An investigation into the business practices of a 29-year-old podiatrist, who describes himself as probably the highest-paid practitioner in Australia, has exposed some deep failings in the health system that open it up to rorting and privacy breaches.
Some of his posts espoused the virtues of being fit, pumping iron, exercising on the beach or posing with expensive cars. “I have never come across a health payment system anywhere in the world that is easier to abuse than ours," Dr Faux said.She said in podiatry some health funding schemes such as DVA and workers comp entitled patients to more services and treatments than others.
“Basically you put in a number saying, I did this thing, now pay me and the answer comes back, here you go, here's your money. There are no questions asked, there are no checks and balances in all of these systems," Dr Faux said. Mr Rowson said he believed the box and the call were for research and sent impressions of his feet back and received an unsolicited pair of inserts for his shoes. He said he was shocked when he went to his regular podiatrist, Jason Rzepecki, who told him he couldn’t order a new pair of orthotics because he had used up his entitlement for the year.
“The patient does not know this doctor. He's never heard of her. So this has been cooked up to enable the podiatrist to claim,” she said. “I gave them a call and then a doctor started checking in with me, weekly for a few weeks,” he said.DVA requires a face-to-face consultation for fitting customised shoes. Mr Rewell said at one stage Dr Parasher tried to sell him shoes.
Instead of being readily available, in a similar fashion to the government services portal myGov where Medicare billing records can instantly be downloaded, the veterans were told by DVA that it would take weeks or months to process. They also had to navigate a complex form, that many struggled to complete.
They included claims for manipulation of foot joints in person, muscle testing in person, gait analysis in person, joint manipulation appointments and range of motion study in person."You're saying 70? I would have been battling to have seen him seven or nine times on the phone to speak to,” he said.Veterans including Doug Stevenson, Ray Peele and Robert Donaldson also received podiatry boxes, which they believed were complimentary.
He said workers compensation patients in NSW were often overserviced, something some other former workers have told 7.30 that they also witnessed. Mr Mahon and another administrative assistant Dannielle Whitehand said they were instructed by Dr Parasher to access a patient booking system at the Seaview Clinic based inside Wollongong Private Hospital, where the Foot and Ankle Clinic of Australia rented a room. This gave them access to patient information relating to other doctors' patients.
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