What happens at a private procedure at Skin Check WA

Our setup is different to many other clinics.

As well as an appointment with your doctor, there is a concurrent appointment with one of our trained procedural nurses. Occasionally you may receive SMS reminders for both appointments.

We suggest arriving at least 5 minutes before your appointment time.

When it is time for the procedure, one of our trained nurses will accompany you to one of the procedural rooms. The nurse will check your personal details against the procedural booking form, verify any history of drug or tape allergies, and locate the region of the proposed surgery site. The area may need cleansing or shaving, and they will also discuss your preference for positioning, especially if there is pre-existing physical injury such as back pain or leg discomfort.

When the pre-operative preparations are done, your doctor will come in and go through any medical questions you may have about the procedure, and when you are ready, begin the first of many steps involved in the excision of the skin lesion, from administration of local anaethestics , to excsion of the skin cancer, to cautery of any blood vessels, and to closure of the skin with sutures, and finally to a suitable dressing being applied.

Once the procedure is completed by your treating doctor, our nurses will resume their continuing role. They will apply further dressings and wound advice.

During normal office hours, your treating doctor will provide routine aftercare if there is concern about the wound or healing. Afterhours, our team of nurses will provide emergency afterhours care advice, supported by a team of doctors separate to your treating doctor.

At 1-2 weeks you will return for removal of sutures and discussion of the result with your doctor. Once the sutures have been removed, the next phase of wound healing begins. You can start applying the supplied scar reduction silicion gel with advice from our nurses who can apply wound taping to reduce tension. This phase of scar optimisation will last for approximately 3 months.

What is a Peri-Operative Service (POS) Fee?

When a private procedure occurs at Skin Check WA, it is similar to what happens at a private day surgery centre.

The Peri-Operative Service Fee is for the additional services not covered by Medicare, provided by the clinic, the nurses and other practitioners.

There are 2 levels of POS fee.

Standard applies to the most common excisions on the forearms, upper arms, chest, abdomen, shoulders and upper back.

Advanced applies to excisions on other areas of the body, or other types of complex closures such as wide local excisions, flaps or skin grafts.

Standard = $275*
Advanced = $350* 


* Current as of Nov 2022

Can I get a Medicare rebate for the extended service?

The Medicare rebate for a procedure is for the medical treatment by your treating doctor. The rebate is designed to cover the minimum of standard and requirements in basic settings.

We do not believe the minimum standard as covered by the rebate alone will lead to our desired results in terms of patient comfort, follow up care and long term cosmetic outcome.

The POS fee is for the additional service and care provided by other providers, and products used after wound has healed such as scar reduction products which is only used after sutures have been removed.

The additional services, care and products used extended aftercare period are unfortunately not covered by Medicare,

Can I claim the POS fee from private health insurance?


At present, health funds will only allow claims for procedure related costs if the patient is admitted to a hospital, as an "inpatient".

For example, the extra costs of having an CT guided injection in a radiology clinic will only be covered by health insurance if the patient is already a patient of a hospital, and not when the patient have the same procedure as a walk-in "outpatient".

This also means any excess for the hospital admission must be paid first to the health insurance to be considered an "inpatient".

We could shift our procedures to mini-day hospitals but any claim benefit would be offset by the need to pay an excess for the majority of our patients.

We hope this situation will change in the future.

Concession Card Holders

Commonwealth Senior Health Card and Age Pension Card holders are eligible for a $100 reduction in the above fees.
[bot_catcher]