Understanding the Appointment Process

REFERRAL PROCESS

You will be advised by your medical practitioner that you need to have a Radiological examination performed and be given a referral for this examination(s). A referral can be printed on pre-printed stationery, plain paper, written by hand or printed from Referrers’ practice software and must be signed, dated and have their provder number. North Coast Radiology Group accepts requests written on any provider’s stationery.

All referrals must be brought with you to your appointment and be from a provider who is able to refer for that examination to qualify for available medicare rebates from the Federal Government.

APPOINTMENT BOOKING

Appointments can be initiated online, over the phone or by coming into our branches. Appointments can be organised by yourself, your referring practitioner or carer. Online bookings require us to contact you to finalise your appointment.

While some examinations require little or no preparation, some examinations have specific preparations to ensure the most valuable results can be obtained to help you.  Please review Services for general information on preparation.

During the appointment booking process, you will be advised of applicable medicare eligibility, your specific preparation, any out of pocket costs associated with your examination and arrival time.

If you have to change your appointment at all, please contact us as soon as possible.

ACTUAL EXAMINATION

You will be asked to arrive between 10-20 minutes prior to your actual appointment time depending upon the type of service. You will need to bring your original referral plus any relevant previous Radiology examination films or results.

You will be given a form to sign. This has all of your details so you can check they are correct including doctors being copied on the results. You can optionally tick a box to have your images sent to your mobile phone. Click here for more information.

Every effort is made to keep to your appointment time, but due to our support of Hospital and/or Emergency Patients, sometimes examinations can be delayed. We appreciate your patience.

The Medical Technician who is specially trained in performing your examination will greet you, talk about the examination and answer any general questions you may have about the examination. These Medical Technicians have trained for many years to be skilled in operating both the sophisticated medical equipment and performing the examination you are receiving. They do not, however, analyse the results or provide you with a written report. This is done by our specialist Radiologists.

If you have any questions about any part of this process please ask any of our staff or refer to our Patient FAQ page for more information.

AFTER YOUR EXAMINATION

You may be given the films directly or they will be sent electronically to your referring practitioner along with a report. Generally the analysis of your examination takes a minimum of 24hrs to complete and sent to your referrer.

If your examination is medically urgent,  the Radiologist will analyse your examination as soon as possible. Many of our regular referrers are accessing the results for their patients electronically. You should always contact or visit your referrer to review your results. If you require copies to go to other medical practioners, please let the reception staff know at the time of the appointment or you can request later via this page. There is a new facility so you can have the images sent to your phone and accessible via a web browser. Click here for more information about Zed Patient.