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General Practice, GP, Health digest, Uncategorized

Why do people need travel vaccination?

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Travel vaccination. Why do people need travel vaccination? The answer is simple. Different areas worldwide have different bugs – viruses and bacteria causing illness. For example, people travelling to Bali should have a minimum of Measles-Mumps-Rubella, Tetanus-Diphtheria-Pertussis, Polio and Influenza. Additional shots against Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Rabies, Yellow Fever, Japanese Encephalitis and Hepatitis B may be required if you engage in certain activities or visit certain areas. Doctors will help you with the decisions about what vaccines you need. Some destinations require certain vaccination to enter or return to Australia. The best example is the Yellow fever vaccination. People travelling to ‘risk destinations’ must have a Yellow fever vaccination certificate issued by a registered provider. Countries with high risk for Yellow fever include African countries such as Nigeria, Uganda, Togo and Ghana, as well as some destinations in Central/South America, including Brazil, Argentina (Misiones and Corrientes provinces) and Peru. Forty-two countries are on Australia’s Yellow Fever risk list of countries and areas. You should visit your GP at least 6 to 8 weeks before planned travel to discuss your vaccination needs. Some vaccines require a longer time between the shot and travel to become effective. The cost of travel vaccination varies a lot. Please, shop for better options. [fusion_imageframe image_id=”2523|medium” aspect_ratio=”” custom_aspect_ratio=”100″ aspect_ratio_position=”” skip_lazy_load=”” lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” lightbox_image_id=”” alt=”” link=”https://mentonegeneralpractice.com.au/” linktarget=”_blank” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” max_width=”” sticky_max_width=”” align_medium=”none” align_small=”none” align=”center” mask=”” custom_mask=”” mask_size=”” mask_custom_size=”” mask_position=”” mask_custom_position=”” mask_repeat=”” style_type=”” blur=”” stylecolor=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” hover_type=”none” margin_top_medium=”” margin_right_medium=”” margin_bottom_medium=”” margin_left_medium=”” margin_top_small=”” margin_right_small=”” margin_bottom_small=”” margin_left_small=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” bordersize=”1″ bordercolor=”#000000″ borderradius=”” z_index=”” caption_style=”off” caption_align_medium=”none” caption_align_small=”none” caption_align=”none” caption_title=”” caption_text=”” caption_title_tag=”2″ fusion_font_family_caption_title_font=”” fusion_font_variant_caption_title_font=”” caption_title_size=”” caption_title_line_height=”” caption_title_letter_spacing=”” caption_title_transform=”” caption_title_color=”” caption_background_color=”” fusion_font_family_caption_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_caption_text_font=”” caption_text_size=”” caption_text_line_height=”” caption_text_letter_spacing=”” caption_text_transform=”” caption_text_color=”” caption_border_color=”” caption_overlay_color=”” caption_margin_top=”” caption_margin_right=”” caption_margin_bottom=”” caption_margin_left=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_color=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_delay=”0″ animation_offset=”” filter_hue=”0″ filter_saturation=”100″ filter_brightness=”100″ filter_contrast=”100″ filter_invert=”0″ filter_sepia=”0″ filter_opacity=”100″ filter_blur=”0″ filter_hue_hover=”0″ filter_saturation_hover=”100″ filter_brightness_hover=”100″ filter_contrast_hover=”100″ filter_invert_hover=”0″ filter_sepia_hover=”0″ filter_opacity_hover=”100″ filter_blur_hover=”0″]https://www.iseegp.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Mentone-General-Practice-travel-Yellow-fever-vaccination-300×70.png[/fusion_imageframe] Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and does not replace professional medical advice. If you have symptoms or concerns, please see your doctor.

General Practice, GP

Is your GP rorting Medicare?

