Associated Anaesthetists Group in East Melbourne, Victoria | Medical and health

Associated Anaesthetists Group

Locality: East Melbourne, Victoria

Phone: +61 3 9419 4277

Address: 166 Gipps St Suite 56 3002 East Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Website: http://www.associated.org.au

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24.01.2022 Today is National Anaesthesia Day. The theme this year is Preparing for your anaesthesia. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X8zTmk6PegI&feature=youtu.be

23.01.2022 Reassuring news for parents. There has been a lot of concern about whether general anaesthesia is safe for infants and children, particularly whether having a general anaesthetic might cause problems with learning. Three major studies have reported in the last year which have not found problems. The GAS study was coordinated from the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne and was published in The Lancet. It was described in the New York Times:... https://www.nytimes.com//one-exposure-to-anesthesia-in-chi The MASK and PANDA studies from the USA were also reassuring and all three studies were covered in an editorial in Anesthesiology: https://anesthesiology.pubs.asahq.org/article.aspx

21.01.2022 Health insurance can be complex and difficult for patients to figure out. We try to make sure that every patient is informed ahead of time if we estimate that their insurance won't fully cover the cost of their anaesthetic. We can't give advice about what insurance patients should choose, but they can change to an equivalent product with a different insurer at any time without penalty. http://www.theage.com.au//accc-takes-health-fund-nib-to-co

21.01.2022 The AMA has released its annual score card for insurers. This provides a lot of detail about which funds provide the best cover and the fewest gaps. Many funds perform well, but there are some remarkable outliers visible in the tables, particularly in the percentage of patients receiving services without a gap. https://ama.com.au//AMA%20Private%20Health%20Insurance%20R

19.01.2022 It's National Anaesthesia Day! This year the theme is the distinction between anaesthesia and sleep: a perennial favourite of the previous president of the college. http://www.anzca.edu.au//nat/national-anaesthesia-day-2018

18.01.2022 Reduced cover for some GU Health customers. From November 1, GU Health will be reducing their contribution to some medical bills. In future if a bill is more than $400 more than their Gap Cover amount, GU health will reduce their contribution to the bill by about 70%, leaving a much larger out-of-pocket cost for the patient. This is still more generous cover than that provided by their parent company, NIB.

18.01.2022 When children need to have surgery, parents are understandably very concerned about the safety of anaesthesia. The risk of a serious complication of anaesthesia is now extremely small, thanks to years of improvements in engineering, pharmaceuticals and practice standards. The risk of subtle changes in memory or learning has become a hot topic in the last five years, both for children and for the elderly. The evidence for safety in children is still incomplete, but is fairly reassuring. For parents (and doctors) who want all the current evidence, an excellent Internet resource is the SmartTots website which has answers to common questions and summaries of current research findings. http://www.smarttots.org/

17.01.2022 New "Basic Hospital" cover from Australian Unity Australian Unity has recently introduced a basic level of cover which does not include Access Gap Cover. This means that patients with this level of cover will be likely to have large out-of-pocket expenses for anaesthetists' and surgeons' fees. This type of cover may not be suitable for treatment in a private hospital and has been described by Choice magazine as "junk". https://www.choice.com.au///articles/junk-health-insurance

15.01.2022 October 16 is National Anaesthesia Day. This year the theme is "Anaesthesia and Ageing" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOYq9dnjxRE

14.01.2022 Bad news for Bupa customers. From August 1, Bupa is introducing new restrictions to coverage under their Gapcover scheme. This will particularly affect our patients at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. In future, the coverage provided will depend on the date the hospital contacts Bupa to check a patient's insurance. This may make it impossible for us to know whether patients will be covered when they are sent an estimate before surgery. We will do our best to provide a correct estimate, but Bupa may refuse to provide a Gapcover payment for reasons outside our control or knowledge, greatly increasing the out of pocket cost for patients. Patients can change insurers at any time without penalty when moving to an equivalent policy.

14.01.2022 Choice magazine has published a well-written article about anaesthesia costs and health insurance. At AAG we try to ensure that every patient is informed ahead of time if there will be an out-of-pocket (gap) cost. https://www.choice.com.au//heal/articles/anaesthesia-costs

14.01.2022 The AMA has published its 2018 report card on health insurers. Health insurance is a very complex product to compare, and the AMA has tried to provide comparisons on many aspects of insurance products. https://ama.com.au//AMA%20Private%20Health%20Insurance%20R

10.01.2022 Choice magazine has an informative website about the value of having private health insurance: https://www.doineedhealthinsurance.com.au/

10.01.2022 Good news for HBF customers. From the 13th of February 2017, HBF has changed the terms of their insurance. Previously their "gap cover" product was far less generous than many other insurers, resulting in larger out-of-pocket expenses for patients. In future, HBF will participate in the AHSA Access Gap Cover schedule which is one of the most generous gap cover schemes. This will reduce or eliminate out-of-pocket costs for many patients. This leaves NIB as the fund which generally has the largest out-of-pocket costs for our patients.

09.01.2022 Two AAG doctors are presenting at the Australian Society of Anaesthetists 75th National Scientific Congress this year: Dr David Olive on ophthalmic anaesthesia and Dr Steven Dimadis on anaesthesia for shoulder surgery. http://www.asa2016.com.au

09.01.2022 Understanding your health insurance. Health Insurance policies can be complex and confusing. Sometimes the only way to be sure you will be covered is to ask your insurer directly. Doctors Health Fund has prepared a list of questions you should know the answers to when making a decision about which policy is right for you: https://www.doctorshealthfund.com.au/policycheck

08.01.2022 A number of our anaesthetists look after children at St Vincent's Private Hospital East Melbourne. This hospital has recently added some dedicated web pages including downloadable information for parents and children coming to the hospital. Much of the material is applicable to children receiving anaesthesia at other hospitals as well. https://svphm.org.au//li/paediatrics/about-stvincents-kids

08.01.2022 New changes to Medicare and insurance coverage for anaesthesia. From November 1, the Commonwealth Government is changing coverage for some anaesthesia services. Most of the changes involve a reduction in coverage which may mean higher out-of-pocket costs (gaps) for some patients. We send a detailed estimate to all of our patients who are expected to have a gap as soon as we receive a booking from the surgeon. The ASA has published an information sheet about the changes:... https://asa.org.au///MBSReview/MBS-Review-1Nov-changes.pdf

05.01.2022 The AMA has again produced its report card on private health insurance funds. There's a lot of detail in the report, including interesting statistics on which funds have the highest and lowest rates of out-of-pocket expenses for their policy-holders and also which funds return the highest proportion of premiums as policy benefits rather than management expenses or profits. https://ama.com.au//AMA%20Private%20Health%20Insurance%20R

01.01.2022 Bad news for BUPA customers. From August 1, 2018 BUPA will be reducing its contribution to patients' costs in some hospitals by more than 70%. This will particularly affect our patients when they are treated at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. Patients with almost all other health funds will continue to have much lower or, in many cases, no out-of-pocket costs. Changing health funds can be done at any time, and usually without additional cost or penalty. https://www....bupa.com.au//P/hbm-medical-provider-letter.pdf June 8 update: BUPA has abandoned parts of this proposed change after the intervention of the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman. https://media.bupa.com.au/bupa-gives-choice-peace-of-mind-/