shared care???

Hi, I am totally confused as to what to do now!!! I am six weeks, just saw my doc today and he asked me where I was having the baby... I said ... "i dunno". He told me to work out if i was going public or private and then call him. He also said to ring my local Hospital's womans clinic (sunshine hospital) and they might mot need a referral.......

So I rang them and they said to call back Monday.

Now my Questions. What is shared care (saw it mentioned earlier). Is it really terrible just going through the hospital??? How much out of pocket expenses do you usually pay in private? Do you pay anything in public????

I know it is a lot of questions, it just seems like no one wants to answer them, not the doctor, the womans clinic or my health insurance provider.

I believe shared care is where you visit your usual doctor for your regular check-ups, and then visit your OB or the hospital for the major check-ups and scans etc.

I chose to have all my care provided by the OB, but that was due to my history of m/c and I felt that I would feel better about things if I was seeing the specialist on a regular basis. It's entirely a personal decision and you should do whatever you feel comfortable with doing.

If you went through a public hospital for the birth, you shouldn't have to pay anything (provided you don't chose to be admitted as a private patient and wish to specify your doctor etc which is a different scenario I believe). Perhaps you could get in touch with the Health Insurance Commission or Medicare to double check this. In terms of private hospitals, what you would pay depends on your level of cover you have, and what (if any) excess you have attached to your policy.

HTH!!

thank you

hopeful Mum, I chose Shared Care as I am going public and there were several reasons why I chose that option.
With going to my GP, I can get appointment times that suit me. As I work full time, it is a pain in the bum going to the hospital because they only offer appointments during the day on a week day.
Also, I have heard that if you go through the midwives, you will most likely see a different person every time you go and I would just prefer some continuity.
In saying this, after my first hospital appointment, my BP was high so I was put onto the high risk category. They said I would have to go through the antenatal clinic until it was sorted out. So, the theory of getting appointments that suited me went flying out the window. I had to take a day off work to go in and get my BP taken. It was normal and now I am back into shared care! Hmmmm... waste of a day off but, hey, I guess it had to be done!

So far, the only money I have had to fork out as a public patient has been for my antenatal classes. Everything else (blood tests, ultrasounds etc.) has been covered by medicare. I am going through Geelong hospital which has an excellent reputation among people I know so I figured, why go private and pay all that money when I can get good care for free iykwim? Not all hospitals are the same though so I am sure it's a different story in other areas of the country.

Same as Deb for me - we are both going through the sams hospital and I'm doing Shared Care too.
The major reason for me is consistency and convenience. The hospital tends to say your appt is at this time, and you can't change it. hard when I work as an engineer to say - I know its 10am, but I'll be back in anywhere from 30mins to 2 hours depending on the outpatients clinic!
So I can get 5pm appts with my dr, who is lovely, adn Shane and I can fit in a time that suits both of us.
Money wise - I have only had to pay for one blood test for Downs Syndrome, but apparently some of that is rebatable through Medicare. I pay the the full amt with dr, and then get refunded $27 (??) through Medicare. For $13 a month, the convenience is worth it!
I dont believe there will be any costs through hospital, although antenatal classes are $60 for 5.
Hope that helps,
Fiona