Check out of hospital & recover
Grab your discharge plan
Before you leave hospital, make sure you take your discharge plan and discharge summary and remember to take a copy to your follow up appointments.
A discharge summary should include things like:
- Treatment you received in hospital
- Tests you received
- Medications you received
- Medication history
- Allergies and reactions during your admission
- Any future health arrangements
A discharge plan should include things like:
- Follow-up tests and future appointments
- Medicines you need to take (and collect from the pharmacy)
- Equipment needed for your recovery
- Rehabilitation arrangements (if needed)
Pay for any extra services you used
If you added Wi-Fi, newspapers or TV to your account, pay the bill when you leave hospital.
Collect medications from the hospital pharmacy
When you get discharged, you might get prescriptions for medications to take home with you. You can get these on your way out at the hospital pharmacy or at a pharmacy of your choice. While you won’t be able to claim these medications on your hospital cover, you may be able to claim prescription medication on your Peoplecare extras cover.
Recovery tips
- Follow your specialist’s instructions closely
- Attend all your follow-up appointments
- Take care of your personal hygiene such as washing your hands
- Check your wounds for signs of infection
- Maintain a good diet & stay hydrated
- Move with care to avoid falls
Claims
Medical bills
These are bills from doctors, specialists, surgeons, anaesthetists, pathologists, radiologists, etc.
Who gets the bill? If your specialists are taking part in the Access Gap scheme, they’ll send their bills straight to us and all you’ll have to pay is the gap (which your doctor will tell you about before you go to hospital).
If you get a medical bill, complete Medicare’s Two-Way Claim Form and send it to Medicare (not us). Medicare pays 75% of the Medicare Scheduled Fee. Once Medicare has paid their benefit, Medicare sends the bill to us and we’ll pay the remaining 25% of the bill.
If your specialists have charged more than the Medicare Scheduled Fee, you’ll have what’s called an ‘out-of-pocket cost’. Your specialists should tell you what that cost will be before you go to hospital.
Hospital bills
These include fees for things like accommodation, theatre, and medical devices and human tissue products.
Who gets the bill? Most of the time, your hospital will send the bill straight to us and we’ll send you a benefit statement to let you know it’s paid.
The only thing you’ll have to pay to the hospital is your excess (if you have one) and any additional services you’ve used (like TV).
If your hospital bill does get sent to you, just send it on to us and we’ll take care of the rest!
Book your follow-up visits with your specialist & GP
Your discharge plan should say when you’re meant to see your specialist and GP again, but as a rule of thumb, you’ll normally see both around 6 weeks after hospital.
