Appointment information

You will need a current written referral from your general practitioner or specialist to book an initial appointment. Your GP or specialist can email your referral to referrals@mbpain.com.au.

Please read carefully if the main reason for booking an appointment with one of our practitioners is to obtain and assessment for medico-legal reasons or a medical assessment for a medical report:

• None of our specialists are trained independent medical examiners (IME’s) therefor NO independent medical examinations are performed at our practice.
• Further to this, none of our specialists are trained to assess capacity for the purpose of medico-legal reports or WorkCover/ TAC/ DVA claims.
• If a medical report/ medico-legal report is requested from our practitioners, they can complete this in the capacity as treating pain physician, but all capacity questions will have to be referred to either an occupational therapist/ occupational physician/ independent medical examiner (if needed) for these and like questions.
• Our practitioners will not review external documentation for the purposes of medical reports/ medico-legal reports or requests. Relevant clinical history and special investigations are routinely reviewed for the purposes of pain management and the intention to treat only.

• Prior to your first appointment, you will receive an initial patient information letter and consent form, patient registration form and you will be asked to complete a patient questionnaire and return this to our clinic. The patient questionnaire enables our specialists to understand your needs at prior to meeting you.
• Patients referred to our clinic are also triaged according to clinical urgency.

• If you are attending under a current WorkCover/ TAC claim we require all relevant details of this claim prior to your first appointment.
• This includes insurer, claim number, case manager, date of accident and employer.
• A valid referral from your general practitioner or specialist is still required.

• Your first appointment will be between 40 – 50 minutes long. The more information our specialists have prior to the consultation (from your referring GP/ specialist and your completed questionnaire), the more time can be spent on comprehensive explanation, discussion and education around your pain problem and answering any questions you might have. This is why completion of the questionnaire is so important.
• Our specialists also use these validated pain questionnaires to evaluate your progress as treatment progresses, making the initial scores very important.
• For your first appointment please ensure that:
  • We have received a valid referral from your general practitioner or specialist.
  • You have completed and returned your patient questionnaire and consent form..
  • Please bring all relevant investigations – X-Ray’s, CT-scans, MRI scans and blood results with you.
  • An up-to-date list of your current medications (if this has changed since completing and submitting the patient questionnaire).
• Please make sure you take all your X-rays and scans back home with you at the end of the consultation.

• Once you have completed your initial assessment, your specialist will explain your management plan to you and communicate this plan with your referring GP/ specialist (this is usually done by a dictated letter, which can take 4 – 8 weeks to reach your GP/Specialist).
• Your specialist will usually focus on education around your pain problem to give you a better understanding of your pain.
• Your further management plan could include:
  • Medication optimisation if appropriate.
  • Discussion with other clinicians/ therapists involved in your care, if needed.
  • Further investigations, such as X-rays/ CT or MRI scans and blood test or specialist investigations such as nerve conduction studies. It is your responsibility to make bookings and attend any further tests. Our specialists will discuss the outcome of any investigations with you at your next review appointment.
  • Pain is managed in an interdisciplinary fashion, you might be referred to pain specialist Allied Health practitioners. Our specialists work with a preferred provider network of Allied Health practitioners (insert link to Allied Health page). For WorkCover/TAC patients, a request for these services will first need to be sent before appointments can be made.
  • Treatment with Ketamine or Lignocaine infusions or injections or radio frequency treatments could be offered if appropriate.

• Our specialists are able to offer telehealth consultations via VIDEO on our telehealth platform Coviu. This requires internet access and a camera. Coviu works best on a laptop/ desktop rather than a smartphone.
• Telehealth/ video is available for review consultations ONLY and is not suitable for all reviews (this remains at the discretion of your specialist – if they determine that an in-person review is needed, our administrative team will inform you that our clinician is unable to offer a telehealth review).
• Fees for telehealth consultations are the same as face-to-face consultations and are immediately payable on completion of the appointment.

• Prescriptions will not be written for any opioid medications, or medications not prescribed by our doctors.
• If there is a medication change instituted by our doctors, an initial prescription might be done, all follow up prescriptions should be provided by your usual prescriber (general practitioner or specialist).
• No prescriptions will be provided outside of appointments.

• MindBodyPainSpecialists is a private pain specialist clinic. Patients will be made aware of costs prior to their initial appointment.
• You will have to pay in full on arrival to your appointment.
• Medicare rebates will be available for most eligible patients (you will need a valid referral from your GP/Specialist prior to our first appointment).
• For WorkCover/TAC/DVA the fee may be covered by your insurer. You will be required to cover the consult fee at your initial appointment, this may be reimbursed by your insurer, but out of pocket expenses are possible. Reviews are usually billed to the insurer, depending on approval of review appointments. A small co-payment will have to be paid by WorkCover and TAC patients for all appointments.

• Please contact us as soon as possible if you need to cancel your appointment. Our specialists work with a long waitlist and it is helpful if we can offer cancellations slots to other patients.
• Cancellations within 48 hours of the appointment (two business days), will incur a cancellation fee of $200 (this will be an out-of-pocket expense).
• Infrequently we might have to move your appointment due to a change in the doctor’s schedule, we will contact you as soon as possible and reschedule your appointment as soon as possible.

• A theatre procedure/ pain infusion might be offered as part of your treatment.
• Most procedures are day procedures only. Under some circumstances, you might be admitted for an overnight stay.
• Please be aware that you will need someone to drive you home after your procedure. You cannot leave the hospital unaccompanied and if you have had an anaesthetic, you will need to be in the company of another adult overnight.
• Please be aware that for privately insured patients, there will be an out of pocket fee charged for the procedure/infusions.
• Radiology fees: Services rendered will attract a fee; however, there is a Medicare rebate applicable. The radiologist will contact you after your procedure.
• Anaesthetist fees: These are determined by the scheduled anaesthetist. If fees or a gap is to apply, the anaesthetist will advise you in advance. Please contact them directly with any account enquiries.
• Surgical assistant fees: Surgical assistant fees may apply depending on the type of procedure you are having and your level of Private Health Insurance cover. If fees apply, you will receive an invoice after your procedure.
• All patients should make sure they clearly understand the fee implications prior to any treatment (this includes uninsured patients, privately insured patients, WorkCover/TAC and DVA patients).

Please be aware that none of our specialists work consult full time at our practice.

Administrative requests are dealt with within working hours within the practice, within scheduled non-clinical/ administrative time. This means that for any administrative requests, there could be a substantial wait time before our specialists can respond to the request. All administrative requests will incur an hourly fee, of which you will be made aware of at the time of request.

All clinical queries will need an appointment. Our doctors are unable to respond to personal requests for phone calls or emails about clinical matters. As always, if you have urgent concerns, please see your general practitioner, or call 000 or attend your local emergency department for emergencies.

MindBodyPainSpecialists has a zero tolerance for violence and aggression. We will not tolerate any member of our staff or doctors be subjected to any violent, threatening, or abusive threats or behaviours, either in person, in communications or via telephone conversations by either patients or friends/ family members of patients.

If this occurs, this will be documented, and a letter will be sent to you and your referrer discharging you from the practice and no further appointments will be offered. There will be no warnings given. If this is severe, we will refer on to law enforcement.