Informed Financial Consent

Dr Costa Karihaloo, Dr Christine O’Neill, Dr David Burnett, Dr Jodie-Kate Williams, Dr Suzanne Di Sano & Dr Nicholas Bull each set their fees independently. They are committed to a sustainable private health care system and set their fees accordingly for consultations and surgery.

Each surgeon participates in ‘known-gap’ arrangements with most health funds. This means that you (the patient) may be charged a known out-of-pocket cost (up to $500 dependent on the procedure), to be paid prior to surgery and the remainder of the surgeons’ fee will be billed direct to your health fund. If your health fund does not participate in the known-gap arrangement, you may be invoiced the whole amount of the surgeon fee and will then be able to submit a claim to Medicare and your health fund once you have been issued with a receipt. This does not include bariatric (weight loss) surgery.

The ‘known-gap’ or deposit payment is required to be paid two (2) weeks prior to your scheduled procedure date and this information is supplied to you once a surgery date is confirmed.

Bariatric operations (for weight loss) are not covered by no-gap or known-gap arrangements – please see Bariatric Informed Financial information regarding weight loss surgery here. 

This advice does not relate to services provided by other doctors, including assistant surgeons, anaesthetists, radiologists, physicians, or pathologists, nor any other costs associated with your stay, e.g. the hospital accommodation, theatre fee, pharmacy or physiotherapy.  It relates to doctor’s fee only for inpatient services. Most patients will have some out-of-pocket expenses for appointments, but these will be detailed at the time the appointment is booked.

With regards to any associated fees for your surgery, once the date for your operation has been allocated, administration staff will be able to provide you with contact details for all parties involved. You will then be able to contact them directly regarding fee structures.

Any fees that are not covered by Medicare or your health fund (if applicable) are your responsibility and must be paid by you, the patient, or the person listed on the account. Please refer to your health fund for additional information not provided above. It is your responsibility to contact your insurance provider to ensure you have the appropriate cover. If you have booked into the hospital, the hospital will automatically perform a fund check approximately two business days prior to your surgery to ensure you have the appropriate level of hospital cover. If your cover is insufficient, they will notify both our rooms and you so that alternative arrangements for treatment can be made.

Dr Costa Karihaloo, Dr Christine O’Neill, Dr David Burnett, Dr Jodie-Kate Williams, Dr Suzanne Di Sano & Dr Nicholas Bull have no financial interest, other than the fee for service, in any products or hospital services.