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Is your GP rorting Medicare? Most certainly not. The majority of GPs are honest hard-working doctors who got really offended recently. They were offended by the sleek multimillion software entrepreneurs who made ridiculous claims against ALL doctors in Australia. Here is the open letter that one GP practice gave to its patients. You are welcome to do the same. You can download a copy of this letter here. Dear Patient of ours, You may have read some articles claiming that $8 billion dollars are rorted out of Medicare by doctors. This is not true. There was not a single shred of evidence provided by the authors of those articles. Who are the people who made those claims? One is a woman who is looking forward to multimillion profits from selling her software that ‘bills Medicare right’. She needs to create panic, fear and hate to sell her product and receive millions of dollars from medical practices. Practices that hardly survive now will have to pay exuberant fees to this woman. Do you think those costs will be passed to you? Another author is a former ‘Medicare cop’ who caught a couple of bad doctors who rorted Medicare. Then he became angry that he did not catch more and started ‘catching’ honest doctors. Those doctors took him to Court. The Court threw the book at the guy dismissing his allegations against the doctors. He has limited credibility, really. The absolute majority of the doctors are hard-working, honest people who are far from being rich. There are bad apples among the doctors though. Medicare, the Australian Government has been doing a great job catching them. Millions of dollars were returned back to you, the taxpayers, as a result. Doctors themselves delivered those bad actors to Medicare more than anyone else in the public. The claim that every third consultation is a fraud does not add up. And it cannot because it is not true. Do we look like rorters to you? Think of your GP, who addressed your health issue lately or even saved your life. Think of a nurse who tended to your wound with kindness and care. Do they look like rorters and fraudsters to you? The woman who accused ALL Australian doctors of being fraudsters stands to make millions of dollars out of this fear campaign. Who are the losers in this situation? The losers are you and your GP. The result of this mayhem created by those articles is that the Government will cease the situation and abandon Medicare altogether. They will adopt the British failed NHS system. Call your relatives and friends in the UK. Ask them if they are happy with 20-second GP appointments. We, you and us are the victims of a deliberate campaign by money-hungry entrepreneurs and forces in the Government who want to cancel the Australian pride – Medicare. Together, we will prevail. We will not allow sleek multimillion-dollar software developers and shifty politicians to deprive us of the freedom to choose the doctor. We will not allow them to deprive us of the choice of how long we are to have a consultation with the doctor. Who are the rorters here? Please, think and make up your own mind. Do not allow anyone to tell you what to think. Those multimillionaires in the media and rich software developers want you to think as they command. Look at the facts, look in your heart. We are here for you. We will think of your health issues day and night, we will tend to your wounds. Thank you for trusting us and always welcome. Your medical practice. Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and does not replace professional medical advice. If you have symptoms or concerns, please see your doctor.

General Practice, GP

Where do I find a bulk billing doctor?

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Our readers asked: “Where do I find a bulk billing doctor?”. Why GPs in Australia seldom bulk bill? The answer is simple. The Australian Government neglected General Practice. It is harder and harder for medical clinics to meet ends. What is bulk billing? Bulk billing to Medicare means that patients do not pay out-of-pocket fees for seeing a doctor. The Government pays a standard fee to a doctor for services. The fee is not significant. Some clinics could not survive on that money. Those clinics started charging some additional fees for appointments. Clinics like that are called privately billing clinics. The standard appointment at the privately billing clinic may cost you $95. You will get back from Medicare $39.95. There are still some bulk billing General Practices around in the Bayside area in Melbourne. Almost no bulk billing GP clinics are left in Mentone, Beaumaris, Black Rock and Hampton suburbs. Mentone General Practice is among the few clinics that bulk bills their patients. We asked a manager at one of the bulk billing clinics why they still bulk bill. He says: “Bulk billing in General Practice (like Mentone General Practice) is a philosophy. This view is based on a simple concept that a patient must have no considerations other than her health when deciding to see a doctor. In other words, if it hurts, we must see a doctor without thinking about whether we have 95 dollars in our pocket or not.” Read more of their statement. Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and does not replace professional medical advice. If you have symptoms or concerns, please see your doctor.

GP

Medical Certificate, a doctor’s note rules in Australia.

