Physiotherapy (Program)Outpatient
Useful Management Information
Before referring your patient, consider whether your patient may be:
- Eligible for Physiotherapy services within an NDIS package of care
- Eligible for Physiotherapy services within a My Aged Care, level 3 or 4 Home Care Package
- Eligible for a Team Care Arrangement to see a Private Physiotherapist
- More appropriate for Complex Care or TCP
- More suited to Outpatient or other community Physiotherapy services within the Gold Coast Hospital Health Service, eg. Community Rehabilitation, Palliative Care
Exclusion Criteria:
- If patients have not exhausted their Team Care Arrangements, they are not eligible
- Patients under 18 years of age are not eligible
- Patients located outside the Gold Coast Health District are not eligible
- Patients residing in a RACF are not eligible
- Patients accessing NDIS are not eligible
- Patients accessing a level 3 or 4 Home Care Package through My Aged Care are not eligible
- Referrals for ongoing care for a chronic condition are not eligible
- Patients currently being seen by a private Physiotherapist are not eligible
- WorkCover patients and Gold cardholders are not eligible
Associated Services
Are you referring to the right service?
Eligibility for service - please note time defined service, maximum 12 weeks
- This service is for adults, 18 years and older
- Post-Acute – recent discharge from hospital, deconditioned post hospitalization
- Community - conditions requiring short term Physiotherapy input (See are you referring to the right service?)
- Post op rehab - identify op / date of op, mobility
- Acute musculoskeletal issues
- Falls, falls prevention, dizziness/balance impairment, vestibular disorders
- Neurological impairment impacting on mobility/ function
- Respiratory conditions (including secretion clearance strategies and disordered breathing)
Predominantly services are provided in centre, however, limited home visits may be available in some circumstances.
Minimum Referral Criteria
Category 2
(Contact within 3-5 working days)
- Hospital discharges following an acute admission where there is a moderate to high risk of readmission or requires intervention to prevent rapid deterioration in health status and/or physical functioning
- Post-acute orthopedic referrals eg. THR/TKR, MUA, #NOF, #NOH, ACL, Rot cuff repair
- Review of transfer to ensure safety
- Post-acute neurosurgical referral
- High falls risk
- Acute respiratory conditions requiring urgent intervention
Category 3
(Contact within 6-14 working days)
- Non urgent post-acute referrals
- Post inpatient / outpatient rehab admission,
ie. progression exercises / HEP - Recent cortisone injection
- Progression mobility
- Moderate falls risk
- Musculoskeletal pain / injury past 6 weeks
- Risk of adverse outcome if intervention not provided in 2 weeks
- Vestibular referrals
Category 4
(Contact within 15-29 working days)
- Recent diagnosis or exacerbation of neurological condition
- Soft tissue injury / pain > 6 weeks
- Breathing pattern disorders
If your patient does not meet the minimum referral criteria
- Assessment and management information may be found on a range of conditions at HealthPathways
- If the patient does not meet the criteria for referral but the referring practitioner believes the patient requires specialist review, a clinical override may be requested:
- Please explain why (e.g. warning signs or symptoms, clinical modifiers, uncertain about diagnosis, etc.)
- Please note that your referral may not be accepted or may be redirected to another service
Out of Scope Services
The following conditions are out of scope for this service:
- Long-term/ongoing Physio input
Essential Referral Information
- Patient Consent to referral
- Reason for Referral
- Name of Patients Consultant (where relevant)
- Relevant medical history pertaining to condition
- Comorbidities impacting on condition
- If Orthopaedic – Current weight bearing status / Plan of weight bearing status, (eg. TWB for 4/52, then PWB for 2/52 etc)
- Medically or Specialist determined restrictions of movement or function
- Relevant Xrays, Scan/Imaging reports
- Relevant Current Medication list
- Allergies and Adverse Reactions
- Social History
- Do you have any concerns regarding the patient exercising?
- List of all health care providers involved in patient care – including public and provide providers
Additional Referral Information
- Previous level of function
- For disordered breathing, cardiac and respiratory investigations to be provided
Out of Catchment
Gold Coast Health is responsible for providing public health services to the people who reside within its boundaries. Special consideration is made for patients requiring tertiary services or for services that are not provided by their local hospital and health service district. If your patient lives outside the Gold Coast Health catchment area and you wish to refer them to one of our services, please indicate relevant medical or social information that will assist with the processing of your referral.
Notes
Please note that where appropriate and where available, the referral may be streamed to an associated public allied health and/or nursing service. Access to some specific services may include initial assessment and management by associated allied health and/or nursing, which may either facilitate or negate the need to see the public medical specialist.
- A change in patient circumstance (such as condition deteriorating or becoming pregnant) may affect the urgency categorisation and should be communicated as soon as possible.
- Please indicate in the referral if the patient is unable to access mandatory tests or investigations as they incur a cost or are unavailable locally.
- If your patient consents to telehealth, please indicate in the body of the referral.
Patient Must Bring
- Medicare Card
- Current medication list
- Relevant X-rays, scans and reports
- Reading glasses
- Appropriate clothing, eg. loose clothing to access joints
- Enclosed footwear for gym assessments
Send Referrals To
Smart Referrals
Preferred Method
About Smart Referrals
Secure Web Transfer
Send to: Gold Coast Health Service District
Internal Referrals
Not Available
Fax
Post
Booking and Referral Centre
Gold Coast University Hospital
1 Hospital Boulevard
Southport QLD 4215
Enquiries
Service Availability
Facilities
If you would like to send a named referral, please address it to the specialist listed above, who will allocate a suitably qualified specialist to see the patient. Alternatively, you can view a full list of our specialists.