Anaesthetists that care.
Having an operation can be a daunting time. We are here to releive the pressure and stress that can often be associated with these procedures.
Here are Northern Anaesthesia Services, we want every patient to feel empowered prior to their operation. Just like you have choice in your surgeon, you also have choice in your anaesthetist. Each surgeon has a number of anaesthetist they operate with, at a number of hospitals.
Frequently Asked Questions
When you schedule your operation, your surgeon will advise you;
- Procedure Date
- Hospital
- Anaesthetist
The Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) assigns item numbers for a range of medical services. When it comes to anaesthetics however, billing is based on time. This can make it difficult to predict in every scenario. We make our best effort to pre-determine if a procedure will attract a fee and an Informed Financial Consent will be issued to you IF there is expected to be an out of pocket expense. We will require a signed copy of this back from you.
Health funds vary hugely with the amount they will contribute to anaesthesia.
Unfortunately, no. Your private health insurance (PHI) enables you access to care with private medical practitioners within a private facility. There are different levels of cover within health funds, and different types of health funds.
When we are referring to the funding styles for procedures, we use the following terms:
- Self Funded (Patient is without PHI, rebates through Medicare only)
- Known Gap (Patient with PHI with a maximum gap payment with each provider of $500, if the provider agrees with this fee type).
- Privately Funding (Has PHI, however their PHI does not participate in a Known Gap program).
- Gap Covered (Patient has PHI and the provider is accepting the Health Fund's payment as full payment for the service.
To learn more about the types of health funds and what the cover, please click here.
If the procedure you are having requires a consultation with the anaesthetist, our rooms will get in touch with you directly once the surgeon's rooms have provided us with their theater list with your demographic.
Some surgeries are considered to be more complex, and these will require a consultation before the procedure can take place. Your anaesthetist is responsible for your well-being during the procedure, and every precaution should be taken for this.
Yes.
If you are coming into the rooms for a consultation, we will need you to complete our patient information sheet.
For all other surgeries, you will need to complete the pre-operative health questionnaire.
This paperwork is separate to paperwork required by your surgeon and/or the hospital.
The fee is determined by the;
- Patients age and health condition
- Type of operation
- Urgency of the procedure
- Duration of the surgery,
- Any specialised intra-operative monitoring
- Post-operative pain relief procedures.
The rebate you receive (Medicare plus private health fund if applicable) will cover part of the cost of your anaesthetic.