Hi All
If you went to the Pine Rivers Show over the weekend you may have seen Bridie, Brontë and Zach there on the My Health for Life stand. I am very appreciative of the fact that they get involved on these type of activities. It shows true dedication to their professional work lives.
There will be a few changes coming up in the next couple of months and I want to share them with you so you have the opportunity to speak to anything you are not comfortable with. I have had to look deeply into the business sustainability during the past few months to identify the areas where we are going backwards rather than remaining a viable concern. As you all would know the prices of electricity, water, rates and purchases have increased rather alarmingly, and with COVID, hygiene and regulations requiring significant expenditure in items that we have never had to pay for, the overhead costs have sky rocketed.
Adding to the concern is the Medicare funding, that was frozen in 2012, has only gone up a few cents since then. For the past 10 years we have continued to provide bulk-billed Medicare funded sessions when doctors refer patients to Green Apple.
So instead of asking every member to be prepared to pay a mid-year membership due increase to address the situation that all businesses are facing right now, I am making a single change in relation to the use of Care Plans.
We will continue to provide no charge Initial Consultations.
We will continue to bulk-bill EPC sessions used for Home Programs and Induction Sessions into our Wellness Groups (Associate Members who purchase a 10 session attendance card).
Changes to be implemented by the end of August however.
Care plan sessions used for a New Program will now have a gap payment. EPC sessions with an Exercise Physiologist will have a $9 gap payment for a 30 minutes appointment, and the hour appointment will have a gap payment of $49.
Most of the exercise physiology appointments are 30 minutes in duration and they are used to working within that framework so I am hoping that the $9 fee will be manageable.
To put the fee in perspective, the current rate for exercise physiology sessions for non-members is $125 (hour) and $85 (30 minutes). Members actually receive $20 discount on any appointments they have with Bridie, Charlotte, Bronte, Zach (and Charlie when he has his provider number). These Team members have completed more than 4 years at university, have done hundreds of hours of clinical practicum and have to do many hours of professional development annually.
The alternative will be to have your new program done by an Exercise Professional, Darrol, Katrina, Wanda or Loretta and we will honour the “no fee to be paid for this session”.
I hope you will continue to use the service most appropriate to your needs. Our body is our most precious possession. It deserves to be valued.
Cheers
