Clinic Policy

Updated January 2025

Appointment Types

  • We offer three appointment types for new patients. Please visit our website for further details: https://www.empoweredmindsclinic.com/new-patients

    • Assessment and Diagnoses

    • Attending an assessment with your psychiatrist does not guarantee a diagnosis.
    • Diagnoses will only be made if this is deemed appropriate by your psychiatrist.
    • Your psychiatrist assumes clinical responsibility for your care. Each psychiatrist is employed as a sole trader and provides assessment and treatment independently from Empowered Minds Clinic.

    Referrals

    • All new patients must provide a referral letter from their General Practitioner or Specialist to be eligible for a Medicare rebate.
    • For existing patients, GP referrals should be updated annually, while referrals from other medical specialists must be renewed every three months. If you require a new referral, we encourage you to request for an indefinite referral from your General Practitioner as this does not expire.
    • Whilst it is preferred, you do not require a referral to attend an assessment and receive treatment. All appointments attended without a referral will not be eligible for a Medicare rebate and the total cost of the appointment will be payable by you, the patient.
    • It is the patient’s responsibility to ensure that a referral has been provided to our administration team and that this is valid at the time of your scheduled appointment. Our team may give you a courtesy call or email to let you know that your referral has / is due to expire. This remains the patient’s responsibility.

    Fees

    All practitioners delivering services through Empowered Minds Clinic are employed as independent sole traders. As such, each practitioner establishes their own fees for their services, which are solely funded by our patients and subsidised by Medicare where applicable. We do not receive financial support from the government or any other external sources. The fees are determined based on the expertise of the practitioner, time, and the operational expenses of our practice. Billing is structured according to the duration of appointments, with longer sessions incurring higher charges. Please check our website for up-to-date fees for each practitioner: https://www.empoweredmindsclinic.com/fees

    Payment of Services

    1. You will receive an appointment reminder 7 days prior to your scheduled appointment. This will include a payment link where you can pay for your appointment.

    2. All outstanding payments will be processed 3 days prior to the scheduled appointment using the stored payment method you provided when making your booking or completing your intake form. If you have made a payment using the payment link or paid when you booked your appointment, no additional payments will be processed at this point.

    3. If your invoice has still not been paid, we will be taking steps towards offering your appointment time to someone else on the waitlist.

    • We do not accept cash, cheques, or bank transfers.
    • All payments will incur an additional small processing fee, payable by the patient.
    • Occasionally appointments will need to run over the allotted appointment duration (total time from start to finish). In such cases a higher Medicare rebate will usually apply, and an additional payment will need to be collected.

    Medicare Rebate

    • All new patients must provide a referral letter from their GP or Specialist to be eligible for a Medicare rebate.
    • For existing patients, GP referrals should be updated annually, while referrals from other medical specialists must be renewed every three months.
    • Without a current referral from a GP or appropriate healthcare provider Medicare rebates cannot be applied. Please ensure that your referral is current at the time of your appointment. This cannot be done retrospectively.
    • It is your responsibility to ensure that your Medicare details are up to date at the time of appointment.
    • Up to date Medicare details are required for relevant PBS subsidies to be applied to prescriptions for specific medications.
    • Please note that Medicare rebates are only available to patients currently in Australia during the time of their scheduled appointment.
    • Empowered Minds Clinic will process the Medicare rebates at the end of each business day (the day of your appointment). On occasion, your details may have been updated or entered incorrectly when completing the intake form. At these times, we get notified that the rebate has been unsuccessful. We will send you one courtesy email to get the information required to process the rebate. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that you will contact Medicare directly to resolve any issues.
    • We do not offer bulk billing services. Please speak to your GP about your options if you are experiencing financial hardship.

    Cancellation Policy

    At Empowered Minds Clinic, our primary objective is to deliver efficient and high-quality healthcare services to all our patients. We therefore allocate specific time slots to each of our patients to ensure that this quality care can be provided. We understand that things do not always go according to plan and that you may need to cancel or reschedule your appointment. We kindly request consideration for other patients who may also require support, ensuring that we have ample time to reallocate the appointment slot effectively.

