FAQs

A: Full payment of the consultation fee is required at the time of attendance. This practice does not bulk bill patients.  There will be an out of pocket cost for the consultation.  KOG fees will be explained at the time of booking the appointment.  For patients with Health Care Card and those receiving a pension the fee will be reduced, however, there will still be out-of-pocket costs for the consultation. A portion of this account is claimable through Medicare. The staff at KOG can assist with this refund from Medicare.

Please contact the reception staff for any further information about the fee schedule at KOG.

A: All of the orthopaedic surgeons at KOG treat Veterans. It is a requirement that the Gold Card be brought to the consultation. No fees will be payable by the patient, as Veterans Affairs will be billed directly by KOG.

A: The orthopaedic surgeons at KOG treat WorkSafe and TAC patients. These consultations must be paid in full at the time of attendance by the patient.  A portion of the fee can be claimed from WorkSafe, TAC or Medicare by the patient.  KOG does not bill WorkSafe or TAC directly for patient consultations.

If surgery is required, the staff at KOG will need to obtain acceptance of financial liability from WorkSafe or TAC for the proposed surgery.  Once acceptance is received a surgical date will be arranged and the patient will be informed.  This surgery will be performed at no cost to the patient.

WorkSafe Patients must bring:

• Details of the insurance company responsible for the claim
• Employer details
• Claim number and date of injury (if known)

TAC patients must bring:

• TAC claim number and date of accident

A: It is not a prerequisite that patients have x-rays before seeing the surgeons at KOG. The referring doctor may order x-rays prior to a consultation at KOG.  Because most radiological practices have moved to computer based imaging and storage, hard copy films are now less frequently provided at the time of x-ray or other radiological investigation. The surgeon at KOG will be able to access these images online. It is essential that the patient bring details of the name and location of the radiology practice to the consultation at KOG so that the surgeon can obtain access to these images. If x-rays have been performed previously and patients have hard copies, it would be beneficial to bring these to the consultation.

A: No x-rays are preformed at KOG. Health Care Imaging is located within the grounds of Knox Private Hospital and is in close proximity to KOG. X-rays, including CT scans, bone scans, ultrasound and MRI scans can be performed at Health Care Imaging.

At the consultation at KOG the surgeon may request the patient have an x-ray and this can usually be performed on the same day as the consultation. The patient may then be seen after the x-ray for review of the films.

Ultrasound, CT or MRI scans usually require an appointment and KOG staff can assist in arranging these appointments at the appropriate radiological practice. Once the date of radiological appointments is known a further appointment with the surgeon at KOG will be made to discuss the results of these tests.