Dietitian Policies & Consent

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Payment in full is required at the time of consultation.
If an account remains unpaid, no further medical services will be provided.
Payment of late cancellation and non-attendance fees are an obligation to be a patient at this practice.
If payment isn't received within 28 days of the consult, further actions will be taken. All legal costs, commission and other associated
costs in debt recovery will be added to the amount due.

APPOINTMENT TIMES
In order to provide a fair and timely service to all patients, we require that patients who have made a booking arrive promptly for their
appointment. If you require a longer appointment, please let reception staff know. Often patients will have multiple issues to discuss. If the practitioner cannot cover every aspect in a single consultation, the patient may be asked to come back for a subsequent visit. This is done to ensure the best quality care possible.
If you are attending the clinic for the first time we ask that you arrive at least 10 minutes prior to your allocated time, to allow timely
completion of your new patient paperwork and any additonal paperwork if this hasn’t been completed online prior. If the relevant paperwork has not been completed prior to your consult, arriving late or on time deprives you of precious minutes, as each session will be finished on time as a courtesy to our next patient.
Practitioners do their best to run to time – however unforeseen circumstances may occasionally result in delays beyond our control. We trust that affected patients will be understanding in the event that this may occur, and we always aim to contact patients if this occurs to ensure you are not kept waiting.

LATE ARRIVALS, MISSED APPOINTMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
We value our clients’ and our team member’s time. Whilst we understand unexpected things and emergencies sometimes happen, late notice cancellations or not arriving at your appointment impacts your progress, our ability to provide you a service, and other clients who may be waiting to attend an appointment. To help you keep your appointment, we will send an SMS reminder 2 business days prior asking that you reply by SMS or return phone call. Please remember that if for some reason you do not receive your reminder, your appointment remains your responsibility to attend, reschedule or cancel.

If you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment after receiving your SMS reminder, we are of course understanding of this and will cancel or reschedule your appointment. Therefore, if you have an appointment scheduled for 9:30am Tuesday you will be required to cancel or reschedule your appointment by 9:30am Friday to avoid late cancellation fees. If you have not arrived within 10 minutes of your appointment start time, your appointment may need to be shortened (if appropriate) or cancelled, and fees will apply as below. In the event your appointment is shortened but you still attend, you will still be responsible for the full appointment amount, but your rebate (if you are eligible for one) may be a lower amount.
In the event of recurrent missed and cancelled appointments, we also reserve the right to charge a non-refundable deposit before making another appointment. Please understand that we consider this a last resort, with the real motivating factor being our concern for the quality of service we are able to provide to you and to other valued patients.

In the event where you do not attend your appointment, this will result in a ‘non-attendance’ fee. Thereafter subsequent appointments will
require a non-refundable deposit before making future appointments.
The following fees apply:

• Non-attendance – full fee applies
• 1 business day (0-24 hours) cancellation notice – full fee applies
• 1-2 business days (24-48 hours) cancellation notice – 50% of full fee applies
• 2+ business days (48+ hours) cancellation notice – no fee

Please note that any fees displayed are subject to change.
Medicare or Private Health Insurance rebates do not apply to cancellation and non-attendance fees.
If you have a Third Party provider, your cancellation or  non-attendance fee may not be covered by their funding, therefore, you will be required to pay the full fee out of pocket.  
If you need to cancel your appointment, please:
Call us - Launceston: 03 6724 3063 Hobart: 03 6244 3033
Respond 'cancel' to the SMS reminder
Email us - admin@thebubblelaunceston.com.au or admin@thebubblehobart.com.au
Use our contact us page. Emails and contact us page submissions are monitored on a regular basis by reception staff.

TELEHEALTH
Although face to face appointments are preferred, the practitioner can offer a telehealth service (video consult) or phone consult if
required. This is an option if you are unable to attend in the clinic. Please advise reception staff if you wish for your appointment to be
changed to a video consult.
The same as in clinic, payment is still required a the time of consultation. Reception staff will contact you shortly after your consult to
discuss payment options.

This practice has produced a Privacy Policy that outlines the way we collect and use your information and how you can access that information.

This consent form covers collection and use of your information (including your Government issued Individual Health Identifier) to provide comprehensive, co-ordinated and continuing whole person medical care. As outlined in the Privacy Policy, your information may be disclosed to other health care professionals to provide this level of care. In addition, there are circumstances when information has to be disclosed such as:

• Emergency situations
• Public health statutory requirements on notifiable diseases
• Medical indemnity insurance obligations
• Provision of information to Medicare or private health funds for billing and rebate purposes
• Quality assurance purposes

The Bubble Launceston participates in a recall and reminder system to ensure we provide high quality care. This means that when you are due for routine preventative health measures such as cervical screening, intrauterine device or contraceptive etc. we will contact and advise you to make an appointment.

If you have had any pathology, imaging, or other testing done through The Bubble Launceston, we will contact you regarding the results if the doctor advises it needs a follow up. We strongly advise and would be in your best interest that you ring to follow up your test results within the time frame advised by your GP.

The Bubble Launceston sends SMS appointment reminders and recalls to the disclosed mobile phone number by the patient. All messages sent identify the practice as the caller and/or sender.

We feel that the above measures are a fundamental part of the high-quality healthcare and we strive to give to all our patients. To aid this it is essential we have your most recent contact details and that you advise the practice of any changes.

Separate and specific consent is required if your information is to be used for research or statistical purposes, or if any third party eg. insurance company, workers compensation, or employer requests your medical information. By signing this consent form, you acknowledge that you have read and you agree to your information being collected and used as described above.

I consent to participate in the scheduled reminder system as described above.

I consent to being contacted for review of test results as may occur from time to time.

I consent to have SMS appointment reminders and recalls sent to my disclosed mobile phone number that identify the practice as the caller and/or sender.