From July, every bulk-billed consultation will require the patient or their authorised representative to physically or electronically sign their ‘assignment of benefit agreement’ — approving Medicare to pay the rebate to the GP directly — before a Medicare claim is submitted.

GP practices will have to retain each agreement for the next two years.

GPs Dr Ramya Raman and Dr Cory Lei say the changes will harm patient care, especially for elderly, vulnerable or nursing home patients, as GPs chase signatures rather than practise medicine. Here, they explain why.

The assignment of benefit changes are a significant change from the current system, which permits verbal consent for telehealth and allows doctors to annotate “unable to sign” with a reason when signatures cannot be obtained.