What to expect

Prior to your in-person appointment:

For new patients:

Please complete the registration form online prior to the appointment.
Please upload a copy of your GP referral letter ensuring it lists your current medications, including doses.
Please upload a copy of your most recent blood test results (even if they are more than a year old).
Please complete and upload the TWO questionnaires (FCQ-T reduced and DASS-21) as these will be required during the consultation If these FIVE items are not received within 2 working days of your appointment, our admin support staff will ring you and arrange to defer the appointment

For existing patients:

Patients are responsible for completing and returning via email any questionnaires Dr Rigas has requested
Patients are responsible for arranging/booking (if required) and undergoing any investigations (eg blood tests, ultrasound etc) that Dr Rigas has requested/recommended.

If either of these TWO items (where applicable) is not received within 2 working days of your appointment, our admin support staff will ring you and arrange to defer the appointment

Day of your appointment:

Please arrive 10-15 minutes before your appointment

For new patients:

An appointment is usually 40-50 minutes in duration during which Dr Rigas will:

assess your medical history, blood test results and questionnaire answers,
explore and enhance your understanding of the contributors and exacerbators of obesity and metabolic ill-health
discuss all the possible evidence-based therapy options based on your individual health profile, so that you can go home and make an informed decision based on the facts as they relate to YOU
refer you for investigations if clinically indicated

For existing patients, a review appointment is usually 20-30minutes in duration during which Dr Rigas will:

discuss the results of any investigations and questionnaire answers (where applicable),
answer any questions relating to your obesity/metabolic ill-health and/or therapy that have arisen since the previous consultation
assess the feedback you provide to determine whether you are responding to that particular therapeutic option and
and collectively, help you decide the next steps
once the disease process is stabilised, work WITH you to develop a personalised "ACTION" plan designed to help prevent, delay or at least identify early signs of a lapse in obesity and/or metabolic ill-health, allowing for swift intervention and hopefully prevent a full relapse

If you are running late for your appointment, kindly ring the Clinic and let us know. However, if you are late for your appointment, it means that there will be less time in the consultation with Dr Rigas.

If you need to cancel an appointment:

If you cancel with more than 2 business days notice, no cancellation fee applies.

If you cancel with 1 business day’s notice, a 50% cancellation fee applies.

If you cancel on the day or fail to attend, the full fee will be charged. These fees are not reimbursed by Medicare and, in the interests of fairness, apply to all patients and cannot be altered by the practice staff.

Please note that cancellation messages left on weekends or after-hours will be treated as made on the next business day.

Reminder texts or calls are a courtesy to patients, and it is YOUR responsibility to attend all appointments on time. Alternatively, cancel or reschedule appointments in a timely manner.

Where a patient cannot be contacted, confirmation is assumed and a cancellation fee will apply.

Tele-health consults and medicare claims:

To be eligible for a Medicare rebate for your Tele-health consultation, you will need to have had an in-person i.e. face-to- face consultation with Dr Rigas in the preceding 12 months. Click here for more info on this.

Once payment for your consultation has been received, if you are eligible, the admin support staff will send off the claim on your behalf. The rebate should be returned to your account within 1-2 days. If there are any concerns regarding Medicare eligibility or receiving your claim, get in touch with the admin support staff.

Please note, the medicare rebate YOU receive is more substantial if the tele-health consultation includes a visual component eg face-time, microsoft teams meeting, zoom meeting etc. rather than an "over the phone" consultation.

If agreeable, at the time of booking your tele-health consultation, please advise which of the listed platforms you are familiar with/prefer, so that we can email you an invitation and relevant link for the virtual consultation.

It is strongly recommended that you bring paper and pen during the tele-health consultation so you can jot down any key points discussed for your future reference.

Results of investigations and tests :

Dr Rigas reviews all test results when they are received and a copy is sent to your referring doctor and usual GP.

If there is an abnormality requiring more urgent attention, you will be contacted as required.

Otherwise, the results will be reviewed and Dr Rigas will go through them with you at your next scheduled appointment. Alternatively, you can make an appointment with your GP to discuss the results.

Privacy Policy

We are committed to treating your personal information in accordance with the current Australian governing privacy laws.

Collection of your personal Information

We collect information directly from you wherever possible. If this is not possible, or in an emergency, we may also need to collect information from a family member, friend, carer or other person who can help us provide you with appropriate health care.

Security of information collected

Your information may be held in a variety of ways. Most commonly, your information may be held as an electronic medical record forming part of a secure encrypted computerised database. Some information may also be held in the form of an image including x-ray or photograph. We follow strict rules and policies regarding the secure storage of personal information in all formats in order to protect your information from unauthorised access, loss or other misuse.

Use or disclosure of information

Your personal health information held either in paper or electronic format may be used by this practice or disclosed outside to other health services to enable appropriate health services be provided to you, for example:

To other treating health services, hospitals or medical specialists involved in your care and treatment
To your nominated GP
In order to process pathology tests, x-rays, and so on.
For billing and debt recovery

If you do not wish for us to collect, use and/or disclose certain information about you, you will need to tell us and we will discuss with you any consequences this may have for your health care.

In some instances, Australian law allows and legally requires your personal health information to be disclosed to other third parties in certain specific scenarios; for example:

To State and Commonwealth government agencies for statutory reporting purposes, such as to report notifiable diseases
To researchers for public interest research projects as approved by a Human Research and Ethics Committee
To other health services or law enforcement agencies, such as the Police, if you provide us with information relating to serious crimes including assault, domestic violence, child abuse, and so on. To comply with a subpoena or search warrant if your personal information is required as evidence in Court.