Getting ready for your appointment

Before your appointment

Being prepared before your appointment will help you to get the most out of it. Follow these tips to get ready for your appointment.

Write down:

• a list of topics you want to talk about during your appointment
• a list of medications you’re taking, including supplements and vitamins
• any symptoms you have and how long they last
• any allergies you have
• your family health history
• any other treatments you’re having such as physiotherapy or counselling
• the contact details of other health care providers you see

Face-to-face appointments

Our health centres remain open during the coronavirus pandemic. Our doctors are offering face-to-face appointments based on the most recent government guidelines.

We are reducing the number of people in our waiting areas to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

If you have a face-to-face appointment, here are some things you can do to help:

• Come to your appointment alone, where possible
• Arrive on time – no more than 10 minutes early
• Bring your medicare care / health care / pension card if you have one
• Answer the questions asked to you at the door about your appointment, health and travel history
• Use the hand sanitiser provided before entering reception
• Keep a physical distance of 1.5m from others, where possible
• Pay any fees with card – not cash – where possible
• Use a tissue to cover your nose and mouth if you need to cough or if you don’t have a tissue cough into your elbow
• Face masks may be required, please refer to Victorian Government guidelines for the most up to date information.

Telehealth appointments

cohealth has introduced video and telephone appointments (also known as TeleHealth) to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission. This will help to protect the health of our clients, staff and the broader community.

Phone call appointment

These are tips for how to get ready for an appointment over the telephone:

• Find a quiet, private space where you won’t be disturbed.
• Your doctor/clinician/support worker, will call you for a phone consultation at the time of your appointment.

Video appointment

There’s a few things you will need to get started with your video appointment (also called TeleHealth).

• You will need a computer, tablet or smartphone with a camera, microphone and stable internet connection.
• To avoid internet connection issues, you can take this online test before your appointment. The test will make sure you have the required network and device settings for a video call using ‘Healthdirect’. Healthdirect is the name of the software we use for video calls.

When your device is set up and ready for a video call, you will need to:

• Find a comfortable, private space where you won’t be disturbed
• Follow the link sent to you via text message to access your appointment* – you will be taken to a private webpage where you will wait for your doctor/clinician
• If the connection drops out, refresh the page – otherwise your doctor/clinician will call you to continue your appointment by phone
• You can share images and documents (medical records or scans) with your doctor/clinician during the video call – ensure these are saved on your device so you can send them during the call
• There will be a short survey at the end of the video call to gain your feedback. This feedback will help us to continue to improve the service, and is optional.

* If you do not have the link sent to you via text message, call the cohealth centre where you made the appointment and one of our friendly Client Services Officers will assist. 

Watch this video for tips on getting ready for your video appointment 

Appointment wait times

Sometimes emergencies cause our doctors/clinicians to run late or sometimes people just require extra time for their appointment. Please be patient and wait to be contacted by your doctor/clinician.