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.
Waiting on a result is its own kind of difficult. These four things make it easier. Tap each one.
Four things worth knowing
Blood tests usually come back within days. Some imaging takes a week, and specialised pathology can take two or three. Knowing the realistic window stops you worrying on day three about something that was never going to be ready.
“When should I expect this result?”If your GP expects the result to need discussing, book the appointment at the same visit. It is easily cancelled, and it beats ringing for a booking the same week everyone else is.
“Should I book a follow-up now?”If your mobile has changed, tell reception. A urgent result that cannot reach you is the single worst failure mode in this whole system, and it is entirely preventable.
“Let me update my contact details.”Our system is designed so results do not slip, but no system is perfect. If the window your GP gave you has passed and nobody has been in touch, ring and ask. You will never be a nuisance for doing that.
“I'm checking on a result from a couple of weeks ago.”Open any of these for what happens. In every case the result comes back to the clinic and a doctor reviews it before anyone contacts you.
Blood tests
What happens Your GP goes through what was tested, what the numbers show and what they mean for you. Reference ranges are a guide, not a verdict — plenty of slightly abnormal results mean nothing at all.
Full blood count, iron, thyroid, kidney and liver function, cholesterol, blood sugar, vitamin D, hormones. Each is interpreted in the context of you rather than against a printed range.
If something needs repeating, your GP will explain why. Results drift for all sorts of harmless reasons and a single reading is rarely the whole story.
Imaging
What happens The radiologist's report comes to us and your GP explains it in ordinary language. Radiology reports are written for doctors and are frequently alarming to read cold.
X-rays, ultrasounds, CT and MRI scans, mammograms. Reports routinely describe incidental findings that are of no consequence, and reading one without context causes a great deal of unnecessary fear.
If something needs acting on, your GP arranges it — a referral, another scan, or a specialist appointment — and explains the timeframe.
Screening
What happens Cervical screening, bowel screening and mammogram results are explained along with what they mean for your next one. The great majority are normal, and knowing when to come back is most of the value.
A result that asks for follow-up is not the same as a result that found cancer. Screening is designed to be over-sensitive, because catching things early is the entire point.
Your GP will explain exactly what the result means and what the next step is, rather than leaving you to interpret a letter.
Pathology
What happens Biopsy results are gone through in a booked appointment, in person, with time to ask questions. These are not results to receive standing in a hallway.
Skin excisions, cervical biopsies, and samples taken by a specialist. Turnaround is usually about a week.
We contact you either way. If it is bad news, you will hear it from a doctor with the time to explain what happens next and to answer whatever you need to ask.
Specialist letters
What happens When a specialist writes back, your GP reads it and can go through it with you — what they concluded, what they recommended and how it fits with everything else going on.
Specialist letters are written doctor to doctor and often assume knowledge you have no reason to have.
Your GP is the one person holding the whole picture. Having them explain a specialist's advice in the context of your other conditions and medicines is frequently the most useful appointment of the lot.
Every result that comes into this clinic is reviewed by a doctor before anyone is contacted. Here is what happens after that. Tap a card.
You are contacted straight away, by phone, and an appointment is made for you.
You are contacted either way and asked to book, so nothing sits unexplained.
Reception are not permitted to give clinical results over the phone. It is not unhelpfulness — a result without explanation is how people get frightened by nothing, or reassured by something.
The whole journey, so you know where yours is up to. Tap any card.
Written during your appointment. Ask what is being tested and why — it makes the result far easier to understand when it comes.
Flip backPathology or imaging, at the provider of your choice. Fasting requirements matter — check before you go.
Flip backBlood tests, a few days. Imaging, about a week. Specialised pathology, two or three. Ask which applies to yours.
Flip backThe result comes electronically to the clinic and is placed in front of a doctor for review.
Flip backA doctor reads every result and decides what it needs — nothing, a phone call, or an appointment.
Flip backUrgent results are phoned through. Everything else means a message asking you to book.
Flip backWhat was tested, what it showed, what it means for you, and what happens next.
Flip backA repeat test, a referral, a change of medication, or simply a date for the next check. You should leave knowing which.
Flip backTap whatever applies and print the list. Results appointments go much better with the questions written down beforehand.
The doctor who asked for the test knows why. Book with them where you can — and for anything urgent, any of our doctors can go through it.
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.
Every result is reviewed by a doctor when it arrives. Anything urgent is phoned through to you straight away. Otherwise you will be contacted and asked to book an appointment to go through it.
No. Reception are not permitted to give clinical results, and it is a safeguard rather than obstruction — a number without explanation is how people are frightened by nothing, or reassured by something that needed attention.
Not every normal result needs one. Where your GP has asked you to book, it is because there is something worth explaining — a trend, a borderline number, or a decision about what to do next.
Blood tests are usually back within a few days. Imaging reports commonly take about a week. Specialised pathology can take two or three weeks. Ask at the time so you know the realistic window.
Ring us. Our system is built so results do not slip, but no system is perfect and you will never be a nuisance for checking. No news is not automatically good news.
Yes. Ask your GP at the appointment, or ask reception. Many pathology providers also give you access through their own app.
Often, yes — results are one of the things telehealth genuinely suits. Medicare eligibility rules apply, and biopsy results are better discussed in person. Ask reception.
You will hear it from a doctor, in an appointment with time set aside, not in a message. You are welcome to bring someone with you, and your GP will explain what happens next and arrange it.
Book an appointment and bring it. Radiology and pathology reports are written doctor to doctor and routinely describe incidental findings of no consequence. Reading one cold causes a great deal of unnecessary fear.
Yes. Specialists write back to the referring GP. Book an appointment to go through it — your GP is the one person holding the whole picture.
Our system is designed so that results do not slip. It is still worth checking if the window has passed, and you will never be a nuisance for asking.
Blood tests, imaging and specialist letters come back to your GP, who explains what they mean in a booked appointment. Urgent results are phoned through, and we contact you either way rather than only when something is found.
We are in Salamander Bay Shopping Centre with free parking, and patients come from across Port Stephens and the Tomaree Peninsula, including Nelson Bay, Corlette, Soldiers Point, Anna Bay, Lemon Tree Passage and Medowie.
Book online with HotDoc at any hour, or call (02) 4008 4400.
