Most GPs frequently spend less than 40 minutes with patients when developing MBS management plans — despite an MBS Review Taskforce proposal to have such claims banned.

An expert committee for the task force is calling for the descriptor for item 721 to be re-written, with a demand that the doctor and practice nurse spend at least 40 minutes with the patient.

While the committee has provided little evidence for its time thresholds, the general aim is to reduce rorts as well as improve the overall quality of care plans being developed.

But the draft plan, which is still under consultation, has been savaged with doctors arguing that fully developed, high-quality care plans can be legitimately completed within 40 minutes, particularly when the patients are well-known to the practice.