GO2 Health are committed to providing comprehensive health care to our ADF veterans. We also provide allied health support for serving ADF members who have been referred by their Garrison GP, and care for their families under the ‘ADF Families’ scheme.

As of October 2021 our cohort of contemporary veterans is approaching 4000 GP patients. It’s the backbone of our practice.

Our GPs are highly experienced in managing DVA and ex-military patients. We have strong links to RSL / Non RSL Advocates, Legacy, Soldier On, Two14, and many other ESOs. We understand you.

Leading the medical team is Dr Kieran McCarthy, who is an ex-army / special operations doctor with five operational deployments and 15 years service. He trains all of our new GPs – veteran medicine and DVA can be complex for GPs so please be gentle on our new doctors until they get the hang of it. If they have concerns, they will always ask Kieran for guidance. Due to his crazy workload, Kieran has paused seeing new patients (Oct 2021).

We specialise in transition care, wrapping you up as you transition out of the ADF, ensuring that your physical and psychological needs are addressed and met during this stressful time. We act as a connector between you and post military world. We also welcome our ‘older’ veterans and their partners.

We have close links with the contracted DVA rehabilitation and vocational coordinators. We work with many Initial Claims Advocates to help our nation’s best navigate the DVA process. Need help with your DVA claims and Permanent Impairment assessments – talk to us!

Our fully integrated ‘one stop shop’ model of wellness is unique, and provides our veterans with a high degree of satisfaction and positive outcomes. Being outcome and solution focused, we work closely with the veteran and their families to guide them towards the next step in their journey. We are well known for taking on challenges, and those deemed ‘too hard’…

We complete a comprehensive Post ADF Health check on discharge, and many are eligible for a yearly health check under DVA for the first 5 years after discharge.

Gold Card holders may be eligible for the DVA Coordinated Veteran’s Care, which is an ongoing comprehensive health management process, designed to make managing your overall health easier.

Mental health issues are addressed by our own team of psychologists and mental health social worker, as well as psychologists from Soldier On, who have recently started working in our facility with us.

DVA is medicare for veterans, so if you can’t access it via Medicare, then it’s unlikely DVA will fund it (eg acupuncture / remedial massage / cosmetic dentistry)

Your first visit

The nurses will likely perform a Post ADF Health Check if valid, which is similar to the old 5 yearly medical. It takes 30 minutes and gives us a good background. You will then see the doctor for 30mins.

Please ensure you bring a copy of your list of DVA accepted conditions / white or gold card details. We need this in order to bill DVA. This is critical. If you have a white card but no accepted conditions we can still bill against it, as it will have ‘any mental health’ on it.

Bring any relevant past records (not your entire med docs or the USB stick). This may include the clinical handover summary from your garrison GP if newly discharged, medication list, specialist reports etc.

You are responsible for making appointments with your providers and specialists – this is different to garrison health.

 

Our allied health team are experts at managing the myriad injuries that happen in service – expect them to become involved in your care as appropriate. We aim to ‘optimise the machine’, helping you regain control of your life, re-engage with your family and get back to work or meaningful engagement.

DVA Claims

Initial liability claims require a viable link to service (done by you +/- advocate), and a diagnosis (done by us). That diagnosis is either provided via your med docs as the condition was documented, or it’s a degenerative condition (ie backs) and we need to do relevant imaging through Medicare. As GPs, we are unable to refer you for MRIs - it’s a Medicare thing.  The same applies if you have a white / gold card. The initial visit is usually a fact finding consult, which we will bill to your white care when able. There is usually then a followup visit/s post imaging etc to complete the claims.

If you’re a new patient, we will likely conduct an opportunistic Post ADF Health Check if not done previously.

Allied health

DVA have a 12 visit cycle of care – you need a new referral every 12 visits to continue treatment. Specialist referrals last 12 months. The provider needs to send us a letter with their recommendations and what’s been achieved. As you can appreciate with our large DVA cohort, we need an appointment to do a new referral (ie don’t call or send an email at the last minute asking us to do it without an appt). It is up to you to keep track of them. Ideally look to book an appt with either your primary GP on one of the others after 10 visits. We do not automatically renew your cycle. If you’re having physio every week then you need an appt every 3 months. Obviously they can be done at ‘usual’ GP visits that you may have for other medical reasons. Within GO2 your practitioner should remind you to book and get a new referral. You will need to pay privately for allied health if we don’t have a current referral.

Permanent Impairment assessments

Our doctors are also experienced at conducting these assessments. We do a lot of them! They are relatively straightforward to complete. Be aware we usually get no background on you from DVA, and can’t access any past records. Please ensure you bring the following:

The ‘effective dates’ for your accepted conditions. This is often different to the ‘accepted date’. We need the date of diagnosis (which is often the ‘effective date’)

Any significant procedures - surgery dates, cortisone and back injections etc. Need to work out when the conditions are deemed ‘stable’. This may just be the date of discharge, or 6-12 months after any significant surgery.

Serving ADF

You are not eligible for DVA funding of allied health whilst serving. If you wish to access us for physio etc you will need to pay privately, or via a BUPA referral through Garrison health. The exception is mental health (psychology / psychiatry) – you will need a GP referral.

DVA claims are as above – please ensure you have a DVA white card (mental health) and are approved to see a GP by calling DVA. We will likely bill the white card for the claims. Worst case, you will need to pay privately and seek reimbursement from DVA. You will also see the nurse first for basic demographics that we have to collect on all new patients.

Veteran Pain Program

In conjunction with QPain, GO2 offers Australia’s only DVA funded pain program for veterans with chronic pain. It is an intensive multi-modality education and intervention program which has generated some amazing outcomes for our patients. It helps you to think outside the box and reframe your pain experience, improve your daily life and exercise tolerance, and reduce reliance on opiates. If you are interested, discuss with your GO2 GP or nurse.

Cancellation policy

All of our doctors and practitioners are very busy, often with long wait lists. Please ensure you contact us ASAP if you are unable to make your appointment. It’s common courtesy! We will offer your appt to someone else on the wait list. Call us if you’re running late. We understand life gets in the way.

 

We are unable to bill DVA if you fail to turn up. Your practitioner won’t get paid. The end point is you will likely receive a bill for your missed appt as per our cancellation policy.

 

Whilst our system will send you an SMS reminder, please don’t rely on it. Technology fails. Why are we banging on about this? Unfortunately the DNA rate for DVA is much higher than our private patients. Please work with us.