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Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
An important question about the supervision rules and their application in public hospitals today as well as a clarification about claiming if called about a patient, but not by a patient. Also, a good question about the likelihood of conti…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
It’s been a while!
We hope you are all managing well out there and have settled into the new Covid way of working. And hopefully, you have clarity around how to correctly bill the new Covid services.
We are still receiving lots of e…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Some interesting and complex questions in the last few days regarding public patients in private hospitals, which will be of relevance to all specialists and particularly VMOs.
Also a question about ‘Usual’ vs Covid telehealth. Here …
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Welcome to another week and the promise of long-term telehealth. Good or not so good? Only time will tell.
Some really great questions today. Complex and common. Here are the answers:
1. Electronic consent for DVA telehealth – is th…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Here are the answers to today’s questions.
1. Can a specialist bill a gap for a consultation fee to a patient over the age of 70 years using codes 91822/91823?
Yes. Mandatory bulk billing was lifted for specialists from 20 April 2…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
A warm welcome to the new week and thank you to those of you who have submitted questions.
We have received so many intelligent and thought provoking non-COVID questions over the weekend, covering a vast array of important billing law is…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Welcome to the month of May and the weekend, though I’m wondering if a weekend is still a thing.
We hope you continue to travel well, and we continue to express our thanks to all of you out there on the front lines, while some of us ar…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Here are the answers to today’s questions.
1. A fellow physician worked at my private specialist clinic for few months. Had own provider number and billing set up. They have now left to join a public hospital position full time and…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
A whole week without a new Medicare billing law being introduced. Crazy!
No questions today, so just wanted to thank those of you who took the time to submit comments on my article in AUSPUBLAW.
It seems to have resonated positively, …
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
The end of another COVID week. We hope you are all travelling well and I’m sure some of you are very relieved to be heading back to the operating theatres next week with elective surgery recommencing. Please be sure to PPE-up (assuming th…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Before answering only one question today, I have one correction/addition, and one update:
1. For the geriatrician who correctly allocated item 92623 reported in last night’s bulletin, there was another option that I omitted which was…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Here are answers to today’s questions.
1. Is it permissible to get credit card payment prior to a telehealth consult? For example, a few days before when the appointment is set up, or earlier on the day of the consult, can you take a…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Here are answers to today’s questions
1. Why does the MBS exclude the item number combination 342 and 288, is it explicitly stipulated anywhere?
Yes, the item 342 and 288 combination is explicitly restricted in the General Medic…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
First an update further to our news flash yesterday. The new law implements the following from today:
Specialists and allied health providers no longer have to bulk bill Covid items
GP bulk bill incentive items 10990 and 10991 have …
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
News flash!
HUGE NEWS – A new Determination has appeared on the register today that wasn’t there yesterday (unless I’m going mad) that appears to have effectively ended forced bulk billing for everyone except GPs.
Here’s the lin…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Is it still acceptable to say, ‘happy Friday?’ Or is that now so pre-COVID?
Before answering today’s questions, we at Synapse just want to end the week by saying we hope you are all travelling well, and we thank you again, over and…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Here’s answers to today’s questions.
1. You mentioned in an earlier bulletin we could charge a 92422 /92431 (132 equivalent) on the phone, then if we need to do a face to face can still charge a 132. Is this correct?
So firstly,…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
We are going to dedicate tonight’s bulletin to confusion. It is obvious from the questions that came in today there is a lot of confusion out there, which is not surprising with the laws changing every five minutes. Here’s some examples…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Welcome to another week in isolation and more COVID MBS questions answered. As we launch into the new week, we just want to say again how much we are enjoying being able to provide this service for you, our front line health workers. It is …
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Thank you all once again for your kind words of support and humour this week. Three weeks in and we hope you’re all staying strong.
More great questions today but also something worrying, alas, so let’s start with that.
We want to s…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
The constantly shifting billing goal posts are beginning to take their toll, with providers becoming understandably more and more confused about what is or isn’t compliant billing during COVID times. Please hang in there. You are all doin…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Here’s answers to yesterdays questions. There’ll be another update later tonight.
1. I am a Cardiologist and have a patient for whom I previously billed item 132, then 2 x 133 over the next five months. I have just reviewed the pat…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Lots to share today. Great news for some with expansion of specialist services, but a whole new world of pain opened up with public patients moving to private hospitals – that’s public in private not private in public.
In the interes…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
First some news. I am reliably informed that the reason today’s laws were not formally announced was because the forced bulk billing issue is still in discussion and further changes to the Determinations are imminent. This is a positive d…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
News flash!
The government has been busy over the weekend, enacting the below raft of Determinations
Health Insurance (Section 3C General Medical Services – COVID-19 Telehealth and Telephone Attendances) Amendment Determination 20…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Following on from yesterday’s bulletin, as promised, this is an explainer on the law around who can request COVID pathology tests.
We have been informed that some pathology companies, who are probably themselves struggling to keep up w…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Here’s answers to today’s questions:
1. I live in a rural area where the usual telehealth item numbers can be billed. Can I still charge a gap?
Yes, you can. There is no attempt by the Government to force bulk billing for anythi…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Here’s answers to today’s questions:
1. Does the bulk bill incentive apply only to existing pensioners, concessions card holders and under 16s?
Yes, it does, and only for GP and ‘other practitioner’ items, which are usuall…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
It’s quality over quantity today. Some razor sharp insights in the last few questions.
Here’s answers to today’s questions:
1. I am a Surgeon. Can I charge my patients private fees for my consultations via telehealth? Or can I…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Here’s answers to today’s questions:
1. For usual rural telehealth we usually email the patient asking for their electronic “yes” to assign their Medicare benefit to the practitioner who cared for them but I have recently read …