Submission

MBS Review Specialist and Consultant Physicians Consultation Clinical Committee report

The MBS Review Specialist and Consultant Physicians Consultation Clinical Committee report (SPCPCC), available here, proposes major reforms which cuts across all specialties, as it recommends a comprehensive restructure of specialist and consultant physician attendance items.

The Report proposes a move away from initial and subsequent consultations, differential rebates for specialists and consultant physicians and additional payments for complex planning, to a time-based structure similar to that applied in general practice.

Other recommendations are no less significant and include:

  • Introduction of new attendance items for acute, urgent and unplanned attendances.
  • Removing current telehealth loading and complex care plan items and a move to time tiering
  • A new framework for case conferences
  • National minimum data set to inform patients of:
    • Clinical practice variation between institutions and individual provider
    • Providers’ out of pocket fees (shared via patient’s GP)
    • Providers’ clinical outcomes data (shared via patient’s GP)
  • Use of item descriptors & CPD education to improve informed financial consent
  • My Health Record incentive payments to increase uptake and use
  • Referral pathways (including to allied health professionals).

These recommendations have the potential to impact not just specialists and consultant physicians, but also their patients.

With such wide reaching proposed reforms, the AMA urges specialists and consultant physician members to provide feedback on the report recommendations by completing the AMA survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/amambsreviewsurvey2019

 by 5pm Tuesday 14 May 2019.

This feedback will assist the AMA to formulate its formal response to the report recommendations. Such critical proposed reforms need all voices to be heard.

Related topics