GP will tell you at your next appointment.
A set number each calendar year, shared across all the allied health types. The figure is set by Medicare and changes from time to time, so ask your GP at your review. They do not roll over, so unused visits are lost.
The plan is written once and sets everything out. Reviews keep it current — updating what has changed, renewing the allied health referrals, and resetting the schedule.
Yes, privately, paying the full fee. A care plan is what brings the Medicare subsidy with it, which is the main practical reason to have one.
That is exactly where a plan earns its keep. One appointment covering everything, one medication list reviewed as a whole, and coordination between the specialists involved.
Sometimes, depending on Medicare's current rules and on whether physical measurements are due. Ask reception — often a mix works well, with bloods and a blood pressure check in person and the discussion by phone.
Your medications, your home readings, any specialist letters, and an honest account of which parts of the plan have not been working. That last one is the most useful thing in the appointment.
A current plan keeps your subsidised allied health visits open and keeps the schedule visible. A lapsed one quietly stops doing both.
A GP chronic condition management plan pulls your care together and gives access to Medicare-subsidised allied health visits. Reviews keep it current, and the plan and its reviews are bulk billed on weekdays with a valid Medicare card.
You will find us at Shop 5, 2 Town Centre Circuit, Salamander Bay, inside the shopping centre, a few minutes from Nelson Bay, Corlette and Soldiers Point and an easy drive from Anna Bay, Medowie and Lemon Tree Passage.
Book online with HotDoc at any hour, or call (02) 4008 4400.
