The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care (DHAC) has announced there will be major changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items for chronic disease management taking effect from 1 November 2024.
This is the first major change in almost 20 years, with the changes recommended by the MBS Review Taskforce, including:
- Replacing the current GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangements with a single GP Chronic Condition Management Plan.
- Supporting continuity of care by requiring patients enrolled in MyMedicare to access management plans through the practice where they are enrolled (patients who aren’t enrolled will be able to access management plans through their usual GP).
- Encouraging management plan reviews by:
- Equalising the fees for developing reviewing plans.
- Requiring patients to have their plan established or reviewed in the last 18 months so they can retain access to allied health and other services.
- Formalising referral processes for allied health services so they are more consistent with other referral arrangements.
Chronic conditions management activities make up a substantial proportion of general practice activity with 2022 -23 data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare identifying:
- 60 per cent of people (10.2 million) who visited a GP in the last 12 months had a long-term health condition.
- Almost 4.1 million Australians claimed a chronic disease management service.
There are several steps your practice can take to prepare for these changes before 1 November:
- Discuss what these changes mean with your practice team and identify any activities or processes you need to review or update.
- Register your practice for MyMedicare if you have not done so already.
- Engage your patients to encourage them to register with your practice, particularly those with a chronic condition or existing care plan.
More information including resources for patients and other useful links is available on the Practice Assist website.
WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) will keep you updated with these changes as new information is released.
Interested GPs may also like to watch WAPHA’s recent interview with Dr Walid Jammal from Hills Family General Practice, on how practices might prepare for Medicare reforms.