FAQ

Please ask your GP or a specialist to email the referral to info@eastmelbournegastro.com.au or fax it through to the rooms on 03 9416 3023.

Once the rooms have received your referral, we will be in touch within 2 business days to assist you in making an appointment. All of our referrals are triaged with the most urgent patients being seen first.

All appointments with a specialist require an up-to-date referral from your GP or specialist. We do not make any appointments without first having a referral.

Please call the rooms on 9417 4244 if you wish to make any changes to your scheduled appointments or procedure dates as soon as you know you cannot make your appointment. We have a wait list and can allow others to see the specialists if you cannot make your appointment.

It is the responsibility of the patient to call their health fund/health insurer and ask if they are covered for procedures. You may be asked what the item numbers are for the procedure you are having.

A colonoscopy has the item number of 32222.

A gastroscopy has the item number of 30473.

If you are having any additional procedures done, the rooms can provide you with the additional item numbers.

Please note, we do not quote prices for procedures until you are booked on to a theatre list.

If you have private health insurance, our staff can give you the associated item number for the procedure so that you will be able to provide this to your health fund when you call to enquire whether or not you are covered for the procedure.

If you have been booked onto a theatre list to have a procedure and then find out that you are not covered by your health fund, please contact the rooms immediately to discuss alternative options.

If you are uninsured i.e., do not have private health insurance, you may be able to have your procedure done through the public hospital system. You can discuss this with your specialist when booking a procedure.

There are multiple fees involved when having a procedure. These include:

• the hospital day stay fee (if you have private health insurance you may be fully covered or may have to pay an excess fee which is payable to the hospital when you arrive for your procedure. You can check what this fee is by calling your health fund)

• the specialists fee

• the anesthetist’s fee (phone numbers will be available when a list is determined to contact the rooms for out-of-pocket gaps)

• a pathology fee (only if biopsies are taken to send for histopathology)

All referrals are triaged by the specialist.


If you have no serious medical conditions and your GP has indicated that you are just due for a surveillance procedure, you may not need to have a consult / appointment with the doctor first.

This will be decided by the specialist after they review the referral.

If you have had any changes to your medical condition since the last time you saw the specialist, you may need to book in for a review appointment prior to having your procedure.

Please note, not all patients are suitable for open access endoscopy. Your specialist will review your referral and let you know whether or not it is appropriate for you to have open access endoscopy.

Please bring any test results, scans, reports etc. that you have had done recently so that we can add these to your file for review.

Please also bring a complete list of your current medications including the following:

• name of the medication.

• strength of the medication.

• dose of medication prescribed.

• times that you take the medication e.g. morning and evening, night time only, once per week.

• It is very important for the doctor to be aware of any medications that you are taking in case these affect your procedures from going ahead. For example, blood thinning medication, medication for diabetes and new weight loss medications can all have an affect on the timing of your procedure. Patients may be asked to cease certain medications prior to their procedure to allow the procedure to be safely performed.

What if I have inflammatory bowel disease and require complex authority scripts?

• 6 months reviews are mandated for all biologic and complex drugs authority scripts as a Medicare requirement
• This can be booked with telehealth or in person consultation
• Blood tests and faecal calprotectin may be required prior to this appointment (at least 1 week)

Some of our clinicians use a software that uses AI as a dictation software that does not record of store information. If you do not want to have this feature then please inform the reception staff when checking in.

• Please contact our rooms for reports and appointment times

• Your GP will receive copies of the reports including any biopsies that might be taken during the procedures