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.
These assessments carry more paperwork than an ordinary visit, and sorting it out first saves a second trip. Tap each one.
Four things worth doing first
Employers set their own standards and some require particular tests — hearing, lung function, functional capacity, drug and alcohol screening. Ask them for the complete pack before you ring us.
“Here's the pack the employer sent me.”Because the employer requested the assessment, Medicare does not cover it, whether or not you hold a card. Reception will quote you accurately if you have the paperwork in front of you when you call.
“What will this medical cost?”A good number of employers pay directly or reimburse you afterwards. Ask before you assume it is yours, and keep the receipt regardless.
“Is my employer paying for this directly?”What the role actually involves — lifting, heights, machinery, night shift, driving, working with patients — determines what is assessed and what a reasonable conclusion looks like.
“I've brought the position description.”Open any of these for what it involves. Exactly which of them apply depends on what the employer has asked for.
The basics
What happens Your medical history, current medicines, previous injuries and surgery, then a physical examination — blood pressure, height, weight, heart and lungs, and a musculoskeletal assessment where the role is physical.
Previous injuries matter most, particularly back, shoulder and knee. Being straightforward about them protects you — an assessment that missed something is not in your interest if the job then aggravates it.
The examination is proportionate to the role. An office position and a role involving heavy manual work are not assessed the same way.
Senses
What happens Vision testing, including colour vision where the role requires it, and audiometry — a formal hearing test in a quiet setting — where noise exposure is part of the job.
Bring your glasses or contact lenses. Being tested without them tells nobody anything useful about how you would actually perform the role.
A baseline hearing test before starting noisy work also protects you later, because it establishes what your hearing was before the job began.
Lung function
What happens Spirometry measures how much air you can move and how quickly. It is required for roles involving dust, fumes or respirator use, and is a useful baseline in its own right.
You breathe into a machine as hard and as fast as you can, several times. It takes a few minutes and is effort-dependent, so it is worth doing properly.
Where the role requires a functional capacity assessment — lifting, carrying, bending — that is a separate and longer assessment, which may need to be arranged with a provider set up for that kind of assessment.
Screening
What happens Where an employer has requested it, screening is carried out to the standard they have specified. You will be told what is being tested for and how the sample is handled.
Tell the assessing doctor about any prescribed or over-the-counter medicines you take, because several can affect a screening result.
The result goes to whoever requested the assessment. You are entitled to know what is being reported about you.
The report
What happens Your GP completes the employer's form or writes a report stating whether you meet the requirements of the role, with any restrictions or recommendations.
The conclusion is usually about fitness for the specific role rather than a general verdict on your health — and restrictions or adjustments are frequently a more useful answer than a plain yes or no.
If something turns up that needs following up for your own sake, that becomes ordinary general practice care, which is bulk billed in the usual way.
These are thorough by design. Knowing the shape of one means you arrive with what you need. Tap a card.
Commonly around forty-five minutes, and longer where more testing is required.
The report is completed and returned, and anything found becomes your GP's business.
If the fee is a real obstacle, say so when you ring. Reception can tell you what the options are and whether the organisation asking should be paying it.
These run differently from an ordinary appointment. Here is the shape of one. Tap any card.
Everything the employer has sent — forms, standards, any tests they specify. Do not ring us without it.
Flip backReception quotes the fee and books the right length. Have the paperwork in front of you.
Flip backThese are not fifteen-minute appointments and there is no rushed version of one.
Flip backMedication list, glasses, hearing aids, specialist letters, the forms and the position description.
Flip backPrevious injuries matter most. Being straightforward protects you as much as it protects the employer.
Flip backBlood pressure, height, weight, heart, lungs, and musculoskeletal assessment where the role is physical.
Flip backVision, hearing, spirometry, and drug and alcohol screening where required. These may add to the fee.
Flip backCompleted and returned. If something turned up that matters for you, that becomes ordinary care — bulk billed as usual.
Flip backTap whatever applies and print it. It gives reception what they need to quote accurately the first time.
Most of our doctors carry out these assessments. A few require a specific accreditation, so ring reception and they will book you with the right one.
Our GPs hold general registration with AHPRA. Areas listed are special interests within general practice rather than recognised specialist registration. Where an assessment needs a provider with a particular accreditation, or a specialised functional capacity assessment, reception will tell you honestly and point you in the right direction.
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.
Because Medicare funds the treatment of your own health, not assessments carried out for an employer's purposes. That applies at every practice in Australia, and holding a Medicare card makes no difference to these particular assessments.
It depends entirely on what the employer has asked for — a basic assessment is very different from one including hearing, lung function and drug screening. Ring reception with the paperwork in front of you and they will quote before you book.
Many do, either directly or by reimbursing you. Ask them before you book, and keep the receipt either way.
Allow around forty-five minutes, and longer where extra testing is included. It is booked as a long appointment.
The forms, the position description, your medication list, your glasses or hearing aids, and any specialist letters relevant to a previous injury.
Say so. An assessment that missed it is not in your interest — if the job then aggravates it, the fact that it predated the role becomes very hard to establish. Being straightforward protects you.
The report usually addresses fitness for that specific role, often with restrictions or recommended adjustments rather than a plain no. Your GP will explain what they are reporting and why.
You are entitled to know what is being said about you. Discuss it with your GP at the appointment — there should be nothing in it you have not already talked through.
Your GP will tell you, and following it up becomes ordinary general practice care, which is bulk billed in the usual way. Finding something is one of the genuine benefits of these assessments.
Yes, assessed against the Austroads national standards. Mention it when you ring so the right amount of time is booked.
One call with the forms to hand gets you an accurate quote, the right appointment length and the right doctor — and saves the second trip that catches most people out.
Medicals for new jobs, apprenticeships and commercial licences are done by appointment, assessed against the role. These are not covered by Medicare, so reception will quote the fee before you book.
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.
