AMA has ‘serious’ concerns if Medicare rebates for initial specialist consults via telehealth are axed
A controversial recommendation to axe Medicare funding for initial specialist consultations via video is a cost-cutting manoeuvre with no justification, the AMA says.
The draft proposal from the MBS Review Advisory Committee has caused consternation among many specialists who fear it will undermine patient access to care.
MBS funding for consults with non-GP specialists via phone was pulled last year despite opposition from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, but telehealth items 91822 and 91824, claimed more than 200,000 times during last financial year, were spared.
However, the review committee says all initial non-GP specialist visits under Medicare must be face-to-face only, with initial consults via telehealth representing bad medicine.
