How will patient care be funded?

Where possible, Austin Health accesses Medicare funding in order to supplement limited funding provided by the Victorian government. Medical staff are generally employed under Rights of Private Practice agreements which enable them to see patients in the public facility and allocate funding back to the hospital.

For each consult/service, eligibility for Medicare funding is assessed and the appropriate funding source allocated.

Each service can only be funded through a single source.

No cost will be incurred by the patient for Specialist Clinics consultations.

Who will see the patient?

Patients referred to Austin Health are likely to be seen by a multidisciplinary team which could include a range of specialties and other specialists, nursing and allied health practitioners.

What are the referral requirements?

You need to provide all relevant clinical information and diagnostic results for us to rapidly prioritise patients and allocate them to the correct service.

Refer to Specialist Clinics referral guidelines.

In addition, you need to include information to meet MBS funding eligibility requirements:

• Named clinician or head of unit or specialty - see Clinic specialties and Heads of Unit
• Date of referral
• Current provider number and address of your practice

Austin Health's preferred method of referral is electronic referral (eReferral). If you are not eReferral-enabled, your completed referral can be sent to us by fax.

Find out how to refer your patient and access referral guidelines and forms.

Related information

The following websites provide additional detail on Specialist Clinics funding and Rights of Private practice in Public Hospitals.