Fees

 

Private Injuries

If you have injured yourself privately (or if you are choosing to self-fund a work-related injury or disease), you will be responsible for your surgeon’s surgical fee and the secretary of your HANDOC surgeon will provide you with a surgical fee estimate prior to surgery. This estimate is subject to change.

Even if you have private health insurance cover, your surgeon’s fee will not be fully covered and therefore you will incur out-of-pocket expenses (known as “the gap”) as a result of your surgery. These expenses may be approximately $1,000 or more (depending on the complexity of your injury) and are not covered by Medicare or your private health insurance.

If you do not have private health insurance or Medicare, these out-of-pocket expenses will be substantially higher.

As with any medical procedure, your surgeon may need to perform further treatment, arrange additional medical services, or use a different or more costly prosthetic device, depending on what is found during your procedure. This may affect your out-of-pocket expenses.

The services provided to you by other doctors such as anaesthetists, or other costs associated with your stay in the hospital or day surgery unit, such as accommodation, pharmacy, pathology and x-rays, will be charged separately. If hand therapy is required, there will also be a separate cost for this.

Should you have any concerns or questions, please discuss these costs with your surgeon or their secretary before your procedure to be sure you understand what costs you may be liable to pay yourself.

In most cases, your surgeon’s surgical fee will cover your post-operative medical care (e.g. nurse dressing appointments) for a period of approximately 6 weeks.

Please note if your initial referral to HANDOC was issued from a hospital emergency department, this referral is only valid for one (1) month. Should you require a further consultation or treatment at our practice, you will be required to obtain a new referral from your GP, addressed to your surgeon. It is important to have a valid referral when visiting our practice to avoid delays or excess billing.

 

Work-related Injuries

If your injury or disease is deemed work-related and you are making a Workers’ Compensation claim, your first treating medical practitioner (e.g. emergency department doctor, occupational GP, etc) should provide you with a WorkCoverWA First Certificate of Capacity. You will also need to complete a Workers’ Compensation Claim Form. If you have not already done so, you must complete your sections and lodge both forms to your employer as soon as possible to commence the claims process.

It is important to note you are responsible for the cost of your own medical treatment before your employer’s insurer accepts your claim. HANDOC strongly recommend you confirm with your employer prior to any treatment that you will be lodging a Workers’ Compensation claim for your injury with their insurer and that in the event your claim should be denied, whether your employer will assist you with covering any medical expenses.

If your Workers’ Compensation claim is accepted, you may be eligible to receive payments to compensate for loss of earnings, medical expenses, vocational rehabilitation, travel expenses and permanent impairment (if applicable). Examples of potential medical expenses covered include:

For more information about understanding all of your workers compensation and injury management rights, obligations and entitlements, please visit the WorkCoverWA website.