MBS item for heart health checks should be ditched, says RACGP
The college says the items introduced in 2019 represent a 'piecemeal approach' to supporting cardiac health in primary care
The controversial Medicare item for GPs to perform absolute CVD risk assessments should be scrapped, the RACGP says.
Introduced in 2019 following a national campaign by the National Heart Foundation of Australia, the $75 rebate for item 699 is intended to fund GPs to carry out the absolute risk assessments and implement management plans.
But its bungled rollout became the source of anger and confusion after it was revealed that no organisations representing GPs had been consulted.
There were also complaints that the item’s introduction was little more than a Federal Government media stunt, because its rebate was exactly the same as a level C through which GPs were doing the heart checks anyway.
