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So here it is, the end of another year!
Welcome to our final update for 2022. It’s been a big year!
We have continued to improve our two software products – Aircoder and the Synapps MBS – and are excited to share that a completely new version of the app is currently in …
In the 11th October 2022 article for the Medical Republic, Dr. Margaret Faux discusses Toby Chambers’ case against Medicare for denying him a Medicare rebate. Chambers lost his case on technical grounds, but this story is a powerful wakeup call that shifting costs to the consum…
In the article, HL7 and openEHR are friends, not foes (published by Wild Health 28th September 2022), Professor Heather Grain discusses data systems HL7 and openEHR and the key advantages of using them together for a more coordinated healthcare data delivery system.
“These two…
In the 27th September 2022 article for the Medical Republic, Dr. Margaret Faux discusses the case of Dalima Pty Ltd v Commonwealth of Australia (New South Wales Supreme Court, Unreported, 22 October 1987), where the central issue for determination was the meaning of the three wor…
In the 13th September 2022 article for the Medical Republic, Dr. Margaret Faux discusses Item 132 and 133 recently targeted by the Department of Health and the confusion surrounding use of these items with timing and setting.
“The initiative was a perfect example of how no one…
In the 30th August 2022 article for the Medical Republic, Dr. Margaret Faux discusses the use of codes and data storage and the challenges faced to keep sensitive patient health information secure.
“Keeping health data secure, while also allowing it to exit bricks and mortar b…
In the 16 August 2022 article for the Medical Republic, Dr. Margaret Faux discusses the inaccuracies in an opinion piece in MJA Insight written by two psychiatrists, about the use of MBS codes.
“As the only Australian with a PhD on Medicare claiming and compliance, I am used t…
In the 2 August 2022 article for the Medical Republic, Dr. Margaret Faux discusses the international language of SNOMED and how it can make our data meaningful and precise without clinicians needing to change a thing.
Clinicians use different words to describe the same things …
Dear Synapse Network,
Welcome to our belated first newsletter for 2022, and boy is there a lot to update!
If there is one positive that’s come out of the ongoing Covid pandemic for us, it is that it has allowed us a period of consolidation and internal development, includ…
In the 19 July 2022 article for the Medical Republic, Dr Margaret Faux discusses that without the adoption of the international standard health information model, portable medical information still means carrying around pieces of paper.
“To get Australia’s health system out …
We’ve been receiving great coverage of our recent Data Driven Care Advance Health event in Dubai, featuring our CEO, Dr Margaret Faux & Business Development Director, Thom Soutter.
The event took place on Wednesday 22nd June at Dubai Science Park. Our CEO, Dr Margaret Fa…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Hot off the press there are two new covid telephone item numbers for GPs which will commence tomorrow, and we also have an update about the 80/20 rule.
First the two new GP items.
We received an updated MBS file late this afternoon an…
In the 5 July 2022 article for the Medical Republic, Dr Margaret Faux discusses why she believes we need Medicare reform before rebates can rise.
“So, what we have is a failed policing system where some very good clinicians are having their lives destroyed for unintentionally …
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Just a quick update.
As we flagged in Bulletin 62, the department made an error last week, which is has now corrected.
Items 91834, 91835, 92431 and 92432 have now been officially removed from the MBS.
The 30/20 rule still has not …
In the July 4, Financial Review opinion piece, Medicare fraud, errors are costing $7b a year, by Adele Ferguson, Dr Margaret Faux is interviewed about the billing errors of medical practitioners through Medicare system amounting to losses of billions of dollars a year.
Read th…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
Unsurprisingly, there was another 11th hour change announced late yesterday, and we have had a few excellent questions overnight. First though the announcement.
The Federal Health Minister, the Hon Mark Butler MP, has decided to postpone…
Congratulations to our digital health expert and coding manager, Heather Grain, who has been elected as co-chair for the openEHR international Education Program Board.
Heather has years of practical and strategic leadership in EHR and terminology design and development. A long…
Dear Doctors and Health Care Workers
We have waited till the last minute to send this bulletin, and we’re glad we did because a revised 1 July MBS file landed in our inbox at 4.50pm today. Ten minutes before the official EOFY! Take a moment to think about that and what it me…
In the 21 June 2022 article for the Medical Republic, Margaret Faux discusses how doctors are vulnerable to misinterpretation of the Medicare billing system, and incorrect advice from the DOH doesn’t help to clarify Medicare’s complex system of laws.
“In the absence of nat…
In the 7 June 2022 article for the Medical Republic, Margaret Faux reflects on the introduction of Medicare’s predecessor, Medibank and the evolvement of that into the Medicare system in place today.
“The ways we pay for health will continue to evolve, but the Australian hea…
Read Margaret Faux’s comments on lifting the ban on testimonials for medical advertising, in the June 7th Sydney Morning Herald article by Dana Daniel, Scrapping ban on patient testimonials would give free rein to cosmetic ‘cowboys’, experts warn.
“I’m really worried a…
In the May 24th, 2022 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Dr Margaret Faux discusses the five basic rules of good legal drafting in context to some MBS items and the importance of aligning clinical vocabulary when describing clinical services.
“The…
In the May 14th, 2022 issue of The Guardian, Dr Margaret Faux discusses Medicare bulk billing and non-compliant billing within Australian health regulation.
“Working in the underbelly of our health system has taught me that trumpeting artificially hyped statistics is a sign of…
In the May 10th, 2022 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Dr Margaret Faux discusses the litigation-plagued PSR and the need for reform.
“The PSR has been plagued by litigation since it began, particularly in the area of procedural fairness. My res…
In the April 26th, 2022 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Dr Margaret Faux discusses the questions of whether a submitted claim will be paid or not, and if paid, whether the doctor was entitled to that payment. The doctors in Margaret’s research c…
In the April 12th, 2022 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Dr Margaret Faux discusses the Grattan report, bulk billing proposals for Medicare and the structural reforms that are really needed.
“There just is no point in continuing to fiddle with M…
Dr Margaret Faux and Dr Sylvia Pfeiffer are referenced in the article, Winners and Losers in New 10-Year Plan by Holly Payne, published on the Medical Republic website on 6th April, 2022. In this article you can find out more about the significant changes to healthcare in the ref…
Penny Durham author of the article, PSR-strengthening bill sails through committee, published on the Medical Republic website April 4th, informs us of the key changes to the PSR strengthening bill that looks to pass the Senate. The article includes quotes from Dr Margaret Faux o…
A recent article, Misleading VPR reforms will restrict equitable access to health care, published by the Hospital and Health Care website and written by Dr Margaret Faux and Dr Silvia Pfeiffer, discusses the impact of delivery of healthcare services when the Government implemen…
In the March 29th, 2022 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Dr Margaret Faux discusses the Government’s Medicare ‘fair fee’ definition and discovers it’s neither of those things.
“Medical fee and rebate setting is a complex business, and everyone w…