1. The LifePsyche staff member you see is your "treating practitioner" responsible for your care, you are "the client" (yourself or the child or adolescent you are organising services for), and Changes Psychology is the admin and billing service "provider" that is only responsible for processing clients' bookings, billing and client administration on behalf of your treating psychologist. By signing this agreement, you are agreeing to the provision of services under this arrangement.
2.Privacy - LifePsyche takes your privacy seriously. We work like a virtual clinic office, collecting and managing personal and medical information digitally from you and your psychologist, which naturally includes sensitive health information. We collect, use and (where appropriate) store this information in order to facilitate appointments with your psychologist and to manage payments including Medicare and health insurance rebates. We manage your information in accordance with our ethical guidelines. For more about privacy, and who to contact if you have questions or complaints regarding privacy, see our Privacy Policy.
3. Your treating practitioner will not provide information, reports or documentation for medico-legal or family court related purposes unless required to by law, under a subpoena or by a court order.
4. Parenting plans - if there is a parenting plan in place, we require the parent or person engaging the treatment to meet all the requirements of the plan, it is not our responsibility to share information with other parents or stakeholders.
5. Information sharing - If you would like the psychologist to share and collect information about your child with your ex-partner/teacher/OT etc, we need written consent from you to approve this sharing of information with each individual. However if you intend to claim rebates from Medicare or another organisation is paying for the services, then your psychologist must provide summary reports to the referring GP, paediatrician, psychiatrist or external agencies regarding your treatment progress in order to be able to give you Medicare rebates and meet the legal obligations of this funding. By agreeing to these terms and conditions you agree to this information sharing policy.
6. NEW CLIENTS - To confirm the first session booking, all new clients consent to completing the Claiming, Consent and $50 booking deposit (that will be $50 credit towards your first session) via the online form and payment portal link that will be emailed to you within 48 hours' of receiving the information email. Your card details will be processed for the $50 deposit only. Your card details stored securely encrypted within the NAB (National Australia Bank) Transact system for all future session fee payments, so no-one will view your full card details.
7. EXISTING CLIENTS - In order to transition existing clients to the new NAB payment system, we require all existing clients to complete our $1 payment form online. At the end of this form you will be required to enter your card details and provided signed consent in order to confirm your first booking. Eftpos facilities will not be available from 2020 onwards. Your card details will be processed for the $1 session fee credit stored and encrypted securely within the NAB (National Australia Bank) Transact system for all future session fee payments, so no-one will view your full card details.
8. Cancellation Policy - LifePsyche observes the cancellation policy proposed by the Australian Psychological Society (APS): If you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment, you must give us more than 48 hours' notice. If you provide between 24 and 48 hours' notice, and we cannot fill the time allocated for your appointment, you will be charged 50% of the consultation fee. If you give less than 24 hours' notice, and we cannot fill the time allocated for your appointment, you will be charged 100% of the consultation fee. If you cancel your first session the psychologist will retain the $50 booking deposit. This can be used against future session bookings.
9. The session fees for all LifePsyche's Services are listed here NOTE: Payment needs to be received before Medicare rebates or Private Health Invoices are processed. All session fee and cancellation fee payments will be taken via our online payment system NAB Transact. All payments will show up on your credit or debit card statement/online banking with the payment reference 'Changes Psychology Northgate' (NOT LifePsyche)
10. Medicare rebates - If the client is referred on a Medicare-rebated Mental Health Care Plan by their GP, the rebate will be $126.50 if they are consulting a clinical psychologist, and $86.15 if they are consulting a registered psychologist. Once the client reaches their Medicare Safety Net, their rebate will increase to 85% of the full fee. Clients are only eligible for Medicare rebates if they have provided a GP referral letter requesting services and a mental health treatment plan. We collect, use and (where appropriate) store this information in order to facilitate appointments with your psychologist and to manage payments including Medicare and health insurance rebates. Medicare rebates are processed after the full session fee has been successfully processed in our NAB online payment system. Medicare pays rebates directly in to the bank account you have registered with Medicare (NOTE: the bank account you have registered with Medicare may be a different account to the card you provided in our NAB system to pay session fees).
