Online Physiotherapy (Telehealth)

Access an experienced physiotherapist from anywhere in Australia

Nicole spent a considerable part of 2022 travelling around Australia with her family. It was eye-opening to discover just how isolated so many of our communities are and as such she returned home eager to help make a difference by providing virtual physiotherapy sessions.

Telehealth consultations provide a way for all clients, no matter how isolated they are, to have access to high quality and experienced health professionals. Due to changes brought in during the Covid-19 pandemic, we now have much better resources and funding options for telehealth than before. This includes being able to provide consultations through the Medicare Chronic Disease Management program, WorkCover, DVA, NDIS and some private health funds.

Telehealth Treatment Options

Post-operative Rehabilitation

Living in a rural or remote area shouldn't impact your ability to access high quality physiotherapy care after orthopaedic surgery. Nicole has worked with many orthopaedic specialists over her 24 year career and will cater your treatment specific to your needs and your surgeon's advice. If you advise your specialist that you are seeing Nicole as your telehealth physiotherapist after your surgery, they can provide their specific rehabilitation protocol as well as any relevant correspondence directly to our clinic enabling us to ensure that your care is specific to your needs. Nicole has a special interest in post-operative shoulder rehabilitation following procedures such as rotator cuff repair, total shoulder replacement and shoulder stabilisation techniques. Post-operative physio can also be provided for other procedures such as total knee or hip replacement, anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and foot and ankle procedures.

Pre-operative consultations are also available to answer any questions that you might have and provide practical advice so that you are starting your rehabilitation journey with all of the help available from the very first day.

Acute injury management

If you've recently sustained an injury and don't have access to a local physiotherapist to help you, Nicole can help to diagnose the issue, provide appropriate exercises and advise you on the best way that you can manage this injury using online physiotherapy.

Chronic pain and old injuries

Having limited access to physiotherapy in person often causes people to put up with so much more pain than they need to. As a telehealth physiotherapist, Nicole can help by assessing your injury, providing exercises and self management strategies to help and enable you to understand the problem so that you can look after yourself in the best way possible.

Vestibular physiotherapy

Physiotherapy is an excellent treatment for a common condition called Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. This typically causes dizziness on position changes that makes it feel like the room is spinning. Using virtual physiotherapy, Nicole can assess your vertigo and provide appropriate exercises to help if you have BPPV.

Exercises to improve balance and prevent falls can also be provided via telehealth to make you feel confident on your feet.

Women's Health

We offer online physiotherapy consultations for women who are pregnant or have recently given birth as well as to any women who need help to manage other concerns such as incontinence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Am I eligible for Telehealth physio?

Physiotherapists are primary health care practitioners which means that anybody can access physiotherapy via telehealth or in person, without a referral. Funding for this can be private (including accessing private health insurance rebates with some insurance companies), or through organisations/programs such as Dept of Veterans Affairs, NDIS, Medicare EPC/CDM.

Which Private Health Insurers cover telehealth consultations?

The following companies offer rebates for telehealth physiotherapy consultations (as at Dec 2022):

ACA Health Benefits Fund
Australian Unity
Bupa
CBHS Health and Corporate
Defence Health
GMHBA
GU Health
NIB
RT Health
St Luke's Health
Teachers Health
Transport Health
Westfund Health Insurance

Is a Telehealth consult as good as face-to-face?

Access to telehealth consultations allows Nicole to assess and diagnose your condition, give you advice on the best management for this problem, provide exercises and monitor your progress. If she does not feel that this is the best type of treatment for you, she will advise you of this and arrange referral for an appropriate alternative.

What equipment do I need?

The best option for telehealth consultations is to connect via video. To do this, all that you need is a computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone with a camera and microphone as well as good access to the internet.

If you do not have access to a device that is capable of video calls or have poor internet reception, please let me know beforehand so that we can arrange a phone consultation instead.

How should I prepare for my appointment?

If you know that your internet reception can be poor, it's a good idea to switch off any technology that also uses the internet connection prior to our consultation. This will provide you with the best internet connection possible.

Choose a space to set up for your consultation in an area where there is room to stand up and move around safely as part of your assessment including to try exercises. If this is a subsequent consultation, then have any equipment used for your exercises available so that we can check them as needed.

Please email any relevant medical referrals, radiology reports or other useful information to Nicole prior to your appointment at info@nicolethoroughgood.com.au

What should I wear?

It is best to wear comfortable clothing that will allow you to move around during your consultation. If possible, clothing that allows Nicole to easily visualise the problem area is also very useful.