Please allow ONE hour to be in the clinic.

• NO tea/coffee on the day.
• Small meal ONE hour beforehand.
• Please bring or wear comfortable clothing e.g. shorts, tracksuit, t-shirt, sneakers, etc.
• Bring your medications if necessary for the Doctor to see what you are taking.
• Bring your Medicare Card or Health Benefits Card.

A Heart Check screening test, performed by a medical practitioner trained in this area. Heart Check screening is one aspect of a more comprehensive assessment including physical examination, blood pressure.

Yes, heart disease is treatable. The earlier the treatment is commenced the better. There are three objectives when managing atherosclerosis (Atherosclerosis is a disease affecting the arterial blood vessel. It is commonly referred to as a "hardening" or "furring" of the arteries. It is caused by the formation of multiple plaques within the arteries).

1. To reduce the progression of the disease
2. Stop the formation of new fatty plaques
3. To encourage regression of non-calcified plaques

As atherosclerosis can affect all of the coronary arteries, it is important that the treatment is aimed not just at one fatty plaque, but at the entire process.

Treatment involves intensive lifestyle modification, intensive cholesterol lowering therapy, management of other risk factors such as high blood pressure and cigarette smoking and there is promising emerging evidence of the role of antioxidants both dietary and supplementary.

• Positive reassurance - you are likely to be healthy - without encouraging complacency.
• Detection of impending trouble with a chance to avert it.
• Detection of disease with prompt referral.
• Clarification of a number of worrying symptoms.
• Your test report can be a helpful benchmark for future tests.
• Progress is monitored over time.

Heart Check measures your risk, but it doesn't stop there. You are offered reassurance, encouraged to take preventive action or asked to consult your own physician, as appropriate to get you back on track. The positive implementation of a recommended course of action can reduce your cardiac risk factors.

A referral is NOT required for the Heart Check.

Heart Check is a medical services provider operating 21 clinics in Australia providing an accessible service direct to the public to enable people concerned about their heart health to have a professional medical test and assessment. The tests are administered by fully qualified registered doctors and are the same tests used by doctors around the world. These tests include an electrocardiogram (ECG) stress test, an ankle/brachial index test and a halter (24 hours ECG test).

Anyone who calls the Heart Check call centre can make an appointment to see a doctor at one of our Heart Check Medical Centres located around Australia.

All doctors at the Heart Check Medical Centres are fully qualified medical practitioners.

In addition, all of our doctors have received additional training relating to ECG stress tests, ankle/brachial index tests and halter tests, which are the tests administered by Heart Check, as well as being trained in relation to general cardiovascular related medical issues.

The Heart Check Group provides 3 different cardiac tests as well as general cardiovascular medical assessments. The tests are:

• ECG stress test;
• Ankle/brachial index test; and
• Halter test.

The ECG stress test involves monitoring your heart condition through an electrocardiogram both whilst you are resting and separately whilst you are experiencing increasing physical activity on a treadmill.

The ankle/brachial index is used to diagnose any circulatory problems by comparing your blood pressure on your arms and legs using an ultrasonic Doppler.

The Halter test involves a 24 hour ECG monitoring of your heart's condition.

The ECG cardiac stress test is the first test recommended by most cardiologists' worldwide to diagnose coronary artery disease.

The ECG stress test is generally considered to give accurate results in approximately 70% of cases. A percentage of results are returned as "false positives" (as it is known medically in many medical test scenarios) which means further analysis is usually necessary with heart specialists. Research shows that 30% of correctly reported positive tests will result in becoming 'false positive' following further investigation.

This is a high percentage outcome of reliability in the medical testing field with other tests such as mammograms and pap smears having higher levels of false positive results as generally recognised in medical literature.

The doctor will spend between 20 - 30min with each patient to carry out the test and to observe them following the examination to make sure they are fit to go home. Including waiting time, we estimate patients need to attend our clinics for between 1 and 1 and a half hours.

Worldwide research shows that 1 in 10,000 people are at risk of dying while carrying out a stress test, while 2 to 3 in every 10,000 result in major accident. These figures are relatively small considering the number of people who benefit from the examination. Our physicians are fully aware of these risk and all of our tests are conducted in accordance with the Cardiac Society's guidelines and Medicare requirements.

Our consulting doctor will analyse the results of your cardiac test. If you are showing signs of having cardiovascular disease, also known as a 'positive test', our consulting doctor will refer you to a cardiologist or your local GP for further investigation.

A review of Medicare bulk billing practices was conducted by Medicare with several doctors who work at Heart Check clinics in January and February this year. Our doctors co-operated fully with the review, with no further communication being received since February 2007.

As far as we are aware, neither Medicare nor the Federal Government has taken any action against the doctors and no advice from Medicare has been forthcoming since February 2007.

The Advanced Medical Institute is publicly listed in the US. The Heart Check Group is owned by several private Australian investors. The only link between the groups is that the Heart Check Group has contracted AMI to provide various services and facilities including premises and call centre services to the Heart Check Group. The nature of the relationship is fully described on AMI's website and public filings.

No Heart Check personnel have access to AMI's database and no AMI personnel have access to Heart Check's database. AMI's personnel have contacted part of AMI's patient database to ask whether those patients would be interested in having cardiac tests as independent medical literature indicates that there is a clear link between impotence and heart disease. Such contact is fully permitted under all relevant regulatory requirements.