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What are the doctor’s note rules in Australia? A medical Certificate or doctor’s note is the most common document GPs give to their patients. Some Medical Certificates say that a person cannot work for some time due to illness. Some certificates excuse children from attending school. There are more complicated Medical Certificates helping people to get housing or get away from paying fines. Most patients ask for a doctor’s note to stay home and recover from some illness. Generally, Medical Certificates exempt patients from going to work from the day of the appointment. What if a patient asks for a backdated certificate? Often people cannot get a GP appointment on the same day. What if you were sick for three days and got to see a GP only on day three? Usually, a GP would look at the patient’s illness and decide how likely it would be there for three days. If you called your GP clinic and did not get an appointment on the same day, ask Reception to note that you called. This will be the evidence that you were seeking an appointment earlier. If GP doubts that you were sick three days ago, you can point out the note left in your file by the Receptionist. If you made your appointment online (just like the practice here), the computer program would note the time of when the appointment was made automatically. This also proves that you were sick for a while before seeing a GP. Did you know that you can ask us a question here? Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and does not replace professional medical advice. If you have symptoms or concerns, please see your doctor.

General Practice, GP

Travelling soon? You need to know about Regulation 24.

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In short: Travelling soon? Do you take regular medications? You need to know about Regulation 24. Regulation 24 allows the pharmacist to give you all the repeat prescriptions at once. Travelling soon? Do you take regular medications? You need to know about Regulation 24. Regulation 24 allows the pharmacist to give you all the repeat prescriptions at once. Your doctor must be satisfied that you would experience some hardship getting medicines where you travel. For example. You take 1 tablet a day for blood pressure. Each script gives you 30 tablets. You are travelling overseas for 60 days. Regulation 24 allows you to ask for all 60 tablets to be issued by the pharmacist at once. Your GP will make a notation on the script that you need all your medications at once. Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and does not replace professional medical advice. If you have symptoms or concerns, please see your doctor.

General Practice, GP, Psychology

10 sessions with a psychologist under Medicare in Australia.

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Is it true that one can get 10 sessions with a psychologist under Medicare in Australia? Yes, it is true. One can get ten sessions with a psychologist under Medicare in Australia. People who suffer from mental health problems may be eligible for a referral to a psychologist under Medicare. What is mental health problem? Mental health problem is a term used to describe a range of clinically diagnosable disorders that significantly interfere with an individual’s cognitive, emotional or social abilities. If one is not feeling well mentally and that affects everyday life, there is likely a mental health problem. If you or someone you know suffers from any mental health problem, your GP may arrange a referral to a psychologist under Medicare. This referral entitles the patient to see a psychologist ten times in one calendar year. Some psychologists do not charge any out-of-pocket fees with this referral. Some psychologists charge an extra fee, but it is still less expensive to see a psychologist with this referral. Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and does not replace professional medical advice. If you have symptoms or concerns, please see your doctor.

GP, Health digest

How to get an abortion in Australia?

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What is an abortion? Women and girls get pregnant. Sometimes being pregnant is a happy occasion. Sometimes being pregnant is not what women and girls want. If one is pregnant but does not want to have a baby, she needs a medical procedure called abortion. Abortion is allowed in Australia. Some countries do not allow abortions. It is a woman’s right in Australia to have an abortion. How to get an abortion? To get an abortion in Australia a girl or a woman should see a GP. A GP will give her a letter. That letter is called a referral. Referral explains where to go to have an abortion. You must never worry that GP will judge you. GPs never tell patients off. Also, GPs will never tell anyone what you tell them during your appointments. You can trust Australian GPs fully. Some places that do abortions do not need a letter from your doctor. For example Marie Stopes abortion clinics. You do not need a referral from your doctor to make a booking, except in Western Australia, where it is a legal requirement. It is still better to start by seeing your GP because a GP will explain things before you go to an abortion clinic. Never delay making an appointment with your doctor. When you see a GP to ask for an abortion, please, ask about how much an abortion cost. Some places do abortions for free. Some places ask for some money to be paid. What age do you need to be to get an abortion? If you are older than 16, you can have an abortion without your parents knowing. Your doctor will need to make sure you understand what is involved. If you are younger than 16, you need at least one of your parents to be with you when you see a doctor for an abortion. If you don’t want your parents to know, you need to go to the youth legal centre and ask for help. Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and does not replace professional medical advice. If you have symptoms or concerns, please see your doctor.

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