Services
The clinic provides assessment & treatment for:
- Paediatric health problems such as asthma, eczema, recurrent ear infections, failure to thrive, urinary tract infections and urinary reflux, gastro-oesophageal reflux, bowel problems and constipation, obesity and eating disorders, abdominal pain and surgical problems.
- Paediatric neurological problems such as epiliepsy, migraines and headaches, neuromuscular disorders, tics and Tourette's syndrome.
- Paediatric Surgical problems such as undescended testes, hernias, abdominal pain, cysts, abscesses, foreskin problems and circumcision.
- Developmental delay such as speech delay and verbal dyspraxia, gross motor delay and motor dyspraxia, global developmental delay and intellectual disability.
- Urology problems congenital problems of the kidneys and urino-genital tract such as vesico-ureteric reflux, hydronephrosis (dilated kidney) and hypospadias.
- Autism spectrum disorders multidisciplinary assessment to assist in the differential diagnosis of children with possible autism and related disorders such as Pervasive Developmental disorder and Asperger's disorder. Such children should generally be initially referred to a paediatrician and will then be assessed by a speech pathologist and psychologist where indicated.
- Behaviour problems including distressed infants, “toddler taming” issues, aggressive behaviour and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
- Sleep problems in infants, children and adolescents including frequent night time waking, bed time struggles, night terrors/nightmares and insomnia interfering with day time performance.
- Learning problems - multidisciplinary assessment available for children with learning difficulties.
- Childhood anxiety including separation anxiety, school refusal, obsessive behaviour and depression.
- Paediatric allergies and food intolerance skin prick testing available to check for food/environmental allergies.
- Orthopaedic problems including congenial hip problems in babies, club feet, torticollis and other spine problems, gait problems, lower limb deformities and back pain.
- Bed wetting and soiling problems.
- Ultrasound
Fees
The Melbourne Children's clinic is a private, fee for service clinic. Accounts are payable on the day of your consultation by cash, cheque, EFTPOS, Mastercard or Visa.
Medicare rebates apply for consultations with paediatricians, specialists, psychiatrist and surgeons if your child has a valid doctor's referral. GP referrals to specialists are usually valid for 12 months. Beyond 12 months, or for a new problem, you should obtain a new referral prior to your consultation in order to be able to claim appropriately through Medicare. Families who are registered for the Medicare Safety Net will be able to claim 80% of any gap (gap between the fee and the medicare rebate) once they have reached the threshold.
If your child has a mental health problem such as anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder you may be able to claim medicare rebates for psychology treatment under the Better Access scheme. To claim benefits through this scheme your child will need a referral to a pscyhologist from your paediatrician, alternatively, your GP can refer, but needs to prepare a mental health care plan for your child.
Medicare rebates are available for up to 12 individual psychology visits per patient per calendar year, in two groups of six services with a review by the referring practitioner after the first six services.
If your child has a complex medical, developmental or behavioural problems
and would benefit from allied health
services such as psychology, speech pathology, audiology or occupational
therapy, you may be eligible to claim
benefits from medicare via the Enhanced Primary Care (EPC) program.
Your GP can provide an EPC plan for a Team Care Arrangement to help coordinate your child's care. Your GP will collaborate with at least two other care providers involved in your treatment (eg paediatrician plus speech
pathologist). Once you have an EPC plan, you can be referred for up to five allied health services each calendar year. The five services can be provided by a single allied health professional or shared across different professionals.
Medicare has recently (July 1 2008) introduced new rebates for the assessment and treatment of Autism and related disorders. If you
have a child aged 13 years or younger with a possible Autism spectrum disorder, and your GP refers to a paediatrican or psychiarist for initial assessment, you can then be referred by them for an autism assessment with a speech pathologist and/or psychologist and claim up to 4 assessment
sessions through medicare. If a diagnosis is confirmed, you can then go back to your paediatrician or psychiatrist for a medicare rebatable autism planning
consultation. At this point they can refer for up to 20 treatment sessions with the speech pathologist and/or psychologist which will also attract medicare benefits.
If you would like further information about fees or any other aspect of the clinic, please contact our reception staff on:
phone 03 9813 5700