Specialist Network Appointment and Surgery Cancellation Policy
Due to limited availability of outpatient clinic and hospital procedural appointments a cancellation policy has been implemented for the Specialist Network.
Outpatient Clinic Appointments and Cancellations
Clinic appointment reminders are sent via SMS four days prior to an appointment. We ask that you respect the availability of providers and supply as much notice as possible if needing to change or cancel an appointment. Appointments remaining unconfirmed 48 hours prior to the allocated timeslot, risk being cancelled, as it is assumed the appointment is no longer required. This allows patients from the urgent waitlist to be placed into a timeslot.
* Cancellations made within 48 hours of a clinic appointment attract a $100 administration fee to be paid on the day of intended service.
Hospital Procedural Bookings, Fees and Cancellations
To secure your procedural appointment date a deposit is required. This deposit is held until your procedure is complete and credited towards the Known Gap component of your procedure invoice. Providers at Specialist Network are Known Gap providers capping the out-of-pocket expense for patients with valid health insurance (with the exception of bariatric services).
Post procedure, an invoice is generated according to the procedural item numbers and the provider Know Gap component. The Known Gap component is a capped out-of-pocket expense for the patient, this is not rebatable. The remainder of the procedure invoice is sent directly to the patient’s health fund for payment.
* Please note it is the patient’s responsibility to ensure they are covered under their health fund against the associated item numbers.
Patients not covered with health insurance can request a full fee quote detailing the provider, assistant, anesthetist, and hospital costs. Medicare rebates are available and can be submitted with the post procedure invoice. Full payment must be made at least 7 days prior to the procedure.
All surgical procedure lists must be confirmed at least 7 days prior to surgery. This is a hospital requirement to ensure adequate planning is available. We are unable to make changes to the elective list after this time.
* Changes by patients or cancellations within this period incur an administration fee leading to the deposit being forfeited. Failure to confirm an appointment may lead to cancellation of a previously planned procedure.
Please note this cancellation policy is in place to ensure that we can provide quality care to all our patients. It also helps us manage our resources and appointments effectively.
We kindly request that you inform us of any cancellation or rescheduling as soon as possible, so that we may offer the appointment to another patient in need. Please contact us on 1300 124 333.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
