The simple answer is yes to both, however, there are regulations that surround the EPC program, and our practice has certain stipulations that you will need to follow. It is best to contact our rooms for more information and to make a booking, but the following are the more important considerations.
An EPC referral will provide, at most, funding for 5 allied health appointments per calendar year (eg 4 on physio, 1 on podiatry, NOT 5 physio, 5 podiatry). Your GP must complete the appropriate referral (or referrals in some cases) to comply to the EPC program. Where there are multiple referrals to multiple providers, you must keep track of the number of visits you use during the year. If you go beyond 5 sessions with us or another provider, Medicare will not provide funding and you will then bear the cost of that session. We can help you keep a count but we only know how many times you have seen us.
Our practice does provide bulk billing for EPC clients with our junior physio staff between 9am and 2pm. You can still make appointments outside of those times and with our senior staff but there is a small gap you will need to pay. The main reason for this is to allow us to continue to provide a quality service to all our clients. It means we can keep our appointment times at 30 minutes, hold onto our great staff and premises and focus on patient care by minimising the cost deficit of bulk billing.