    • Cancellations with at least 2 business days' notice will not be charged for the appointment. Cancellations 48 hours to 24 hours before your scheduled appointment will incur a 50% fee. Less than 1 days' notice (24 hours or less before your scheduled appointment) will be payable for the full fee. For appointments cancelled 48 business hours prior to the scheduled appointment, the fee will be processed on the day you would have attended your appointment.
    • If you have not paid your invoice at least 48 hours prior to your scheduled appointment, Empowered Minds Clinic reserves the right to cancel your appointment without notice and offer this to the next person on the waitlist.
    • If someone else is covering the cost of your appointments, we believe it's reasonable to notify them in the event of a missed appointment. If this arrangement doesn't align with your preferences, please ensure that you handle the payment directly.
    • To reschedule or cancel an appointment, please follow the link at the bottom of your confirmation email (up to 48 hours prior). If you need to cancel your appointment within 48 hours (business days) of your appointment, you will need to contact our admin team to reschedule your appointment. This is to ensure that the applicable fee can be processed for appointments cancelled without the required notice.

    Late Arrival Policy

    We understand that there are many reasons why patients may be delayed in attending their appointment on time. In the interest of providing equitable care to all our patients we cannot extend allotted appointments on the day. We ask that all patients prepare for their appointments by signing into the waiting room at least 10 minutes before their scheduled appointment. You will have received a link to your appointment at the time of booking. Please check your e-mail or contact our admin team if you cannot find this.

    • If you arrive more than 15 minutes late, we may be unable to accommodate the appointment due to time constraints. In such cases, it will be considered a "no-show," and no refund or Medicare rebate will apply.
    • Medicare rebates are reflective of the duration of time that you are present in the appointment. Therefore, if you arrive late, a lower Medicare rebate might apply.

    Follow-up Appointment Policy

    • All follow up appointments will be scheduled by our administration team to ensure that you have an appointment before your script runs out / you require a refill of your script.
    • If you have not received a confirmation email within 3 days after your appointment, please contact our administration team.
    • Please check your confirmation email as soon as you receive this. If the time and date of your appointment is not suitable, please follow the ‘appointment link’ in your confirmation email to reschedule your appointment. Alternatively, contact our administration team to reschedule your appointment.
    • If you prefer to book your own follow up appointment, please book this directly through our website under the ‘Current Patient” tab. This is only available for practitioners who have online booking available.

    Prescriptions

    • We cannot send prescriptions without an appointment.
    • Scripts for stimulant medications will expire after 6 months.
    • If you need to be seen more urgently to receive a script, please contact our admin team to be placed on the cancellations waitlist.
    • For most medications other than stimulant medications, please ask your GP if they can prescribe between appointments. Some states may allow GPs to provide short term scripts for stimulant medications in extenuating circumstances.
    • Scripts will be sent to you by the end of the business day on the day of your appointment. This will be via email or text message.
    • Please ensure that your email and phone number is up to date to avoid any delay.
    • Please note: occasionally there may be a delay in sending your scripts. If you have not received this by the day following your appointment, please contact our administration team.
    • For those seeking assessment and treatment of ADHD, prescriptions for stimulant medication can only be provided for residents of NSW, QLD, WA, SA, VIC and ACT due to state-specific regulations at this time.

    Online Booking Policy

    Each practitioner offering services at Empowered Minds Clinic may have a different process for booking in new patients. Online bookings are only available for some practitioners. For further information on the booking process please click on the 'book now' tab

    Intake Froms

    • It is a mandatory requirement to complete an intake form at least 1 week prior to your appointment.
    • For online bookings, you will be required to complete the intake form before your booking can be confirmed.
    • For manual bookings, an intake form will be sent to you shortly after confirming your booking. Please complete this at your earliest convenience.
    • Without a completed intake form, your psychiatrist will be unable to verify your Individual Healthcare Identifier and will not be able to provide a prescription.
    • If you have not completed your intake form by the time you meet with your psychiatrist, you will have to use the first portion of your appointment to do this. This may limit the amount of time available for the appointment and may attract a surcharge if the appointment runs over. Alternatively, you may be asked to reschedule your appointment.

    Private Health Funds

    • Outpatient psychiatry and specialist services are typically not covered by private health funds. However, some private health funds may cover inpatient psychiatry services through hospital cover.
    • You can check with your health insurer whether they will reimburse the cost of your appointment if you pay for this upfront. We do not invoice health insurance companies directly and only process payments from the patient.
    • It is the patient’s responsibility to submit a claim to their private health fund.
    • Please let us know if you intend to submit a claim with another funder to ensure that a Medicare rebate is not processed. This is the patient’s responsibility to notify our administration team prior to your scheduled appointment.

