FAQ

We accept all private Health Funds including but not limited to:

• HBF
• Medibank
• Bupa
• AHM
• HIF
• GUHealth
• Police Health
• Teachers Health Fund
• HCF
• Australian Unity
• Defence Health
• GMF
• GMHBA
• nib
• Frank Health Insurance
• CBHS
• Health.com.au

All Bodysmart practitioners are registered with Private Health Funds.

Please check with your health fund to ensure coverage for the applicable service prior to your appointment. Bodysmart takes no responsibility for any errors or misunderstanding between patients and private health funds regarding rebates.

YES!

We offer HICAPS claiming on Physiotherapy, Chiropractic and Remedial Massage services at our Perth health care practice.

HICAPS is an electronic health claims and payments system which offers members of participating health funds the convenience of automatic claims processing, on the spot in the practice.

HICAPS can save time and money. To use your health insurance and claim instantly, ensure that you bring your card to your appointment.

The real benefit to patients is convenience – no more queuing at health fund branches and filling in claim forms!

Please note that you can only use HICAPS on the day of service. If you forget your health fund card, we will print you a receipt so that you can claim online or at your health fund.

Information for all Chiropractic, Physiotherapy and Massage patients in our Perth CBD practice.

• Please arrive 5 minutes before your first consultation to fill out a new patient form if this has not been returned to us electronically beforehand.
• Wear clothing that allows us to assess / treat your injured area. We have shorts here if you forget!
• Bring your private health fund card, if you would like to claim through HICAPS.
• Bring any recent scans or x-ray results that may be relevant to your injury.  If you cannot locate these, we can often access them online if required.
• Notify our friendly reception staff when you arrive. We know most of our clients on a first name basis, but this takes time!

After Your Treatment Session:

In order to maximise the results of your treatment consider doing the following:

• Keep hydrated
• Keep your muscles warm and keep moving
• Avoid heavy/excessive exercise after treatment
• Keep supported during sleep
• Be a participant in your rehabilitation program
• Give yourself time to heal
• Keep your appointments (a 4 hour cancellation policy applies for all appointments)

Please feel free to ask your practitioner about:

• Supportive ergonomic pillows and therapeutic aids
• Assistive supplements such as Fish Oil and Magnesium
• Pilates and core strengthening classes
• Ergonomic Assessment for your workstation
• Corporate health programs such as Manual Handling Training

To book an appointment with one of our Physiotherapists, Chiropractors or Remedial Massage Therapists contact Bodysmart on (08) 9481 8708 or  book online today

The downside to being located to within walking distance to 100,000 people is that we are in the heart of the CBD and offer no onsite parking.  However, we do have many multi-story parking sites within easy walk of our practice.

Click on links below for info on popular multi-story car parks:

City of Perth Parking (CPP) Locations

Wilson Parking Locations

We regret that late arrivals may not receive an extension of their scheduled appointment and will be charged in accordance with their scheduled appointment as this time has been allocated to you. In special cases, and when our schedule will allow, we may be able to accommodate a partial or full appointment. This will be at our discretion and will only occur with proper, advanced notification of your late arrival.

If your therapist is running late, due to unforeseen circumstances, you will receive your full scheduled appointment allocation.

Bodysmart employs a team of highly skilled and sought-after health professionals who are often in high demand. In the interest of courtesy, to both your practitioner and other patients that may be in urgent need of an appointment, Bodysmart has a strict reschedule / cancellation / DNA policy.

Clinic Consults (all 1:1 Physio, Chiro, Massage)
4+ hrs = NO FEE, we thank you for giving us plenty of notice 🙂
0-4 hrs notice given = 75% of fee
No notice give (DNA) = 100% of fee

Clinical Pilates / Clinical Functional Movement Sessions (1:3):
12+ hrs = NO FEE, we thank you for giving us plenty of notice 🙂
4-12 hrs notice given = $30 if you can’t move to another class that week
0-4 hrs or no notice given (DNA) = 100% of fee

General Exercise Classes:
12+ hrs = NO FEE, we thank you for giving us plenty of notice 🙂
0-12 hrs or no notice given (DNA) = 100% of fee
We ask that you clear all fees prior to receiving further treatment.

Please don’t make us charge you and give us the notice we need to help us provide the best service we can to you.

Private Patients – No Referral Necessary

You do not require a GP referral to see any Bodysmart practitioners, UNLESS you intend to claim the session back under:

• Motor Vehicle Insurance
• Workers Compensation
• Department of Veteran Affairs

Insurance Patients – Referral Required

Motor Vehicle (ICWA) and Workers Compensation Patients will require a referral from their treating practitioner (Doctor/Specialist). You should also confirm prior to attending your appointment that your treatment expenses will be approved by the insurer. This will speed up the claims process and ensure minimal, if any, out of pocket expense. You will also need to bring the contact details of the claims manager and your claim number to your appointment.

