FAQs

HelloDoc is an exclusive mental health service, providing appointments with Psychiatrists and Psychologists, via secure video conferencing platforms all across Australia. All our appointments are done via video conferencing only (Telehealth). The platform we use for video conference is similar to zoom or skype but built to provide safe and secure telehealth consultations and is very easy to use.

Our Psychiatrists offer assessments and management plans for all common mental health conditions including but not limited to, Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, Stress, PTSD, OCD, Mood disorders, Bipolar affective disorder, Schizophrenia, Borderline personality disorder, ADHD, ADD and ASD assessments.

Our psychiatrists can also do Legal and forensic reports, work/occupational assessments, reports for medical procedures, and assessments for many other situations and conditions. Please speak to our admin staff if your inquiry is about anything else.

Our Psychologists can do Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Interpersonal Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Mindfulness, and Motivational Interviewing, and relationship counselling, as well as psychoeducation, symptoms management, re-framing perspectives, sleep hygiene, skills development, breathing exercises, mindfulness, self-care, and nurturing connections.

1. You get a referral from your GP. You or your GP sends it to us via email, fax or secure messaging. Email (referrals@hellodoc.com.au), FAX 03 9001 0712, or secure messaging (hellodoc).
2. Our triage team reviews the referral and “match it” with one of our psychiatrists.
3. We speak to you and discuss about making an appointment.
4. If applicable, you pay the fee before the appointment.
5. A day before your appointment, we send you a text reminder and an email with video link for your video appointment.
6. You attend your appointment with your practitioner. Practitioner discusses the plan of management with you.
7. Practitioner sends a report to your referring GP.
8. You follow up with your GP to go through the recommendations and management plans.

At HelloDoc, our psychiatrists are currently offering Bulk Billing for specific situations only. Please see the eligibility criteria below:

Bulk Billing is available for initial and new adult general psychiatrist assessments under Medicare item number 291. This applies to patients residing in rural and remote Australia, provided they have not claimed this item number with any other psychiatrists in the past 12 months (365 days) before their appointment with a HelloDoc psychiatrist.

Please note that Bulk Billing does not include complex assessments, such as ADHD/ASD (assessments or management/reviews), legal reports, and any other assessments classified as "complex assessments" by the HelloDoc team. Additionally, assessments for metropolitan area patients will continue to be privately billed, with Medicare rebates available where applicable.

See below for further information on eligibility based on location:

Eligible patients must be located in Modified Monash (MM) areas classified MM 2 to MM 7.

You can check your eligibility through the Heath Workforce locator interactive map, found at: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/health-workforce-locator/health-workforce-locator

You will need to select “2019” in front of “Modified Monash Model”, and then add your address in “Find address”. If you are residing in an address between MM 2 to MM7, then you are eligible for initial bulk billed assessment, also provided that you did not have a 291 Medicare item number assessment in the last 365 days.

Bulk Billing does not include complex assessments, such as ADHD/ASD (assessments or management/reviews), legal reports, and any other assessments classified as "complex assessments" by the HelloDoc team. Please see above “Do you Bulk Bill”.

Yes, our psychiatrists continue to provide assessments for Metropolitan area patients.

Private, and low-rate fee schedule is available with Medicare rebates. Speak to our admin team for this.

HelloDoc is a Nationwide telehealth service, our clinicians are based in different states in Australia. Our clinicians have provided thousands of appointments for patients based in every state and territory in Australia.

Our outbound calling number (03 9001 0711) and our fax number (03 9001 0712) is a Victorian based landline number, but our support/admin staff and clinicians are based in different states in Australia. You may wish to call to call our national number 1300 959 942, or state-based office numbers 08 7918 8780 (SA/NT), 07 2111 9920 (QLD), 02 4086 5655 (NSW/ACT).

Yes, you will need a referral from your GP for an appointment with Psychiatrist, and GP Mental health care plan (MHCP) for appointments with psychologist.

Yes, a number of our psychiatrists are accepting new referrals. Our Psychologists are taking new patients as well.

We generally contact the patient within 5 business days after receiving the referral. Sometimes the details we receive from the referral are incorrect, and we have also experienced situations where referrals have gone 'missing' or are never sent to us in the first place.

