If you are a Medicare card holder and want to claim the Medicare rebate, you will require a valid referral from either a GP or another Specialist to entitle you to claim your Medicare rebate.
Yes, you can. You can use a referral that is made out to a different specialist of the same speciality/vocation (eg: another neurosurgeon). See here for more information: healthdirect and Services Australia and NIB.
In clinic
Private health insurance does not cover what is done in the rooms (unless you are an in-patient or overseas visitor with international travel insurance). If you are an international visitor with the necessary insurance, full payment is required at the time of the consultation, you will then be provided with a receipt to claim directly from your provider.
Surgery
No, you are not necessarily required to have private health insurance to be a patient in a private hospital. A ‘self-funded’ patient is someone who doesn’t have Private Health Insurance, but pays cash for their medical treatment upfront. This consists of the specialist’s fee, the anaesthetist’s fee, the surgical assistant’s fee and the hospital’s fee. It’s the hospital fee which makes up the vast majority of the cost.
Public Hospitals
If you are a Medicare card holder and your treatment is performed in a public hospital, there will be no fees associated with your care.
Dr Pope believes every Australian deserves access to healthcare. This is particularly important for tertiary or quaternary level care such as Neurosurgery which is only provided in Metropolitan centres.
Dr Pope offers telehealth appointments for both initial and subsequent consultations.
This can be advantageous for patients who live in either rural, intrastate or interstate areas and can not attend the rooms for an initial assessment, where we can fast track the process to determine if for example surgery is required, or there are other services/providers that can assist in your case.
Dr Pope may send you referrals for further imaging before needing to be reviewed in person if you are a surgical candidate but not have to wait until you are able to come to Sydney for the initial consultation.
An example of proactive interventions, he may be able to forward referrals for cortisone injections to be administered to your spine via a Radiology service to assist in your pain management.
If you have already been seen by Dr Pope and want ongoing advice, then we can offer telehealth to assist you without having to come back to Sydney.
A current GP referral is required, and there is a Medicare rebate for Video telehealth appointments.
Workcover and DVA patients can also request telehealth appointments that would be covered by their insurer.
Please contact the rooms to enquire about telehealth appointment times.
Dr Raoul Pope is a highly experienced Neurosurgeon and sub-specialised Spine Surgeon with 20+ years of experience. He consults and operates across Sydney.
Dr Pope completed a sub-specialised, dedicated, international training fellowship in complex neurosurgical and orthopaedic spine surgery at a recognised, high-volume Centre of Excellence in spine surgery, in Canada.
He offers telehealth consultations and welcomes both private and public patients.
