Telehealth
Tele-health was originally a means of providing services to people in rural, remote and very remote locations. However, following the tremendous take-up during COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, the government has expanded Medicare funding to anyone, anywhere, who is eligible for Medicare under the Better Access scheme. In short, to claim the Medicare Better Access rebate, you will need to see your GP to acquire a referral and Mental Health Care (or Treatment) Plan - MHCP or MHTP.
As with face-to-face consultations, if you don’t need to claim a rebate and/or don’t want to use Medicare, you can just call to make an appointment by contacting me here, and then we use Telehealth videoconferencing, or the telephone if you have trouble with a reliable connection.
What is Telehealth?
It’s the use of telecommunications to conduct a consultation instead of meeting in person. We meet for our consultation via the internet, in a private ‘room’ for a videoconference or telephone session. You can do it from any place you have a connection, and people mostly like to do it from the comfort of home.
If you already have a Mental health Care Plan you can use it for Telehealth; you don’t need to see your doctor again. All the usual limits and conditions apply.
How does it work?
I use the Coviu platform, designed specifically for the health sector and which meets all HIPAA requirements for security and privacy, such as end-to-end encryption. It’s easy to use - there are no passwords to remember, and no cost to you - I send you the link to my specific platform, and you connect at the time of your appointment; you wait in a virtual ‘waiting room’: and I come ‘collect’ you by joining the call at our starting time.
You do need to consent to the use of Telehealth for each consultation; here is the consent form link : Consent form link
Payments: you can pay the fee in one of several different ways online, and we’ll discuss which you prefer in your first session. Most people opt for autopay and auto-rebate processing - it’s effortless. However, you don’t have to do it that way - you can direct deposit, or we can make another arrangement that works for you.
Confidentiality & privacy
All information about you (such as your personal details, clinical notes, attendance record, billing information) is held in secure files in HIPAA* compliant practice software. I will discuss Confidentiality and privacy with you in our first session, to make sure you are clear on the strengths and limits. In short, your consent is required for me to release anything at all about you to anyone, except in a limited set of circumstances, outlined below.
“Psychologists disclose confidential information obtained in the course of their provision of psychological services only under any one or more of the following circumstances:(a) with the consent of the relevant client or a person with legal authority to act on behalf of the client;(b) where there is a legal obligation to do so;
(c) if there is an immediate and specified risk of harm to an identifiable person or persons that can be averted only by disclosing information; or
(d) when consulting colleagues, or in the course of supervision or professional training, provided the psychologist:
(i) conceals the identity of clients and associated parties involved; or(ii) obtains the client’s consent, and gives prior notice to the recipients of the information that they are required to preserve the client’s privacy, and obtains an undertaking from the recipients of the information that they will preserve the client’s privacy.
from the Australian Psychological Society Ethical Guidelines
*HIPAA - This is the acronym of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. It has 4 main purposes: (1) Privacy of health information, (2) security of electronic records, (3) administrative simplification, and (4) insurance portability.”
Contact outside consultations
In normal circumstances I’ll respond to emails or phone calls within practice hours.
If you do contact me outside these times, I will respond the next working day (so if you contact me on the weekend, I’ll get back to you on Monday).
Please note I am unable to provide emergency services.
Records
I am required by law to keep records of your attendance. The legal length of storage required is seven years; then records may be destroyed.
I keep two kinds of records - administrative records of attendance, payments, any reports and so on, and, clinical notes. All records are stored electronically in secure, encrypted files that only I can access.
A note on Covid 19 and Vaccinations
Lumina Psychology & Psychotherapy operates under health sector guidelines regarding COVID-19 safety measures. All staff are at minimum double vaccinated, as required. You will be required to abide by current guidelines for in-person consultations in the interests of protecting the welfare of everyone in the practice.