MBS items for initial specialist consults conducted via video face the axe
But it wants the Federal Government to reverse its block on MBS funding for ongoing specialist telephone consults.
Specialists will be prevented from claiming MBS items for initial consults via video under a crackdown suggested by the MBS Review Advisory Committee.
The committee has been tasked with examining the impact — both good and bad — of the various telehealth MBS items following their rollout during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While MBS funding for non-GP specialist consults by telephone was pulled last year, MBS funding for initial consults via video (items 91822 and 91824) is still available.
In the last financial, specialists claimed the items more than 220,000 times at a cost of $27 million in rebates.
