St John redirect (POAC)

All Pinnacle practices in Waikato region can claim for this service.

There are three entry pathways to the service. In all instances the patient will be provided with a voucher (by text or a hard copy). This voucher is presented at their general practice or urgent care clinic to cover the cost of the initial consultation.

   1. Hear and advise

For patients where St John Clinical Hub, St John Paramedics and Homecare Medical Nurses have provided secondary telephone triage to low acuity patient calls.

After assessment the patient is advised to see their General Practice (GP) or an Urgent Care Clinic (UCC). The patient makes their own appointment and arranges transport to the appointment.

    2. See and treat

For patients who call 111 and require a visit from St John Ambulance service to carry out an assessment and provide treatment as required. 

After assessment, the patient is then advised to visit their GP or UCC for further assessment and treatment. The patient makes their own appointment and arranges transport to the appointment.

     3. Transport patient to GP or UCC

For patients who call 111 and require a visit from St John Ambulance service to carry out an assessment and provide treatment. 

Post assessment, the service makes the decision to transport the patient to a GP or UCC facility for further assessment and treatment. St John Ambulance service will call the GP or UCC prior to bringing the patient. 

• Patients who are domiciled in Te Whatu Ora Waikato district.
• Patients who are eligible to receive New Zealand publicly funded health services.
• Patients who have called 111.
• Patients redirected to the practice by St John ambulance and provided with a voucher to cover the cost of the initial consultation

Patients not domiciled in Te Whatu Ora Waikato area.

Patients who clinically need transportation to the emergency department for urgent treatment.

Exclusion criteria to access POAC funding should not preclude emergency treatment of any medical conditions.

In all instances the patient will be provided with a voucher (by text or a hard copy). This voucher is presented at their general practice or urgent care clinic to cover the cost of the initial consultation. The voucher includes a valid date and time of issue and is to be presented within 48 hours from the time of issue. 

When opening a referral please select the ‘referral initiated by’ option ‘St John’.

For conditions that meet Primary Options Acute Care criteria, please continue with the usual Primary Options Acute care processes.

For conditions that do not meet Primary Options Acute Care criteria, please set the pathway/coding to 'St. John Redirect'.

All St. John redirect initial consults can be claimed for by selecting the St. John Redirect GP consultation regardless of whether the patient meets the Primary Options Acute Care criteria or not.

The price listed below is GST inclusive.

St. John Redirect GP consultation: $79.00  

This invoice funds the initial consultation for the redirected patient.

Please include the voucher number in your claim

Once the patient is at the practice, the GP/NP will assess the patient and determine whether the condition meets the Primary Options Acute Care criteria or is considered normal GP business/non-acute.               

If the patient meets Primary Options Acute Care criteria, please claim one of the above invoices to cover the cost of their initial consultation and continue to claim as you normally would for the treatment provided to the acutely unwell patient who is safe to manage in the community.

No patient co-payment can be charged to the patient; however, the patient is responsible for funding the cost of the initial ambulance call out fee.

If the redirected patient's condition deteriorates and they require transport to hospital via ambulance, please contact the Primary Options team on 0800 646 764 for assistance.

Practices are required to provide sufficiently detailed consultation notes to determine appropriate use of POAC funding.

It has been recommended that in addition to a good assessment and history, the full range of appropriate observations should be documented, especially where the diagnosis is undetermined. It is important to state the time of consultations and interactions with the patient.

Please include the voucher number in your claim

Once the episode of care is completed and the patient is no longer acutely unwell, they exit the POAC programme.

Once the patient exits the POAC programme, the case requires a clinical outcome to be lodged. No payment can be made for any claims unless the outcome is completed.

Where treatment in the community is no longer clinically appropriate, the patient may be admitted to hospital during a POAC plan of care. Please indicate this in the clinical outcome.

No patient co-payment can be charged to the patient; however, the patient is responsible for funding the cost of the initial ambulance call out fee.

If the redirected patient's condition deteriorates and they require transport to hospital via ambulance, please contact the Primary Options team on 0800 646 764 for assistance.

The service is funded by Te Whatu Ora.