Insights

We closed Public Holidays including Christmas day, boxing day, Good Friday and Easter Monday. We are also closed on Saturday and Sunday.

Due to rising costs and unforeseen circumstances, Orion Medical Center no longer offers universal bulk billing.

We are now a mixed billing clinic. 

However… We will continue to bulk-bill healthcare card holders, pensioners and children < 16 years of age.

We share your concerns about the current Pandemic and we will also bulk-bill anyone who has been stood down or otherwise lost their job.

We are also able to provide bulk-bill telephone consults for any of the above.  This will reduce the risk of traveling and acquiring Covid.

We can also bulk bill simple / straight-forward consults at our discretion.

If you are unsure of your status then ring our main clinic number to clarify.

If you are at possible risk during a physical attendance but do not qualify for bulk billing, an option exists for a paid telephone consult through the HealthEngine booking system.

Otherwise… There is a $40 gap which is non-refundable and payable on the day of the consult.

For overseas patients who don’t have a Medicare card, all consults have to be paid on the day.

Details of the non bulk-billed fees  are as follow:

Standard Consult 15 minutes, item 23  |  Full Fee $81 (Medicare rebate 41.40 + 39.60 gap)

Longer Consult Item 36  |  Full Fee $120 (Medicare rebate 80.10 + 39.90 gap)

Appointment more than 45 minutes  |  Full Fee $159 (Medicare rebate 118 + 41 gap)

Pre-employment medical or VicRoads medical examination do not attract any Medicare rebate and will be privately charged.  Please bring the form with you.  We are unable to received unsecured encrypted emails from patients due to security issues.  We cannot provide consultation though email. Please book an appointment to come and see our doctor to discuss your health issues.

Because we are increasingly busy, especially in the morning, we encourage all patients to book an appointment. However, for urgent matters other than life threatening situations, patients are able to drop in to see the Doctor. Please advise reception upon arrival if you need medical attention urgently. The Doctor will Triage the patient accordingly, and will advise if the patient needs to go to a hospital (Angliss Hospital, Emergency Department, only 5 minutes away).

A patient can make an appointment by ringing the clinic on 9758 0810 or book online via Health Engine or book online via our website www.orionmedicalcentre.com.au.  Our practice does not advertise through Social Media (such as Facebook and Instagram).  Please note our email is not to be used for clinical inquires, please telephone the medical centre for more information.

If you need a longer appointment, please advise reception. If you book online please book a double appointment for more complex problems or multiple problems.

Please call us if you need to cancel your appointment at least 3 hours before hand, as other patients may benefit from the recovered appointment.

The clinic welcomes all feedback; please write out the feedback and place it in our feedback box in the waiting room.  If you need to make a complaint, the contact number of the Health Complaints Commissioner is: 1300 582 113.

Our practice policy for obtaining test results is to book an appointment with the doctor to get the result.  If a patient has a blood test done, the patient is advised to book an appointment 2-3 days after the blood or specimen is taken. The receptionist will offer to make an appointment for the patient to see the doctor after the consultation, for discussing the blood test result.  Our practice will also send text message to notify patients to book an appointment with our doctor to discuss an abnormal result.  Please ensure your telephone number and address is correct and up to date.  If you do not wish to be part of this system please let us know.  We cannot give the result over the phone or email to patient due to confidentiality and security issues.

For childrens’ immunisation, and any other procedure such as dressings, blood test or ear syringing please book an appointment to see Dr Utten between 9.30 AM to 5:00 PM Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (we have a nurse on duty to assist with the procedure).

Our practice policy in returning phone calls from a patient is as follows:

For extremely urgent matters, the receptionist will transfer the call to the doctor if the doctor is not currently doing an important procedure or operation.

Otherwise for all other requests, the call will be returned after the doctor has finished the shift.

Please note that patient may be charge private billing for telephone consult, please ask receptionist for more detail.

There are a number of other afterhours GP services and home visiting doctors available in the local area.

Outside our practice hours, patients can contact the After Hours GP Helpline on 1800 022 222 or search the National Health Services Directory at www.nhsd.org.au to find a service that is open after hours.

The following locum services provide bulk-billed home visits :

South Eastern Deputising Service 9793 7777

Hello Home Doctor Service 134 100

Alternatively, for an emergency, the patient can attend Angliss hospital at Albert St, Upper Ferntree Gully or call ambulance. The telephone number for Angliss Hospital emergency department is 9764 6111. The number to ring for ambulance is 000.

Our Practice follows this procedure when transferring health record from another practice:

• Ask the patient to sign our ‘transfer of records form’ indicating consent for their previous practice to forward a copy or summary of their health record to us. Please note the previous practice might request a fee for the transfer of full notes and this is entirely outside of our control.

Our Practice follows this procedure when transferring health records to another practice:

• Ensure that the patient has provided written consent.

It is the policy of this practice to maintain security of personal health information at all times and to ensure this information is only available to authorised members of staff.  Our privacy and security policy is available on request.

We provide some useful services you should be aware of :

1. Immunisation: Including standard, travel and Flu vaccinations.
2. 24 hour blood pressure monitoring via the latest portable smart watch based technology to help decide whether a patient genuinely needs treatment.
3. Lifestyle counselling for weight reduction, hypertension, diabetes, Iron deficiency, vitamin deficiency and more.
4. Sugar and Diabetes monitoring, specifically Hba1c (120 day average sugar monitoring)
5. Ear wax removal
6. RADIAL SOUND WAVE THERAPY (ECSWT)
   for Tendon/muscle pain, plantar fasciitis
7.  Audiological services by Apex Hearing, Hearing assessment, Hearing aids
8. Chiropractic service by Dr Michael Aronov every Wednesday

Chiropractic can treat:

• • Back pain
  • Neck pain
  • Headache
  • Whiplash
  • Strains and sprains from daily activities
  • Overuse injuries
  • Work and sports-related injuries
  • Arthritis
  • Restricted movement in the back, shoulders, neck or limbs
  • Disc & nerve problems
  • Postural issues & scoliosis
  • Shoulder problems​