LungSmart Physiotherapy
LungSmart Physiotherapy supports you and your doctor to develop and regularly review a suitable management plan for controlling your symptoms of lung disease.
LungSmart Physiotherapy
LungSmart Physiotherapy is a physiotherapy service dedicated to lung health. Physiotherapists are highly qualified in providing advice to reduce the effects of chronic lung disease such as COPD, Emphysema, Chronic Bronchitis, Asthma, Bronchiectasis, Interstitial Lung Disease, Asbestos related Lung Disease, and Lung Cancer.
LungSmart Physiotherapy offers individual physiotherapy consultation, including patient cardio-respiratory assessment and completion of standardised outcome measures, followed by evidence-based therapies tailored to the individual.
LungSmart Physiotherapy supports you and your doctor to develop and regularly review a suitable management plan for controlling your symptoms of lung disease.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Pulmonary Rehabilitation is group-based and provides comprehensive treatment purposely tailored for people with chronic lung disease. LungSmart Pulmonary Rehabilitation is supervised by our health professionals and is designed to operate in line with recommended guidelines. Standard pulmonary rehabilitation comprises 16 supervised exercise sessions. These are usually completed twice weekly over an eight week period. Assessment consultations are completed before and after pulmonary rehabilitation to accurately assess and monitor symptoms using internationally recognised clinical measurements and protocols.
Read more about pulmonary rehabilitation research summaries.
Spirometry
Spirometry is one of the most common lung function tests. An accurate spirometry test is vital to confirm a lung diagnosis of COPD. Repeating spirometry over time may also be recommended to monitor your lung condition.
Why have LungSmart perform your spirometry test?
Spirometry testing requires skill in order to administer the testing and to interpret the results. This ensures your test is an accurate measure of your lung function.
- LungSmart health professionals are trained to conduct spirometry tests as per recognised clinical protocols and guidelines.
- Spirometers must have their calibration checked regularly to ensure accuracy. Our spirometer is checked with a calibrated volume syringe test and biological control test.
- It is also important that the tester select the correct predicted tables to compare to your results. LungSmart normally uses the GLI (Quanjer) 2012 as recommended by most Respiratory Laboratories in Queensland.
Is there a fee for spirometry?
Yes. We charge $45 to complete accurate spirometry testing. Please note our fee is not eligible for a Medicare rebate.
Six minute walk test
The six-minute walk test (6MWT) is commonly used to measure your functional exercise tolerance. It is vital before pulmonary rehabilitation to prescribe an appropriate exercise program. Repeating this test over time may also be recommended to monitor your exercise tolerance and check how well your treatment is working.
LungSmart conducts standardised six-minute walk testing as per recognised clinical protocols including the Official European Respiratory Society / American Thoracic Society Technical Standard: field walking tests in chronic respiratory disease (Eur Respir J 2014) and % predicted distance calculations as per Jenkins 2009 et al. A six-minute walk test is a practical, simple, self-paced walking test. You will be asked to walk as far as possible in a flat corridor within a six minute period. You may slow down, or stop and rest if necessary. You will be encouraged to do your best and walk as far as possible. You will be supervised throughout the test. This test may need to be done twice to get your best result. If needed, the second test is usually performed on a different day.
Standard Costs Summary
| Standard Service | Item number code for Private Health Insurance | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Individual physiotherapy consultations: | ||
| First consultation for new referral | 500 (PT) | $135 |
| Review consultation/s | 505 (PT) | $90 |
| Group consultations: | ||
| Supervised Group Exercise (Pulmonary Rehabilitation) | 560 (PT) | $30 / session |
| Supervised Group Exercise (Gold Exercise) | 560 (PT) | $15 / session |
Cancellation or Non-attendance of appointments
We require at least 2 hours’ notice for appointments being cancelled. A fee is payable if an appointment is cancelled with less than 2 hours’ notice or is not attended. Any future appointments will not be booked until this fee is paid.
DVA Health Cards (Gold and White)
DVA Health Cards (Gold and White) are accepted as full payment for an eligible referral. Please bring your doctor’s referral and DVA card to your appointment. Please note you cannot claim two physiotherapy services from DVA for the same treatment date. This includes appointments booked on the same day with two different physiotherapy practices. Please keep this in mind when booking appointments. You will be responsible for full payment if DVA rejects your claim.
From 1 October 2019, referrals for DVA clients to allied health services will be valid for up to 12 sessions or a year, whichever ends first. An End of Cycle report is then provided to your usual GP. Your GP can then refer for another Treatment Cycle. Please note the Treatment Cycle does not apply to veterans with a Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (TPI) Gold Card from DVA. The DVA Gold Card clearly indicates if a client is a TPI veteran.
Health Funds
Health Funds: Bring your private health insurance HICAPS card with you to your consultation and present it to the front desk prior to payment. You will be charged a service “Item Number” code based upon the service conducted (see above table). The rebate given from each health fund can vary for each item number so please contact your private health insurer to determine how much of the treatment cost they will cover, if you are unsure. The full service amount will be charged, the health fund will give you a rebate based upon their fee schedule and you will then pay the gap payment.
The Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) believes health insurers should ideally offer a premium product for physiotherapy coverage which has the following features:
- Allows your choice of physiotherapist without being financially disadvantaged.
- Rebates 75% of a service provided at market rate for both individual and group consultations.
- Provides a minimum of 15 services per year, with initial consultations as needed for each episode.
- Pays higher rebates for more experienced and qualified physiotherapists.
Medicare Rebate
Medicare rebate is available for individual consultations ONLY if you have an eligible Medicare referral from your GP to our service. Group exercise sessions are NOT eligible for a medicare rebate. There is a small gap between the Medicare rebate and our fees. Medicare requires you to pay the full fee at time of consultation. Medicare will then pay the rebate to your nominated account. Please note you cannot claim both Private Health Insurance and Medicare rebates for the same consultation.
Medicare GPMP/TCA (GP Management Plan / Team Care Arrangement) referrals: You may be able to claim Medicare rebates for allied health services if you have a chronic medical condition that is being managed by your GP under both a GP Management Plan (GPMP) and Team Care Arrangement (TCA), and your GP provides an appropriate referral. The medicare rebate is limited to a maximum of five allied health services per patient each calendar year. The five allied health services on your GPMP/TCA plan can be made up of one type of service (e.g. five physiotherapy services) or a combination of different types of services and/or providers (e.g. one dietetic and four podiatry services). Additional service rebates are not possible in any circumstances. The rebate ($53.80) is only available for individual consultations. If you have no more eligible medicare rebates remaining in the calendar year, you will be responsible for all service fees. If you have any doubt about your eligibility for Medicare rebates, the Department of Human Services will be able to confirm the number of allied health services you have already claimed during the calendar year. You can call the Department of Human Services to check this information 132 011.
Exercise Programs
HeartStart LungSmart GOLD Exercise
LungSmart/HeartStart GOLD Exercise is an ongoing health professional-supervised group exercise program, designed for people with stable chronic lung and/or cardiac conditions, who have completed our pulmonary or cardiac rehabilitation program within the past 12mths.
