Public Patient wanting to see a Private Gyno? Penrith Area

Hi Ladies,

I really need your help here.

Dr thinks I have an ovarian cyst (period late by 3 days, some pg symptoms).
The Dr wants me to See a gyno again, he seems to think metformin or Clomid might help me.

Problem is i seen a Public Gyno about 7 months back who told me he couldnt help me, and if we didnt conceive in 3-6 months to come back for a referral for a FS. Only went public because my cousin said he was awesome. Well things have changed now, and I dont want to see a public gyno again.

My questions are:

If I am a public patient wanting to see a private gyno - how do I do this? Do i look in the yellow pages? Can anyone recommend someone in the Penrith area? PM me if you like.

I did tell my Dr today, i wont be seeing a public one again (but i just wanted to get out of there so forgot to ask)

What kind of costs am I lookin at? Consultation of approx $250? What would BT's & ultrasounds cost? Any other costs that I need to be aware of other than meds?

If there is anything else you can think of please let me know.

Thanks so much

:bump:

Anyone??

Moving this to medical conditions...

Thanks. Wasnt too sure where to put it.

I went to a private fs. It was $180 consult and $90 for subsequent appointments. My bloods were bulk billed and I didn't need any ultrasounds. Good luck Hun!!!

Hi Naenae, As no one else has answered, I'll tell you what I know and someone else can jump in to correct me if I get it wrong!

You need a referral from your GP to see a gynae. It makes a difference to the medicare rebate you will receive for the consultation. Some specialists will refuse to see you without a referral as it indicates that you have seen a GP who agrees that the specialist consultation is required. Shouldn't be too hard to get from your GP. The referral needs to be addressed to the specific doctor you make an appt with, so you can ask your GP to refer you to someone specific or ask for his/her recommendation.

When you make the appt to see the gynae you can ask the receptionist what the cost of the initial consultation is and she will probably be able to give you an idea of the Medicare rebate so that you will have some idea of the out of pocket (OOP) cost. Somewhere between $100-200 is probably average OOP for an initial specialist consultation. You then have the costs of any BT or ultrasounds you require. You *might* be bulk billed for the BT's, maybe not. OOP for BT (depends on what they're for!) are usually not too much, say $30-100. US you may be bulk billed or OOP up to around $200ish. Medicare does give some rebate, but it's pretty average for US.

Private health insurance will NOT cover the cost of any of this... so far. The difference is if you require any treatment as an in-patient in hospital. PHI covers the cost of most things post admission (depending on the patient's cover and minus any excess). Being admitted to hospital (public or private hospital) as a private patient (which you would need to be to be treated by the gynae of your choice) is cost prohibitive without PHI. Thousands of $$$ for most admissions.

So, if you think you will only require a consultation in the specialists rooms with some basic tests such as BT's and maybe an US, it may be worthwhile seeing someone privately and accepting the OOP costs. If you (and your GP) believe you will require admission to hospital for treatment be aware it will cost you big $$$!

Hope that answered some of your questions. Good luck!

Awesome, thats cheaper than we expected.

With a referral from a gp do i get to choose my gyno? How can i find a good one without knowing anyone thats been to the private hosp? My dr should be able to recommend someone shouldnt he? Im just scared a repeat of 7 mths ago will happen! I kno my dr isnt a specialist but he said they should put me on metformin or clomid before i see a fs. This whole thing gets so confusing! Gp says one thing, the gyno says another!

My GP is in the major hospital health service. And when choosing my FS he went through them to see who works at the public hospital too iykwim. Im sure he could recommend you someone :)

Thanks nickle! That was realy helpful. Dp and i are weighing up our options. Originally we wanted to go private but my cousin recommended someone in the public system, so after waiting it wasnt worth it. This time we eant to go private, as we both feel we will get better care.
Thank you both

Just another quick question sorry to be a pain, but should i be calling a gyno to book an appt then get my referral?
Ive googled private gynaes in my area and only one dr comes up!?

Naenae, I'm pretty sure most of the ob/gyns in Penrith work in both the public and private hospitals. But I do know for a fact that Bernadette Parry does. I was admitted to the public hospital late one night with severe OHSS and was lucky enough to become her patient. She transferred me across to the private hospital as I was going to be in for a while and really needed a private room as I wasn't coping too well emotionally. I have PHI, so that helps. :) Anyway, I also used her as my OB when I was lucky enough to finally conceive and found her brilliant. PM if you need more details (I may still have a card somewhere).

I hope that helps. For all consultations you pay upfront (sorry, can't remember how much!) and claim back from medicare. The only time you will be treated differently as a public patient as compared to a private one is if you need to be admitted to hospital for any treatment.

BW

I didnt mainly because I didnt know any lol

but it took ages to get into him. I saw DR in December and didnt get an appt until February

It won't hurt at all to book the appointment and then get the referral - particularly if your GP is like mine and you need to schedule being sick a week before hand!

BW

Awesome thanks girls! Will make an appt tomorrow!