Appointments & Fees
Before your appointment
Click here to complete the new patient form online. We require this to be completed before you see Mr Pai.
What to bring to your first appointment
Referral from your general practitioner
List of current medications
Medicare card
Private health insurance details
Membership number
Healthcare card or DVA card
Imaging
Please bring CDs or hard copies of all imaging related to your knee problem, including X-rays, CT scans, ultrasounds, and MRI scans.
If you have copies of the radiologist’s reports, please bring these with you as well.
Mr Pai will need to view your images directly in order to make an accurate assessment of your problem. Reading a report alone will not suffice.
If you do not have a copy of your images, please contact us at least 24 hours before your appointment so we can contact the relevant imaging department to obtain online access.
What to expect at your first appointment
Please arrive 15 minutes before your appointment time to complete your registration paperwork. We respect your schedule and will endeavour to see you on time. If significant delays are expected, we will contact you and keep you updated.
New patient appointments are allocated 30 minutes.
Follow-up appointments are allocated 15 minutes.
Consultation fees
Medicare will reimburse part of your consultation fee, and our administrative team will assist you with this. The Medicare reimbursement requires a valid GP referral, so please bring this to your appointment.
New patient appointment
$250 ($81.30 reimbursed by Medicare)
Followup appointment
$120 ($40.85 reimbursed by Medicare)
Worksafe & TAC patients
Please note that Mr Pai no longer accepts TAC or WorkSafe patients in his private rooms.
Public patients
Mr Pai is strongly committed to the public hospital system with regular clinics at Sandringham Hospital and Box Hill Hospital. If you do not have private insurance, your GP can facilitate a referral for you to consult with Mr Pai at these two locations. There is no cost to patients having surgery in a public hospital. However, there is a waiting list. Your position on the hospital’s waiting list will depend on the severity of your condition. The orthopaedic liaison nurse manages the waiting list at the public hospital, with no involvement from Mr Pai.
Fees associated with surgery
You will be provided with informed financial consent detailing the anticipated fees involved with your hospital admission before your surgery date. These include:
Mr Pai’s fee
Mr Pai’s fees depend upon the complexity of the operation and you will be provided with a quote following your consultation if surgery is required. Your surgical fee covers the cost of the first two post-operative appointments. Subsequent follow-up appointments will be charged a standard follow-up appointment fee.
For patients covered by DVA, there will be no charge from Mr Pai for your procedure.
The anaesthetist’s fee
Your anaesthetist will provide you with a quote before surgery. The fee may vary depending on the duration of your procedure and your health insurance, if applicable.
The surgical assistant’s fee
Our surgical assistant’s fee may equate to up to 20% of Mr Pai’s surgery fee.
Hospital bed, theatre costs and equipment fees
If you are covered for your procedure by private health insurance, your health fund will almost always cover these fees. It is important to confirm with your health fund that you are covered for your surgery, as certain orthopaedic procedures are excluded from some policies. Depending on your insurance policy, you may have an excess to pay to the hospital at the time of admission.
Pathology, radiology and pharmacy
During your hospital admission, you may need to have scans, blood tests, or have medication dispensed to you from the pharmacy, which may incur out-of-pocket costs. This should be discussed with your health fund if you hold private insurance.