The Australian Government has changed the Telehealth services available to patients, these changes came in on the 1st January 2022. The full list of changes is available on the MBS Online website. The summary of changes for my patients is:

  1. Phone consultations will no longer attract a Medicare rebate for new consultations; therefore, the patient will be liable for the full cost of the appointment with no rebate. We would therefore advise our patients to request a video consult instead, this is available to all patients, and would still receive a Medicare rebate ($135.45). We are able to do video consults from your home computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone using either Zoom or Amazon Chime software. Please discuss with us this option when making your appointment.
  2. Follow up consultations can still be done by phone; however, the rebate will be less than by video. A video consult will receive a rebate from Medicare of $67.80, a phone consult a rebate of $38.60. Therefore, we would advise patients to have video consult follow up if possible.
  3. The previous government incentives for specialists to use Telehealth with patients from country areas have been removed. Mount Endocrinology has been passing these incentives on to our patients, as a result, country patients having Telehealth (video) consultations will now receive a Medicare rebate of $135.45 for a new appointment (previously $203.17) and $67.80 rebate for a follow up (previously $101.70).
  4. Telehealth (video) appointments are now available to all patients regardless of where they live. In general Dr Panicker prefers to see patients in person as this allows examination and more detailed assessment. However, Telehealth is an option for patients who find it difficult to attend in person, particularly for follow up. In addition, if you have any COVID-19 symptoms, are a contact of a case and isolating, or awaiting a COVID test result, please ask for a Telehealth consultation. For new cases please check with our staff as to whether this is appropriate for your referral.

Please contact us if you have any queries.

 

Menu