Please contact us if you have not heard from us in 5 business days after sending your referrals. It is your responsibility to ensure that we have your referral.

Please note: We do not accept requests for urgent/emergency assessments. Please note above that your referral need to be triaged by our team which can take 5 business days or more.

There are several reasons that our team may request a new referral to be sent by GP. 

This includes, but not limited to: 

• Your referral may have expired, and you need a new referral for review as well as for Medicare rebates. 
• Your treating psychiatrist may have completed assessment under Medicare item number 291, and review/follow up appointment requires a letter from GP requesting review under item number 293 or another item number appropriate to the situation. Your GP can send a brief note requesting “a review” with any updates in medical or mental health medications/management. 
• This not only allows appropriate Medicare rebates for you, but also provides psychiatrists with any updates since they last reviewed you. 
• This might be because this requested review is for medications optimisation or to review side effects of the medications, which might have been reviewed by GP and would be helpful for psychiatrist to know General practitioner specialist’s opinion. 

This process is followed to be compliant with Medicare billing rules, as well as for patient’s best care. We appreciate your cooperation with this.

Based on the average waiting times for thousands of appointments conducted by HelloDoc practitioners, our waiting time for new appointments, including ADHD/ADD/ASD assessments is between 1-4 weeks.

We pride ourselves with the achievement that we have had hundreds of new assessments booked and completed within one week of receiving referrals.

Please note: Although our waiting times could be really short, we do not accept requests for urgent/emergency assessments. Please note above that your referral need to be triaged by our team which can take 5 business days or more

Yes, we have a number of Psychiatrists who are experts in ADHD/ADD assessments and management.

Currently our psychiatrists are not accepting new Autism assessments, however they can possibly provide opinion and review about management. Please obtain a GP referral and discuss with our team if this is something, one of our psychiatrists can review.

Majority of ADHD assessments are completed in two sessions, which are privately charged with a Medicare rebate for eligible appointments. Please speak to our admin staff for fee structure.

In most cases, if medications are indicated, your treating psychiatrist will recommend them to your GP and request their support to prescribe the recommended standard medications, including medications for ADHD/ADD.

When it’s a mandatory requirement by state’s regulatory authority for some medications: For example, for patients located in NSW ,it is a requirement from the prescription regulatory authority that controlled medications, such as 'stimulant' medications, be prescribed by a specialist psychiatrist. If our psychiatrists recommend these medications, they will issue the scripts and work with your GP to stabilize the medications. Once they are stable, your ongoing care will be seamlessly handed over to your GP.

Please note: Most of our psychiatrists utilize E-scripts, which allows instant delivery of the prescription to your phone or email. However, it's important to be aware that certain restricted medications (like stimulants) may require further approvals or individual applications, which can sometimes take longer and cause delays. Your treating psychiatrist will discuss with you the expected timeline for the completion of the scripts or if your GP will take over your care.

Unfortunately, our psychiatrists are unable to issue any scripts via email or phone without a consultation/ assessment.

You will need to follow our usual process of getting a referral from your GP and sending it to us and then have your appointment with treating psychiatrist. (please see above in “how does it work” for further information on booking appointments)

If you have an appointment booked with one of our practitioners, a text reminder will be sent a day before your appointment.

An email with video link will also be sent a day before your appointment. Sometimes, the email lands in your junk/spam folder. Please check the junk/spam folder by the end of day, one day before your appointment. If you still can’t find your appointment link, please email us on admin@hellodoc.com.au and we will send it again.

The email sent to you will have the simple instructions on how to connect to the appointment. We have had the feedback from thousands of patients after attending their telehealth appointments, that our system is quite user friendly and easy to connect.

If you have an appointment booked and are having trouble connecting, please call us on 1300 959 942 or send an email to admin@hellodoc.com.au

If your appointment is after hours, and you are having trouble connecting to the video conference, please send us an email or call us immediately and leave a voicemail which will be attended to.

Our service number is re-directed to a voicemail after hours. During after hours voicemails and emails are monitored only for people attending appointments. There will always be an admin person on “stand-by” to help you connect or troubleshoot.

Please see our

> Billing Policy
> Privacy Policy
> Terms & Conditions