A Mental Health GP (MHGP) is a fully qualified Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Our MHGPs have had many years of regular GP practice experience. 

However, they also have a passion and focus for treating mental health conditions and have done special training in this area, which allow their patients to access medicare rebates for therapy with a MHGP. 

A MHGP does not replace our GP and will only focus on your mental health care conditions in these consultations. 

You do not need a referral to access a MHGP but we value collaborative care and want to work with your GP and treating team. 

You do not need a referral for your initial appointment with a mental health GP. 

All our therapists (including GPs and psychologists) are registered with Medicare for the delivery of "Focussed Psychological Strategies"  which means you can get a rebate for your therapy session. To access this rebate you will need a mental health treatment plan (MHTP) which allows you medicare rebates for up to 10 sessions per calendar year. 

You will need a MHTP and referral from your GP for this. If you don't have a GP, our Mental Health GPs can facilitate this for you. 

Our preference though is to work with your treating team and have your regular GP as the co-ordinator of your care. 

Our service is fully private, meaning there is no bulk billing. 

You may be entitled to a medicare rebate and this will be automatically processed into your bank account following your appointment.

If you have Private Health Insurance extras cover, you can get a rebate for your visit with a psychologist. The rebate rates vary depending on your insurance company 

Private Health Insurance does not cover consultations with a doctor outside of the hospital/inpatient setting  

Please email our team at [email protected] to make any changes to your bookings.  

All bookings are taken via credit card.

We require a 50% deposit and the time of booking. The remainder of your fee will be processed following your consultation. 

You can cancel or change your appointment but require a minimum of  24 hours notice (please note that if you cancel/ change your appointment within 24 hours or don't attend you will forfeit your booking fee)

If you are entitled to a medicare rebate, this will be automatically processed and deposited into your account. 

There is a small credit card surchage applied by the credit card company 

DEFINITIONS

Under these Terms and Conditions, “Patient and Client” are used interchangeably and refers to anyone booking a Real Life Medicine Telehealth consultation.

Real Life Medicine refers to the telehealth clinic owned by Real Life Medicine Pty Ltd.  It may be referred to has Real Life Medicine or the clinic. 

“Telehealth” is the use of electronic information and communication technologies by a healthcare provider to deliver services to an individual at a different location. Patients who book a Real Life Medicine consultation are consenting to the provision of health care services by Real Life Medicine health care practitioners via Telehealth.

Our health care practitioners consist of  registered medical doctors who are GP specialists, nurse practitioners, psychologists and qualified mental health care workers.

The benefits of a Telehealth consultation are that clients do not need to physically travel to the consultation location and therefore can access specialised care which may not otherwise be easily available to them.

INFORMATION HANDLING

Australian privacy laws which apply to the privacy and confidentiality of medical information also apply to Telehealth consultations.

Clients have the right to withhold or withdraw consent to the use of Telehealth at any time either verbally or in writing, without affecting their rights to future care or treatment.

Your personal information is protected by law, including the Privacy Act 1988, and is collected by Services Australia for the assessment and administration of payments and services. This information is required to process your application or claim. Your information may be used by the agency, or given to other parties where you have agreed to that, or where it is required or authorised by law (including for the purpose of research or conducting investigations). You can get more information about the way in which the agency will manage your personal information, including our privacy policy.

Patient’s medical information will only be stored on secure, cloud-based medical software and will not be held on any insecure website or computer elsewhere.

For details on how Real Life Medicine’s clinical software provider (Halaxy) collects and handles your data please refer to: https://www.halaxy.com/article/privacy . For information about their data security measures CLICK HERE.

Our clinicians use an AI medical scribe called HEIDI to assist with note-taking. This allows them to focus more on the conversation and less on notetaking, but still ensure a thorough written record of your consultation. No enduring audio recordings are retained. Your clinician will notify you at the beginning of your consultation but you have the right to decline if you have concerns. CLICK HERE for more information about how HEIDI handles your private information.

Email addresses and phone numbers are required so that Real Life Medicine can contact clients regarding their appointments.

Clients booking with Real Life Medicine agree to receive SMS and email reminders unless they contact Real Life Medicine directly to withdraw consent at [email protected]. Emails will also be added to the Real Life Medicine mailing list to receive information updates and newsletters, but clients can opt out of this at any time.

Real Life Medicine will use secure email or document transfer systems to convey information to clients wherever possible, but the receipt and handling of that information is the clients’ own responsibility. If their email service is insecure it may potentially allow unauthorised access to information received and sent by the client.

Real Life Medicine will take all reasonable steps to mitigate these risks and protect the information sent and received, but the security and confidentiality of all electronic communications cannot be guaranteed.

Real Life Medicine may share information with patient’s usual doctors and/or the Australian e-Health record system with clients’ consent, but patients can withhold or withdraw that consent and/or choose which information is shared.

LIMITATIONS OF A REAL LIFE MEDICINE CONSULTATIONS

There are potential limits to Telehealth consultations:

1. The video connection may not work or may stop working during the consultation, or
2. The image or audio transmitted may not be clear enough to facilitate the consultation. In either case, clients will have the option to complete the consultation by telephone,  reschedule or make other arrangements with Real Life Medicine
3. Telehealth limits a practitioner’s ability to perform physical examinations, so clients may be directed to see another medical practitioner in person if the Real Life Medicine practitioner believes it necessary.

The Real Life Medicine clinic is not a General Practice; our scope of practice is strictly limited to clients’ clinical needs related to weight management, metabolic health, mental health, perimenopause or menopause care. Not all clinicians are skilled in all of the areas and may refer you to other practitioners who are. Real Life Medicine practitioners will not treat or advise on any unrelated medical conditions.

Booking a consultation does not guarantee that you will receive any particular treatment or medication. Treatment options may be discussed and negotiated with clients, but prescribing is at the discretion of the treating healthcare provider after a thorough assessment based on medical history from pre-submitted intake forms and questioning during your consultation. 

Real Life Medicine practitioners will not prescribe any treatment that they consider inappropriate or unacceptably risky for the patient, as per the terms of their AHPRA registration and insurance.

Real Life Medicine practitioners are independently practising registered health care providers. The health care providers include medical doctors, nurse practitioners, psychologists and qualified mental health care practitioners. 

They have a higher level of education and training in weight management, metabolic health, mental health and menopause care, and treat each individual patient according to their assessment of that patient’s needs and best evidence-based options. 

FEES AND CHARGES

All appointments are privately billed. Some consultations attract a medicare rebate.

Clients who are Australian citizens holding a valid Medicare card will be eligible for a Medicare rebate for some consultations. 

The client is responsible for fees that apply to their Telehealth consultation. Online bookings require a 50% payment upfront using a credit card. Your credit card number will be stored in your secure cloud-based personal profile, to be debited with the remaining 50% of the appointment fee at the time of your consultation. 

Online credit card bookings attract a charge imposed by the software provider of 1.9% plus $1; this fee is added to the consultation fee paid by the client.

Medicare details are stored securely and are not shared with any entity other than Medicare. 

LATE NOTICE CANCELLATION / FAILURE TO ATTEND

Late-notice cancellation or failure to attend may result in the applicable cancellation fee being debited from the client’s credit card as follows:

• Failure to inform us of a cancellation within 24 hrs of your appointment will result in a penalty of 50% of the original appointment fee.

A ‘no- show’ to the appointment will result in a penalty of 100% of the original appointment fee