DVA patients must have a referral letter from a doctor on official HIC stationery.

For all Initial Consultations, claims will need to be settled on the day by the patient unless prior approval has been confirmed with the insurer and Bodysmart.

Appointments for any of our Physiotherapists, Chiropractors and+ Remedial Massage Therapists can be made online

Your first Physiotherapy session will include the following:

• Detailed questioning to you regarding your injury
• Detailed “hands on” assessment of your injury
• Diagnosis given with explanation to you
• Treatment goals set with you
• Treatment commenced
• Key take-home exercises given

Yes! All of our Physiotherapists use Dry Needling

What is dry needling ?
Dry needling is a broad term used to differentiate “non-injection” needling from the practice of “injection needling” which uses a hyperdermic syringe. Dry needle therapy uses a very fine, solid, filament needle and relies on the stimulation of specific reactions in the target tissue for its therapeutic effect.

The term dry needling is also used to differentiate the use of needling in a western physiological paradigm from the use of needling in an oriental paradigm which is referred to as acupuncture.
How does Dry Needling / Acupuncture work?
Dry needling physiotherapy helps to reduce pain and tension thereby helping the muscles and other tissues to heal. It involves the insertion of needles into either trigger points or superficial nerve endings. Needling can help to release trigger point tightness, enhance blood circulation and assist with the release of pain mediating chemicals and endorphins. This helps to reduce pain and promote healing.

Physiotherapists often combine it with other treatment techniques to achieve superior results, faster.

Bodysmart uses the highest quality single use, sterile, “SIEREN” brand needles.
What common conditions are treated using dry needle therapy?
·   Chronic Pain and ­Headaches
·   Neck Pain ­
·   Lower Back Pain ­
·   RSI
·   Tennis Elbow and Golfer’s Elbow  ­
·   Shoulder Tightness and Impingement, Frozen shoulder ­
·   Knee pain and ITB Dysfunction
·   Hip Pain and Bursitis
·   Buttock Pain

When will your therapist use dry needling?
If dry needling is identified by your physiotherapist as being beneficial for your condition they will request your consent prior to treatment.

When joints become dysfunctional as a result of trauma, overuse or disuse, they are unable to perform the movements for which they were designed. Joint mobilisation is a technique physiotherapists use to restore the small, involuntary movements that assist joints to perform to their optimum.

When applied to the spine, it is known as spinal mobilisation. It can also be used to move the jonts of the limbs. These techniques are often used by chiropractors and physiotherapists as part of an effective treatment to get you moving better.

Put simply, the FMS is a standardised ranking and grading system that documents movement patterns that are key to normal function. By screening these patterns, the FMS readily identifies functional limitations and asymmetries.
If not corrected, these functional limitations can predispose injury and not allow you to perform to your full potential.

If this test is performed by a skilled and qualified health practitioner (e.g. Physiotherapist), they can devise strategies and exercise to correct the imbalances and get you moving better.

In turn this will result in reduced injury risk and healthier movement.

Bodysmart has several practitioners that have completed the certification to perform this assessment and work with you to correct abnormalities.

Clinical Functional Movement (CFM) is the term Bodysmart has coined to describe an individualised exercise based treatment performed by a Physiotherapist in a gym environment using gym equipment that is heavily focused on getting a client to move more freely with better technique.

After detecting movement imbalances, our extensively trained CFM Physiotherapists will set up a customised program with better technique. This often allows our clients to perform better, with less injuries.

A chiropractor is a health care professional focused on the diagnosis and treatment of neuromuscular disorders, with an emphasis on treatment through manual adjustment and/or manipulation of the spine.

Most chiropractors seek to reduce pain and improve the functionality of patients as well as to educate them on how they can account for their own health via exercise, ergonomics and other therapies to treat back pain.

You do not require a GP referral to book an appointment to see a Bodysmart Chiropractor if you are attending as a private client using your Private Health care such as HBF, Medibank Private and BUPA.

If you intend to claim your treatment through DVA, Motor Vehicle or Workers Compensation insurance you will require a referral. For more information please refer to our insurance information.

For further information about our Chiropractic Service please go to our Chiropractic Homepage.
Prepare For Your Appointment

• Write down your concerns or symptoms in advance, so you don’t forget to talk about them.
• Bring a list of all medications, vitamins and supplements you take.
• Inform your chiropractor about your diet, sleep and exercise habits.

Wear Appropriate Clothing

• You will not be required to take off your clothing when you have a chiropractic appointment.
• Females please wear pants rather than skirts that allows your chiropractor to complete all appropriate stretches and spinal adjustments with you.

Ask Questions

• Feel free to ask your chiropractor any questions about chiropractic, your diagnosis and prognosis and the treatment plan.

