Practice Policies
Feedback and Complaints Policy
At Nashville Medical, our goal is to provide the highest-quality, personal and caring health services to our patients. To monitor and improve our services, we encourage patients to voice their concerns, feedback and complaints. Our team take care in reviewing and resolving your feedback. We wish to hear from you if you are dissatisfied with the service you received, so we can resolve your issue and improve our care. If you have any concerns, suggestions, complaints, feedback or even compliments, please contact us in one of the following ways: - Email: health@nashvillemedical.com.au - Letter: The Principal Practice, 38A Nash St, Gympie. QLD, 4570 - Request a form at receptionWe endeavour to resolve all complaints, and will inform you of the outcome. If we have been unable to resolve your issue, you can contact the Office of the Health Ombudsman: Office of the Health Ombudsman PO Box 13281, George St, Brisbane, QLD, 4003Telephone: 133 646
Transfer of Medical Records Policy
If you wish to request a transfer of your care to another practice, please ask your new clinic to send us a medical records transfer request form that is signed by you. Within 14 days, we will send a full health summary (and requested records), free of charge, to your new practice. We will then deactivate your record with us so we can maintain accurate data bases of our active patients. This means you will no longer be able to book appointments with us until you call to reactivate your record.
Communication Policy
You can contact our practice by phone, fax, or mail. Our staff will use security questions and processes to ensure they correctly identify you. You are also welcome to come in and speak to our reception staff during our opening hours. Please note, we are closed between 12pm- 1pm for lunch. We discourage the use of social media to transmit your private or urgent health information to us, and take no responsibility for the privacy of your information should you choose to use this route. We discourage the use of emails for appointment booking or urgent correspondence as these are not regularly monitored. For security and privacy purposes, we will not - Give your personal information to anyone other than yourself unless we have your prior consent - Use social media to send health information. We do use emails and fax to send correspondence, only when consent is first obtained and only to yourself or trusted services/ persons with your consent. We will only respond to general enquiries via email, and these are not regularly monitored. If you need to speak with a doctor, please call and arrange an appointment. Phone calls requesting to speak with the doctor will not be put through as the doctors are busy. Please ring and book an appointment time to speak with the doctor. We endeavour to return your calls as soon as possible; within 1 working day. Email enquiries will be followed up with a phone call from reception, usually within 1 working day, within opening hours.
Telephone Policy
Medical issues are best dealt with in scheduled consultations with your GP. This gives your doctor the ability to review your chart, take history, do an examination, and follow safe medical processes. Our doctor is unable to take ‘when necessary’/ ad hoc phone calls as they are consulting all day with patients in scheduled appointments. We encourage you to schedule an appointment, either face to face or via telehealth at a convenient time if you need to discuss medical issues with the doctor. This includes request for prescriptions, referrals, results, medical certificates and medical enquiries. For administrative assistance, our receptions team may be able to help however, they cannot give results over the phone.
Urgent Appointments Policy
Our phones open at 8:30am Monday- Thursday. We reserve a limited number of ‘on the day’ appointments each day for existing patients experiencing acute issues. To book one of these appointments, you will need to ring on the day as early as possible, and you will be triaged into one of these appointments. We encourage patients to plan routine appointments (script renewals, screening, referral renewals, medical assessments, etc) ahead of time as we are generally fully booked days in advance. Planning routine appointments helps avoid delays and frustration and ensures our limited on the day appointments can be saved for acute issues. For emergencies, please contact 000 or go to the emergency department.
Cancellations and Non-attendance Policy
Please notify reception no later than 24 hours prior to your appointment if you are unable to attend. We are fully booked each day and resource our practice accordingly, so giving appropriate notice of your cancellation allows us to offer your appointment to other patients on our waiting list. Patients who fail to attend an appointment without adequate notice (24 hours) will incur a $50 non-attendance fee. This is not eligible for Medicare rebate and must be paid before any future appointments can be made. Our doctors try to give you the courtesy of running on time (barring medical emergencies). We appreciate your punctuality in return. If you arrive late, greater than 5 minutes, you may be rescheduled so the doctor is not late for other patients. Repeat missed appointments or late attendance may result in the inability to book further appointments.
Telehealth Consultations Policy
Telehealth consultations can be arranged, but must be booked in advance as with standard appointments. A fee may be charged in accordance with our practice fees, and this must be paid prior to future bookings. Please note, scripts cannot be done via telehealth appointments, and require an in-person appointment.
