The frequent demands faced by GPs for unnecessary repeat specialist referrals will end under a major reform plan drawn up by the MBS Review Taskforce.

In the rort familiar to most GPs, patients are forced to routinely book appointments having been told by their specialist to seek a new referral so they can claim ‘initial’ consult items, which attract higher rebates.

To end the practice, the task force has come up with a draft plan to scrap initial consult items altogether, with the numerous specialist attendance items replaced by time-tier items mirroring those for GP consults.

The task force expert committee offers no hard figures on the extent of the initial consult misuse which wastes the time of GPs and patients.