There are many moving parts in specialist care: referrals, appointments, forms, tests, and rebates. Our goal is to make every step of your care easy to understand and simple to navigate.
Here you’ll find information on submitting your referral, preparing for your appointment, and understanding important information around billing and rebates before you book or visit. We’ve kept the information simple and clear, so you can focus on your health with confidence.
How do I make an appointment?
Before you make an appointment, please read through this page.
To make an appointment for a consultation with Dr Keegan, a GP or specialist referral is needed. Once you have that, please use this secure online form to submit the referral. If you have enquiries, please call 02 5603 8111.
After we receive your referral, we will send you an online Patient Registration Form. Once completed, we will then contact you to offer appointment options.
Your time matters. Your safety matters. The information you provide helps us give you the best possible care.
What should I bring to an appointment?
We kindly ask that you plan ahead for your appointment to ensure you can attend on time. If your plans change, please let us know as early as possible so we can offer the appointment to another patient who may need it. Please see the cancellation policy below.
Please arrive 10 minutes before your scheduled appointment so you have time to settle in, check in with our team, and complete any final administrative steps.
Bring all relevant information as listed below:
- Your Medicare card
- Private Health Insurance card (if you are insured)
- Your referral
- List of all current medications (if you hadn’t listed everything in the online registration form)
- All relevant results (e.g. X Rays, MRI or CT scans, copies of pathology reports)
Medical Fees
CONSULTATION FEES
Consultations with Dr Keegan are billed privately. The full consultation fee is payable on the day of your appointment. *Medicare rebates are paid to the patient after a claim is lodged. Please send us an email at reception@drmathewkeegan.com to enquire about current fees.
*MBS Benefits Schedule website
Telehealth Consultation Fees & Payment Process
For Telehealth consultations, fees are payable prior to your appointment. This confirms your booking and allows us to schedule the consultation properly.
Is Telehealth the Same Cost as a Face-to-Face Appointment?
Yes. Telehealth consultations are charged at the same rate as in-person consultations.
Clinical assessment, preparation and medical decision-making involved are the same, regardless of how the consultation is delivered. Telehealth is simply a different method of providing the same specialist care, and the quality and depth of the consultation remain unchanged.
The Medicare rebate amount is the same for an initial consultation regardless of whether it is by Telehealth or face-to-face. *$151.90 as of Nov 2025. The gap or out-of-pocket costs for consultations are the same for both Telehealth and face-to-face consultations.
PROCEDURE FEES
*To ensure you are properly covered by your health insurance for the procedure you are booking for, please check your level of cover with your health fund before booking an appointment or paying the patient gap for a procedure.
Definition of Terms: What is a Gap, Known Gap & Excess?
- Gap: The difference between your doctor’s fee and the Medicare/health-fund rebate. This is your out-of-pocket expense.
- Known Gap: Dr Mathew Keegan participates in “Known Gap” arrangements with selected major health funds, capping your out-of-pocket cost (usually up to $500).
- Excess: An agreement between you and your health fund, payable to the hospital on the day of admission. Please confirm any excess or co-payment directly with your fund.
Please send us an email at reception@drmathewkeegan.com to enquire about specific fees.
A “known gap” applies to all endoscopic procedures with Dr Keegan and varies by procedure type. To secure your booking, payment of the quoted gap is required 7 days before your procedure. If payment is not received by this time, your booking may be offered to another patient on the waitlist.
Before any procedure, we provide clear informed financial consent so you know exactly what to expect. You’ll receive a fee estimate outlining the item numbers relevant to your procedure. Please take this information to your private health fund to check your health-fund coverage and any applicable rebates.
Anaesthetist fees (and in some cases, pathology fees) and fees of other doctors involved in your care are billed separately by those providers. For hospital fees, please check with the hospital directly.
Please note, on the day of hospital admission, you may have to pay an Excess, which is an agreement between you and your Health Fund and will have been in your contract with them. It is not related to the doctors or the practice. Please check this with your private health fund.
Please note: Final charges may vary depending on findings or additional procedures. Actual rebates and out-of-pocket costs may vary depending on your procedure, health-fund level, and hospital arrangements.
PUBLIC PATIENTS
If you would like to see Dr Keegan via the public health system, you are welcome to book in as a public patient by sending your referral to reception@drmathewkeegan.com with “PUBLIC PATIENT” in the subject line. We will forward the referral to the appropriate team.
SELF-INSURING
If you are uninsured and would still like your procedure with Dr Keegan at a private hospital, you may “self-insure” or pay the full fees yourself.
RAPID ACCESS ENDOSCOPY
Your GP may refer you directly for a screening or diagnostic procedure (after a safety assessment) without needing an initial specialist consultation prior to the procedure. This means, you can be scheduled for a procedure rather promptly.
Rapid Access (sometimes also referred to as Open Access or Direct Access) procedures are available for eligible patients with specific and limited indications and without certain medical conditions that place them at higher risk for an endoscopic procedure.
Question: If I go straight to a procedure, does that mean the next time I see the specialist will be counted as a ‘follow up consult’?
No. Rapid Access means the usual order of seeing a specialist (i.e. initial consultation before procedure) is reversed to give you quicker access to the endoscopic procedure. Therefore, the first consultation after the procedure is an ‘initial consultation’.
Cancellation Policy
Our cancellation policy is in place to support safe, timely, and high-quality care for all our patients. We understand that plans can change, and our cancellation policy exists to ensure your care, and the care of others, remains safe and well coordinated.
Many gastroenterology appointments and procedures often require careful preparation, including bowel prep, medication changes, fasting, and coordination with hospital and theatre teams. When appointments are confirmed, these resources are reserved specifically for you.
Letting us know early if you need to make changes allows us to offer urgent appointments to other patients who may need help quickly, use theatre time efficiently, and keep the care pathway safe for everyone.
CONSULTATION APPOINTMENTS
If you need to change your appointment, please give us more than 48 hours’ notice. Cancellations made with less than 48 hours’ notice may incur a $100 late cancellation fee, and a non-attendance fee may apply for missed appointments. These policies help us keep appointments available for patients who may need care urgently.
PROCEDURES
As mentioned above, payment of the quoted gap is required 7 days before your procedure to secure your booking. If payment is not received by this time, your booking may be offered to another patient on the waitlist.
Cancellations with more than 5 days’ notice may be rescheduled without charge. Cancellations with less than 5 days’ notice will result in the payment becoming non-refundable.
Five days’ notice is required to allow safe bowel preparation, medication adjustments and the timely reallocation of theatre time to patients with urgent clinical needs, such as cancer.
For medical or unforeseen emergencies with a medical certificate or documentation, we are happy to reschedule at no charge.
If you have any questions about any of the information on this page, please feel free to call us at 02 5603 8111 or email reception@drmathewkeegan.com.
**Published 20 Nov 2025