Billing Policy
We aim to be fully transparent with our patients about our fees which are required to cover the costs of delivering quality care. Please see our fees page, or ask at reception, for detailed cost and rebate information on our common services. We require full payment upon completion of your appointment which can be paid by cash, credit card or debit card. An administrative charge of $25 will be added to accounts which are not settled on the day of your consultation. For your convenience, we can often claim your Medicare rebate on the spot using our TYRO machine once you have paid your account using a debit card (credit cards and mobile phones do not work to claim the rebate through TYRO). You can also take your receipt to a Medicare office or the MyGov and Medicare apps to claim your rebate.
Work Cover Billing Policy
WorkCover may not cover the entire consultation fee, and as such, patients are required to pay for these consultations and claim the rebate through WorkCover. Patients must pay for their appointment in full, and claim back through WorkCover directly.
Prescription policy
An in-person consultation is required for prescriptions. This allows your doctor to properly monitor your health and the medical condition for which the script is being written. All requests for scripts to be written over the phone will be denied. If you are on regular prescriptions, please monitor when you are due for your next set of scripts and book an appointment in advance. We are generally fully booked days in advance, and cannot accommodate last minute script needs. For your safety, our doctors will not prescribe S8 drugs or drugs of dependence to new patients.
Medical Certificates Policy
You must have a consultation with a doctor to obtain a medical certificate. Please ask at the time of your consultation if you require one.
Referrals Policy
A consultation is required for both new and renewed referrals so the doctor can properly monitor your health. Writing a referral takes time and resources, which is why we require you book a consultation. A GP may be required to compile an up-to-date medical history along with any other relevant results and information about your condition. Proper time spent making a referral will assist you in getting the most out of your specialist appointment. A GP referral is essential to be able to claim Medicare rebates from your specialist appointment. Please keep your referral safe and organised well before your specialist appointment, as we are unable to accommodate last minute requests from your specialist or yourself.
Privacy Policy
Our practice collects personal patient health information and safeguards your confidentiality and privacy in accordance with the Australian Privacy Act (1988). If you would like to see a copy of our privacy policy, please contact our reception staff who can send you a copy or come into the clinic and ask to see it.
Contact Information Policy
Please inform us if your information has changed since your last visit so we can update this in your records. Address, Medicare and contact details are especially important. We take no responsibility if you have not updated your details with our practice.
Home Visits and After Hours Policy
We currently cannot accommodate home visits for any of our patients. After hours health care can be arranged in limited circumstances, and is at the discretion of our doctors. Additional charges will be incurred.
Zero Tolerance Policy
It is our aim to create a friendly, safe environment for all staff and patients. For this reason, we have a zero tolerance policy for violence, disrespectful, intimidating, threatening, sexist, or aggressive behaviour in our practice. Anyone who acts in this manner will be asked to leave, and police may be contacted. This behaviour will also result in the inability to continue to attend this practice as a patient.
Patient Code of Conduct
This code outlines the expected standard of conduct for all current and prospective Nashville Medical patients. By attending this practice, you agree to hold to this standard and understand that failure to do so may result in removal of treatment at this clinic. Patients agree: - To inform the doctor if they are receiving treatment from any other health professional, and accurately disclose their medical history and current medications.- To exhibit courteous and respectful behavior at all times.- To follow our infection control policy by advising us of any infectious symptoms before entering our practice (diarrhoea, vomiting, cough, runny nose, sneeze, sore throat, rash, fever). Patients with cold and flu symptoms are asked to wear a mask inside, or kindly wait at the outside chairs for their appointment. Patients acknowledge - Their appointment time is held for them, and therefore, they must be on time or they may be asked to rebook and pay the missed appointment fee. We are booked out every day and proper cancellation allows this spot to be offered to other patients. - Repeat late cancellations, late attendance or non-attendance may result in removal from this clinic. - The GP may require patients to book further appointments for multiple problems. We can only attend to the time slot booked, with the exception of emergencies. Follow-up appointments for existing conditions may be required. Patients refrain from - Intimidating, aggressive and disrespectful behaviours - Abusive language, shouting, verbal abuse/ threats and aggressive gestures - Racial and cultural slurs or any other derogatory remarks (such as race, gender, language, age or sexuality). - Damaging or stealing property - Attending under the influence (alcohol and drugs)
Contact us
Make an appointment and
visit Nashville Medical
Phone:
07 5482 7368
Email:
Health@NashvilleMedical .com.au
Address:
38A Nash Street,
Gympie 4570
Working Time:
Mon - Thurs: 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Fri - Sun: By Arrangement