Discover all about what’s been going on in our world.
Choose from Latest News, Publications, Team Talk or watch our Videos.
Read about Events from Advance Health, a forum focused on healthcare networking, comprising of hot topics, interactive panel discussion and engaging networking interactions.
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 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 …
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 …
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 …
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…
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 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…
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…
In the March 15th, 2022 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Dr Margaret Faux discusses the illegality of bulk-billing and charging a gap and the ignorance around the correct use of Medicare bulk-billing system.
“We know that Medicare billing is pro…
In the March 1st, 2022 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Dr Margaret Faux discusses how MBS descriptions can border on the absurd, making Doctor’s sitting ducks for policing authorities.
“Think on this. If a senior general legal counsel, with d…
In the February 15, 2022 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Dr Margaret Faux discusses the common misconception that Medicare bulk-billing for public hospital outpatient services leads to double dipping. Margaret discovers however, on close inspectio…
In the February 1, 2022 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Dr Margaret Faux discusses the Professional Services Review (PSR) approach to penalising doctors found to have inappropriately billed. When first introduced was described as ‘draconian’ and t…
In the January 18 2022 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Dr Margaret Faux explains why the latest update to Medicare rebates is no more than a breathtakingly amateur cost-cutting exercise and is completely devoid of any understanding of the law, or …
In the December 14 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Dr Margaret Faux discusses some entrenched billing myths around referrals.
“Neither GPs nor public hospitals are deliberately rorting anything in this context. Both are just strugglin…
In the November 30 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Dr Margaret Faux and Heather Grain discuss the PSR’s latest expectation – that Doctors adopt the SMART goals in context to management plans for chronic disease.
“The inability of …
In the November 16 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Solicitor and CEO of Synapse Medical, Dr Margaret Faux, discusses the poorly understood standard of clinical relevance as Doctors try to navigate a spaghetti junction of standards for Medicare b…
In the November 2 issue of The Medical Republic’s Money & Medicine newsletter, Solicitor and CEO of Synapse Medical, Dr Margaret Faux, discusses Doctor’s compliance and assessing reliable advice and support from Medicare.
When Margaret asked doctors who participa…
In the recent article for The Medical Republic, Solicitor and CEO of Synapse Medical, Margaret Faux, discusses Medicare billing in a GP practice and the lack of education for registrars.
“…my research found some commendable attempts to teach correct use of Medicare, the ov…
There is a common view that medical billing is easy and doctors can learn what they need to know on the job. In the third article in this series, Margaret Faux highlights a few items that no one (including Medicare) knows how to bill correctly.
Read the full article, Medical b…
In 1975 when Medibank (later Medicare) was first introduced, the regulatory landscape was pretty simple.
Forty-five years later, it has morphed into a twisted and snarled morass of incoherent laws and other legal instruments, so complex and mercurial it would be beyond the com…
In this series of articles for TMR’s Money & Medicine, Margaret Faux shares her extensive research findings and recommendations for reform designed to modernise Medicare.
The first article in the series, reveals Margaret’s journey into the complexities of the Medicare …