A review committee tasked with advising the Australian government on publicly funded services listed on the Medicare Benefits List has made formal recommendations on the implementation of health care services. Telehealth is subsidized in this country.
This comes as many COVID-19 telehealth items, including over-the-phone COVID-19 antiviral drug reviews, are set to expire next July.
DETECT
The main recommendation of the MBS Review Advisory Committee (MRAC) is to re-introduce GP telephone services with a known clinician and the option to receive follow-up telephone consultations to continue care. Telephone consultations are particularly suitable for chronic disease management by GPs, it said.
However, this does not include telephone assessment of COVID-19 antivirals. Royal Australian College of General Practitioners reportedly raised the issue with the Ministry of Health, saying that COVID-19 infections continue to spread in the community and stressing that such telehealth items “must be maintained in near future.”
Another recommendation is to retain telehealth video entries that address initial or initial consultations with non-GP specialists.
In last year’s draft report, MRAC initially proposed providing only specialist MBS items other than direct GP, which was met with opposition from stakeholders such as Australian Medical Association. “For some specialties, an initial telehealth consultation may provide an opportunity to arrange necessary diagnostic tests – setting the stage for a more informed follow-up consultation – which is often undertaken on a direct basis,” the AMA previously said in its comments on the draft report.
The review committee also recommended reinstating and expanding GP patient final support services for non-GP specialist consultations to include practice nurses. It also wants to extend patient support to GPs to include nurse practitioners, allied health agencies and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health practitioners.
Other notable recommendations are an end to MBS telemedicine products for nicotine cessation implemented in early 2024 and a permanent provision of telemedicine products for blood-borne viruses as well as sexual and reproductive health.
BIGGER TREND
Before 2020, telehealth was mainly used to consult with patients living outside major cities who were not general practitioners. During the pandemic, MBS’ temporary telehealth products were introduced to ensure access to healthcare amid lockdowns and social distancing orders. Most of these items, supported by A$106 million ($76 million) in funding, now forever.
The latest MRAC report notes that telehealth is still largely supplied by GPs, accounting for a fifth of MBS items. Interestingly, they used telehealth video the least, accounting for 5% of consultations last year. Allied health professionals and non-general practitioners were found to have the highest use of video telehealth, accounting for 75% and 48% of all telehealth consultations.
