The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has granted authorisation to Vision Group Holdings Limited to allow employees and ophthalmologists engaged as contractors at its clinics to discuss and agree on the fees to patients for ophthalmology services.
Vision Group clinics are located in and around Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane as well as Townsville and Mackay in Queensland. Ophthalmologists work in these clinics as employees or independent contractors.
"As independent contractors may be regarded as competitors under the Trade Practices Act 1974 the sharing of price information both within and between Vision Group clinics can give rise to a risk of breaching the Act," ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said.
Authorisation from the ACCC provides protection from legal action for conduct that might otherwise breach the Act. Authorisation is granted where the ACCC is satisfied that the public benefit from the conduct outweighs any public detriment.
"In this case the ACCC considers that any detriment that may result from sharing price information and agreeing fees is likely to be limited given that Vision Group operates under a shared business structure where the ophthalmologists work as a team, share patient records, have common facilities, policies and procedures."
The ACCC is satisfied that there is benefit to the public from providing consistent and predictable pricing for patients at Vision Group clinics and this benefit outweighs the public detriment.
The ACCC has authorised the arrangements for five years.