Keep Your Appointments

• Your care schedule has been customised for you. Each session will build on the one before. Missing or postponing a visit can interfere with the retraining of your nervous system and remodelling of your muscular tissue.

Be An Active Participant of Your Rehabilitation Program

• When your condition has stabilised, you will be given some exercises and stretches designed specifically for you. These are imperative to maximise the health and function of your muscles and joints.
• Perform exercises prescribed in the absence of pain.
• If you would like your program to be updated please do not hesitate to ask your therapist.

Give It Time:

• If you cover up symptoms with a pill, you expect fast relief. Chiropractic care aims to correct the underlying cause(s) of your problem.
• The longer the problem has been around for, the longer it will take to heal.
• Regular progress examinations will be conducted, directing your care schedule.

To book a chiropractic consultation in Perth city call

(08) 9481 8708 or fill in a book online.

Your first Chiropractic session will include the following:

• Detailed questioning to you regarding your injury
• Detailed “hands on” assessment of your injury
• Diagnosis given with explanation to you
• Treatment goals set with you
• Treatment commenced if it is safe to do so.
• Referral for xray (if required)
• Key take-home exercises given

The sound created when receiving a chiropractic adjustment is made when gas is formed between the joint surfaces. A healthy joint moves in its normal, full range of motion, while a restricted or tight joint will have a smaller range of motion. One aim of an adjustment is to increase the joints range of motion. The way in which this is done is by taking the restricted joint to the end of its range and performing the adjustment.

An adjustment is a controlled stretch of the joint capsule causing the joint surfaces to separate (within normal ranges) and the gases are quickly released from the synovial fluid into the joint creating the popping sound. These gases create a momentary vacuum within the joint, which will slowly dissolve back into the synovial fluid. This also explains why a joint, your knuckle for example, cannot be cracked repeatedly; the gases need to dissolve back into the joint before it can be ‘cracked’ again. This refractory period usually takes about twenty minutes.

What is a Relaxation Massage?

A relaxation massage helps de-stress and loosen up your body and is great for those who have had a hard working week or feel like treating themselves to some TLC! The treatment consists of flowing strokes, kneading and gentle manipulations of the muscles performed at your chosen pressure. It is a pain-free way to relax both your muscles and your mind. Training for relaxation style massage not performed by a Remedial Massage therapist is not eligible for health fund rebates (e.g. most Chinese Massage parlors, day spas etc)
What is a Remedial Massage?

If you have particular muscle tension or chronic pain a remedial massage may be best for you. Your remedial massage therapist will assess where you need treatment and what may be causing your pain. They’ll perform some tests to see exactly which muscles are giving you trouble and will tailor a treatment plan to suit. The treatment itself may involve deep tissue work for short periods of time, but the results are definitely worth it!

Conditions such as sciatica, carpal tunnel, stiff necks, headaches, sports injuries and many more complaints can be eased with a remedial treatment. Private health fund rebates are available if the massage is performed by a Remedial Massage therapist (who has undergone extensive training in massage).

If you’d like more advice regarding what’s best for you, please call us to discuss your condition. Or, simply book your appointment and enjoy the benefits.

Many companies have a preferred provider that they use to come to your workstation and perform an Ergonomic Assessment.  Bodysmart Health Solutions provides this service for many Perth based companies (over 400 companies!).  We have completed tens of thousands of assessments.

If you suffer from pain and discomfort it is important that this service is provided by a Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist skilled in the treatment of injury and trained in Ergonomics.

Please contact us to find out if your company uses Bodysmart Health Solutions by calling the office number or email us.

Ergonomic assessments, also referred to as workstation assessments, ensure that a worker’s workstation is ergonomically adjusted and optimised for thier size, shape and work requirements to minimise the risk of injury and maximise productivity.

An ergonomic Assessment can also be conducted to support the return to work of an injured worker by ensuring that their workstation is designed to minimise any discomfort as they recover from their injury and prevent any aggravation of the injury.  It can be conducted for a worker who works from home, to ensure their home work environment is safe and ergonomically designed.

A preventative assessment can be completed for someone who is a new starter or moves to a new workstation. This is more a checklist style assessment which is a more cost effective way of preventing any injury, pain or discomfort for an individual or groups of employees.

Where an individual is already experiencing pain or discomfort, or has an injury or disability, it is essential that a thorough assessment is completed to ensure they can work safely and comfortably. The assessment helps employers to meet their duty of care with a formal 3 page report provided following the assessment.

We recommend that all assessments are conducted by experienced occupational therapists or physiotherapists and covers:

• posture
• physical and muscular work demands
• equipment and workplace design
• environmental factors (lighting, noise and temperature]
• keyboard and mouse use
• stretch exercises