Post implementation review of Medicare funded cardia imaging items (second consultation paper)

The AMA supports the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing's intent to ensure Medicare-funded cardiac imaging items reflect contemporary clinical practice, support equitable access, and reduce unintended barriers to timely care. 

We remain concerned complex item structures and prescriptive claiming requirements can impede good clinical practice and add administrative burden, particularly in regional, rural and remote settings. 

The AMA supports Phase 1 measures to clarify the stress echo caveat, remove rigid myocardial perfusion studies frequency restrictions where clinically justified, and to improve descriptor clarity reducing administrative uncertainty. 

We support Phase 2 objectives in principle, subject to careful implementation design and safeguards that preserve rural access and maintain safety and quality, particularly in relation to MPS streamlining, GP‑requested computed tomography of the coronary arteries (CTCA), and CTCA credentialling requirements. 

Sound clinical advice should remain the key determinant of service design and Medicare support, including where non-invasive imaging can reduce avoidable escalation to more invasive pathways.