Medicare clarifies ‘existing relationship’ rule for GP telehealth
It has confirmed any patient in mandatory isolation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic does not have to see their regular GP to claim a telehealth rebate
The federal health department has issued new guidance on when GPs can claim telehealth items for patients with whom they don’t have an “existing relationship”.
Restrictions on the items were introduced last July amid a surge in pop-up clinics offering telehealth consults to patients they had never seen before.
They mean that patients must have seen the same GP, or a GP at the same practice, face-to-face in the 12 months before the telehealth consultation takes place.
But there is still widespread confusion about exemptions.