    WorkCover

    We now accept new patients under WorkCover. However, we take the full payment from the patient directly. The patient can then use the payment receipt to get a refund from WorkCover. WorkCover will only refund the patient if they have an approved claim or Early Intervention Programme. Please check with WorkCover to ensure that you are eligible before booking an appointment.

    Please note: WorkCover fees and rates are not the same across States. Please ensure that you check with WorkCover in your local State to determine what portion of our fee they will pay. The remainder of the cost (gap fee) will be payable by you, the patient. To support you to get this information, below are the Medicare Benefit Scheduled item numbers as it relates to each appointment type:

    92437 - New Patient Assessment

    92435 - One-Off Consultation

    91829 - 30 Minute Follow Up

    Doctor Communication Policy

    To ensure prompt delivery of care and reduced wait times our consultants are fully booked each day. Empowered Minds Clinic is therefore unable to accept direct communication to our psychiatrist from patients via phone call or email.

    • All correspondence will be filtered by our administration team and communications will be forwarded to your psychiatrist.
    • Please take note of your psychiatrist’s working days. They may not check their correspondence outside of these times. Your query will be answered, and the response will be forwarded to you by our administration team.
    • If you were asked to provide additional information following your last appointment, please contact our reception team at info@empoweredmindsclinic.com with the necessary information or upload (and click to share) this directly to the patient portal for your psychiatrist to review. Please note, any information shared with your psychiatrist via your Halaxy portal will not be visible to our admin team to maintain confidentiality.
    • If you have more concerns you want to discuss with your consultant, please book a follow-up appointment. This includes enquiries about medical conditions, symptoms, prescriptions, medical reports, medical certificates and application forms.

    Please note, as a private telehealth clinic we cannot provide appointments at short notice or emergency care. In an emergency, please call triple zero (000) or seek assistance from your local emergency department. This includes all current and future patients of Empowered Minds Clinic. If you are a current client and have accessed emergency services since your last appointment or feel that your circumstances have changed and you need to see your psychiatrist, please schedule the next available follow up appointment at your earliest convenience and consider contacting our reception team to be added to the cancellation list.

    Privacy Policy

    Please refer to our separate privacy policy document on our website (www.empoweredmindsclinic.com).

    Communication

    By providing your contact details and those of your referrer you consent to these details being used to send information about appointments or assessments. This may include Personal and/or Sensitive Information. Please inform us if this is a concern for you. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for further information.

    Collateral History Policy

    In order to provide our patients with quality care, it may be necessary for your psychiatrist to gather collateral history from third parties including other health professionals, family, friends or loved ones. Generally, this occurs within your appointment when other people are present during your consultation; e.g. parents are asked about their concerns when the child is the patient. However, at times it may not be possible or appropriate to gain collateral history within the appointment.

    • If your psychiatrist needs to contact third parties outside of your scheduled appointment, we will bulk bill this cost; therefore, there will be no cost to you as the patient.
    • You, the patient, must complete a consent form for bulk-billed consultations. This enables Medicare to release the rebate funds to Empowered Minds Clinic as a form of payment for services delivered.
    • If you do not complete the consent form when this is provided, you must pay an out-ofpocket fee for this service to the equivalent cost of the Medicare rebate.
    • This consent form will be provided to you as necessary.

    Risk Policy

    As a private telehealth clinic, we are best suited to serve the needs of those with mild to moderate mental health concerns. We therefore recommend that those deemed at higher risk of harm to self or others seek a referral to a more appropriate service via your general practitioner.

    • If you require immediate support, please call triple zero (000) or visit the emergency department at your local hospital. Alternatively, please call the Mental Health Line number specific to your state.
    • If you are a current client of Empowered Minds Clinic and you are experiencing thoughts of harm to yourself or others, we recommend that you contact triple zero (000) for support or visit the emergency department at your local hospital. Acute care assessments/services can also be requested via the Mental Health Line number specific to your state
    • Please ensure that you schedule an appointment with your psychiatrist at Empowered Minds Clinic at your earliest convenience once you have accessed emergency services. The purpose of this appointment is to offer further assessment and treatment in light of the change in risk. Any emergency support will still need to be provided by the emergency/acute care services in your local area.
    • Please read our Privacy Policy which outlines when your doctor must break confidentiality.