Fear of overbilling turning GPs off mental health MBS items
Dr Caroline Johnson says doctors are juggling confusing Medicare rules with patients' complex needs
![](https://www.ausdoc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Johnson_Caroline-1.jpg)
Almost half of GPs are limiting their use of Medicare’s mental health items because they fear attracting the attention of auditors, a report suggests.
A survey of 846 anonymous GPs found that 45% were billing shorter consultations than the time they had spent on mental health because of concerns they would become ‘statistical outliers’ and targeted for review.