Bonitas Member Magazine B-Living - Issue 2 | Page 8

ASK THE DOCT R Have a question for the doctor? Email us at [email protected] and your question could feature in the next issue of B-Living. Good day Dr Good morning I am on the BonCap option. Recently I visited my GP for a consultation and I was told that I have exhausted my GP consultation benefit. I thought that this was unlimited. What is going on? Thabani Please explain the GP referral process. If a member knows they should see a specialist (especially if they have previously been a patient of that specialist), WHY do we need a GP’s referral? It then costs a GP fee PLUS the specialist fee from your medical aid. Dear Thabani This does not make any sense. GP consultations on BonCap are unlimited. You will need to ensure that you do not consult with more than two network GPs. However, pre-authorisation is required after the seventh consultation in a year. You can get pre-authorisation by calling us on 0861 239 333. We are also addressing this with healthcare providers to clear up the confusion and ensure they do not turn patients away. Juliana H de Witt Hello Dr My son recently started pre-school. He never had any issues with head lice up until recently. He is scratching his scalp all the time and someone told me it’s contagious. Is this because of the new environment and being around other kids his age? Mandy Dear Mandy Head lice are commonly found in kids between the ages 4 and 11. It is contagious and seems to peak at the start of every school term. The most effective way of detecting head lice is to use a head lice comb – a very fine-toothed plastic comb with less than 0,3 mm spacing. There are different treatments available; however, they are not all 100% effective. Chat to your pharmacist about the options available to treat head lice. Page 7 Dear Juliana We strongly advocate using a GP as a primary caregiver to ensure coordination of care and prevent duplication of tests at specialist level. One element of this is requiring that patients are referred to a specialist by a GP, as this ensures that specialist intervention is clinically and medically necessary. When the GP is the coordinator of care there is less risk in beneficiaries receiving duplicate treatment from multiple doctors and providers, which leads to poor