1 NOVEMBER 2007 AMA LIST OF FEES AND SERVICES
Distribution of the 1 November 2007 AMA List of Medical Services and Fees to members listed as in private practice or with rights of private practice will begin from 15 October 2007. All members, via their username and password, will be able to access the AMA List in either PDF or CSV formats from the AMA website (www.ama.com.au) from this date also. The AMA Feeslist Online (http://feeslist.ama.com.au/) will also be updated as at this date.
Members who have not received their AMA List by 1 November 2007 should contact Ester Mijoc on 02 6270 5477.
NEW GERIATRIC MEDICINE ITEMS
From 1 November 2007 GPs will be able to refer their frail older patients who are 65 years of age and over, who have complex often interacting medical physical and psychosocial problems and who are at significant risk of poor health outcomes to consultant physicians or specialists in the practice of geriatric medicine for a comprehensive assessment and management plan.
Two new professional attendance items 141 and 145 (AJ300 and AJ310) will be available for a comprehensive assessment and management plan. These items will cover services provided either in the surgery or hospital, or at home. Referred items for reviewing these plans 143 and 147 (AJ305 and AJ315) will also be available.
The AMA List of Medical Services and Fees will introduce an additional two items to cover attendances to organise and co-ordinate a family/carer meeting of 15-30 minutes or 30 or more minutes. No Medicare rebate is currently available for these services.
The AMA is continuing to lobby for more funding to improve GP access to RACFs.
VETERANS’ MATES
The Department and Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) and the Veterans’ MATES project team have recently released the twelfth module for the Veterans’ MATES project. A therapeutic brief and veteran/carer brochure, along with other module-related materials, were mailed in September to approximately 4000 general practitioners who treat the selected veterans identified in the RPBS dispensing data.
The twelfth module, “Antipsychotics in Dementia”, discusses the appropriate management strategies for behavioural and psychological management of dementia including the risks and benefits of pharmacotherapy.
Rather than writing directly to veterans, in this instance, multiple copies of the veteran/carer brochures “ Managing behaviour change in dementia” have been provided to general practitioners to distribute at their discretion.
Module material can be obtained from: www.dva.gov.au/health/veteransmates
GENERAL PRACTICE , LEGAL SERVICES AND WORKPLACE POLICY WELCOMES NEW STAFF MEMBER
Ms Michelle Grybaitis has been appointed as the new Senior Policy Officer for the General Practice, Legal Services and Workplace Policy Section.
Michelle has worked for the AMA for 18 years, most recently putting together the AMA Fees Book so she has extensive knowledge on the issues facing general practitioners (along with many other facets of the AMA). She is looking forward to this new challenge.
She can be contacted on telephone 02 6270 5400 or email mgrybaitis@ama.com.au