We have an important change to our WorkCover arrangements that will take effect from Monday, 3 August.

Unfortunately, the WorkSafe fee schedule has not kept pace with the increasing costs of providing physiotherapy services. While WorkSafe introduced a small fee increase at the end of the last financial year, it still falls well short of covering the true cost of delivering treatment and managing WorkCover claims.

WorkCover consultations require a significant amount of additional administration. This includes communicating with insurers and case managers, preparing and submitting documentation and reports, following up outstanding invoices, and managing unpaid accounts. In some cases, despite providing treatment and completing all of this work, we are unable to recover payment for the services we have provided.

From Monday, 3 August, we will be introducing a $15 patient contribution for WorkCover appointments. This will not apply to the first appointment or a case conference that is requested by your insurer. There are two ways to go about this though which are detailed below.

Option 1 – Clinic-managed Claim

  • A $15 patient contribution is payable on the day of your appointment.

  • You will receive a text message with a secure payment link on the morning of your appointment. You can either pay via the link (preferred) or you can pay at the time of your appointment.

  • We will continue to invoice your WorkSafe insurer for the remainder of the consultation fee and manage all claim administration on your behalf, just as we do now.

Option 2 – Self-managed WorkSafe Claim

  • You may choose to pay the WorkSafe scheduled consultation fee at the time of your appointment.

  • We will provide you with a receipt that you can submit directly to your WorkSafe insurer for reimbursement. For accepted WorkSafe claims, the scheduled consultation fee is reimbursed by the insurer, so you are not out of pocket.

  • As we will not be managing your claim or invoicing the insurer for that appointment, the $15 patient contribution will not apply.

Apart from this change to the billing process, your treatment and the care you receive from our team will remain the same.

We appreciate that this change may be disappointing for some patients, and it was not a decision we made lightly. We have spent more than 12 months avoiding this decision and have continued absorbing these additional costs ourselves in the hope that the WorkSafe fee schedule would start to better reflect the true cost of providing care. Unfortunately, that has not occurred, and introducing this patient contribution is now necessary to ensure we can continue providing physiotherapy services to WorkCover patients in a sustainable way.

If you have any questions about these changes or would like to discuss the billing options available to you, please don't hesitate to contact our reception team via email at info@grampiansphsyiotherapy.com.au or phone at 0435 952 853.

Thank you for your understanding and your continued support.

 

 

Kind regards,

Amy & The Team

Grampians Physiotherapy & Pilates