RECALLS AND REMINDERS – PATIENT INFORMATION
Patients are ultimately responsible for their own health – and we encourage you to be actively involved in your own health care.
To help provide preventive care for you, we use a ‘Recall and Reminder’ system to ensure that important health checks are not forgotten, and performed on time. If you agree to be on this system, you will be reminded when it is time to visits your doctor for a check-up – or as follow up to health risks that have previously been found.
The reminder system will include check-ups to help the prevention or early detection of certain conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and forms of cancer – eg cervical, breast and prostate cancer, and immunisation follow ups, etc.
In some cases reminders may be sent from other places as part of the National Recall or Reminder System – eg the government pap smear register.
We will use information from your health record to check if and when these check-ups are due. Our doctors follow the guidelines for preventative care as outlined in the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Guidelines for Preventative Activities in General Practice.
The new Privacy Laws require that we obtain consent to send you these reminders. You may discuss with your doctor the possible reminders you may need, and a note will be put in your record if you do not consent to be included in the Recall and Reminder System.
By allowing us to send a reminder letter, ring or text you, for these reminders (if you need one), you will help us detect serious conditions early, or to monitor known conditions. This can significantly improve the long term outcome for you. When you have had any tests we ask that you visit your doctor a few days later for your follow up of results. We may not always be able to reach you, especially if you have moved or your contact information has not been updated.
Please discuss with your doctor any concerns you may have, or if you need clarification on anything to do with the above information – and consent, if you wish to be on our recall and reminder system.
Thank you