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Patient Accounts

What are your Options For Care?

Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is part of Western Australia’s public health care system and offers care to any Australian resident under Medicare arrangements.

Your options for receiving care at this hospital are either as a Hospital Patient (non-chargeable) or Private Patient (chargeable). You must decide which of the options is best for you and complete a form to indicate this.

The following information has been prepared to explain these alternatives and the various procedures if you are eligible for benefits from Veteran's Affairs, Work Compensation, Insurance Commission of Western Australia - Motor Vehicle Personal Injury Division, Third Party or Common Law Recoveries.

Hospital (non-chargeable) Patient

  1. You will be treated by a doctor or doctors nominated by the hospital.
  2. You will not be charged for medical or hospital services. (But see Nursing Home Type Patient)
  3. After discharge, your care will be carried out in either the outpatient clinic, or you will be referred to your general practitioner.

Private (chargeable) Patient

  1. You will be treated by a doctor of your own choice, provided the doctor is on the staff at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and agrees to treat you as a private patient under his / her care.
  2. You will enter into a private agreement for care with the doctor of your choice and with other doctors your treating doctor may choose to assist in your care.
  3. You will be responsible for all your medical expenses such as radiology and pathology, while you are in hospital.
  4. You will be charged a daily rate for hospital accommodation. The shared room rate will be covered in full if you have basic Hospital Insurance. The fees you will be charged as a private patient depends on your length of stay and the exact type of treatment you require.
  5. Following discharge from hospital you will be cared for by your doctor in his/her private consulting rooms or referred to your local general practitioner.
  6. You should also understand that the doctor you request to treat you must also be in agreement that you are his/her private patient.

Private Uninsured Patient

Prior to your Admission you may be required to pay a security deposit for your treatment, based on expected length of stay and procedures to be performed.

Veteran Affairs Patients

  1. Depending on your eligibility you can claim Hospital and Medical costs from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.
  2. If on admission you are unsure whether the Department will agree to meet hospital charges, you will be asked to nominate, in the event that your entitlement is not confirmed, whether you wish to be admitted under Medicare as a Hospital Patient or as a Private Patient.
  3. If you are privately insured you may choose to assign your health insurance benefits for accommodation and surgically implanted prostheses to the hospital. Veteran’s Affairs Patients are not required to pay for accommodation and prothesis charges prior to a refund being obtained from the relevant fund.

Workers Compensation, Motor Vehicle Personal Injury and Compensable Patients

  1. You will be asked to sign an appropriate compensable Patient Declaration.
  2. To cover the possibility that your claim for compensation may not proceed, you will also be requested to indicate whether you wish to be admitted under the Medicare arrangements as either a Hospital Patient or Private Patient.

 

Ineligible patient

Ineligible patients are those who are not covered by Medicare and do not have a Medicare card.

Prior to your admission you will be required to pay a security deposit for your treatment, based on expected length of stay and procedures to be performed. Any balance in excess of the deposit paid, will be due prior to discharge or be refunded to you following your discharge.

Nursing Home Type Patient

Nursing Home Type Patients are those inpatients who have been hospitalised for more than 35 days and are certified as not requiring acute care. A Nursing Home Type Patient, whether classified Hospital or Private, will be required to contribute to their care and accommodation.

Payment of Hospital Accounts

The following information should answer most of your queries, but if you need further information, please contact us on the numbers supplied.

  1. Contact your Private Health Insurance prior to your admission to confirm your level of care.
  2. You must sign a form on admission to choose your level of care.

Private Insured patient

  1. You will be required to sign a completed claim form before your discharge from hospital. The hospital will then submit an itemised account and signed claim form for payment on your behalf through your Private Health Insurance.
  2. If your Private Health Insurance has not paid your claim within the net payment terms of 30 days, you will be advised by the hospital in writing to contact your Private Health Insurance to ascertain the reason for the delay in payment.
  3. An account will be forwarded to you if you are required to pay any excess on your Insurance cover.
  4. Accounts for any private doctor consultations will be billed separately by the doctor concerned.
  5. Accounts for any diagnostic tests (e.g. Pathology, Diagnostic Imaging) will be billed separately by the hospital at the Medicare Schedule Fee. Medicare will rebate 75% of these accounts and the gap balance can be claimed from your Private Health Insurance.

Private uninsured patient

You may be required to pay a security deposit prior to your admission and any balance on discharge. The Patient Accounts Department will advise you in writing of the deposit required and the amount due. This will depend on the procedures and the length of stay.

Patient Accounts

Phone: 61 8 9346 2380
E-mail: SCGH.Patient.Accounts@health.wa.gov.au