TAKE CONTROL

Don't let your arthritis slow you down


Referral

Please ensure your GP, specialist, physio, or other health care professional has sent us a referral.  All referrals are assigned a priority. Read about triage categories below.  Most insurance companies and ACC will also require a referral to be sent for your consultation and treatment costs to be covered.

Book

One of our team will usually ring you within 1month of us receiving the referral to negotiate an appointment with you. If you do not hear from us within 4 weeks please contact us or request a call back using this form. We can organise pre-approvals for Southern Cross Health Society members and on-request for patients with nib and AA health insurance policies.

Be seen

You may have to wait a few months to be seen.  On the day of your appointment please ensure you allow plenty of time to get to your appointment early.  Please dress in appropriate clothing to have all your joints or relevant body part examained and ultrasounded.

Follow up

Most inflammatory rheumatic conditions require regular medications, blood tests and follow up.  Your follow-up consultation, if needed, will be organised at the time of your consultation.

Hi, I'm Ravi Suppiah


Auckland Rheumatology and Sports Medicine is my private practice.

I am  a New Zealand trained rheumatologist, with further specialist training in Oxford, United Kingdom. I am experienced in diagnosing and treating all forms of rheumatic diseases (in adults) as well as being skilled in discriminating chronic injury from inflammatory disorders.

I use ultrasound routinely for diagnostic purposes, including for diagnosing giant cell arteritis and other forms of large vessel vasculitis. I also use ultrasound for guided injections and to track disease activity in inflammatory arthritis.

I strive to provide the best possible tailor-made care for my patients.

Triage categories and patients being seen within our target time-frames

Categories

All referrals received are read and assigned a priority by Dr Suppiah. The 3 triage categories are:

1. Urgent - usually for conditions that are imminently life or organ threatening such as giant cell arteritis or other forms of systemic vasculitis
2. Semi-urgent - include new onset CCP positive rheumatoid arthritis and and other forms of severe inflammatory arthritis where early treatment will have a big impact on long-term outcome
3. Routine - most other referrals

* The information on time-frames provided on this page is provided with the sole intention of giving prospective clients a guide on how long it may take for them to be seen.  Please note that if waiting times get excessive, referrals that would be assigned routine priority may be declined. 
# We are currently declining >80% of routine priority referrals.

Urgent (Target = 2 weeks)                             

%

Semi-urgent (Target = 4 weeks)                             

%

Routine (Target = 12 weeks)                            

%

Common conditions that we treat

Ankylosing Spondylitis

Fibromyalgia

Giant cell arteritis

Gout

Granulomatosis with polyangiitis

Osteoarthritis

Polymyalgia Rheumatica

Psoriatic arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis

Sjogren's syndrome

Systemic lupus erythematosus

Vasculitis

Our partners

We are an Affiliated Provider to Southern Cross Health Insurance for consultations. 


We are a nib first choice provider and health partner.  We can do your pre approvals and make claims on your behalf.

We have partnered with Optimal Clinical Trials to provide our patients with the opportunity to participate in clinical trials related to their rheumatological disorder


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