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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 …
In the recent article for The Medical Republic, Solicitor and CEO of Synapse Medical, Margaret Faux, discusses the launch of their online educational platform called the Australian Institute of Medical Administration and Compliance (AIMAC).
“We’re very excited to have pu…
The latest article for Croakey Health Media by our CEO, Margaret Faux, discussing the Private Healthcare Australia proposal to criminalise surprise split medical bills. Arguing this is an ill-conceived, non-evidence-based overreach, that does not fit within the proper role of…
Margaret Faux featuring in #Medicare #GP #Doctor news in #Australian today.
The claim
In a prelude to what the next federal election campaign may look like, Labor says cutting Medicare is “in the Liberals’ DNA”.
On June 8, 2021, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese attac…
The claim
The federal government has come under fire from doctors for its decision to make changes to more than 900 items on the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS).
The impact of these changes, which came into effect on July 1 after a five-year MBS review, remains to be seen….
Published in Pulse + IT Magazine
Written by Margaret Faux and Heather Grain on 18 May 2020
Telehealth has bolted away as fast as the colt from old Regret as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The federal Health Minister, Greg Hunt, says he wants telehealth to continue post …
There is a clause for GPs using the new telehealth items: patients defined as ‘susceptible’ to COVID-19 must be bulk-billed (no exceptions).
Is this legal? Margaret Faux, an expert on Medicare and its mysteries, offers her view.
The roll out of new COVID-19 MBS te…
“The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken even Medicare’s pillars to their core and placed more than a virus under a microscope. Bulk billing is now the subject of experimentation in a petri dish of its own.”
Margaret Faux unpacks the constitutional barrier to mandated bulk billing …
Delighted to announce that our CEO & Founder, Margaret Faux appears on the latest episode of Pomegranate Health; the podcast from the The Royal Australasian College of Physicians about the culture of Medicine. Australia has one of the best value health systems in the world, b…
Medicare Billing, Law and Practice: Complex, Incomprehensible and Beginning to Unravel
Margaret Faux, Jonathan Wardle and Jon Adams*
Australia’s Medicare is still widely considered one of the world’s best health systems. However, continual political tinkering for 40 years h…
Holding up a mirror to Medicare – do we like what we see?
“This article is one for the serious Medicare, medical billing and health insurance nerds. In it I have unpacked the Australian Medicare and medical billing legislation and demonstrated where the gaps are in p…
The study referenced in the Australian Doctor article and published in BMJ Open 2018 was led by Synapse CEO Margaret Faux.
GPs are being exposed to the “unnecessary risk” of falling foul of Medicare rules because so few organisations are willing to provide guidance on ho…
You’re likely guilty of this, so beware: the law trumps Medicare advice on bulk-bill vouchers
Having patients sign the vouchers – and then filing them in a place other than the bin – is more important than you might think.
Make one false move with Medicare and you’ll end up i…
Jennifer Dogget, Editor for Croakey, is writing a series of health columns for Inside Story. In this article she weighs in on out of pocket expenses with quotes from Synapse CEO Margaret Faux:
Fast-rising medical expenses are restricting access to healthcare and increasing long-…
Of all the things a trainee medical practitioner must learn, how to bill their patients is one of the most problematic.
A single Medicare service can be the subject of more than 30 different payment rates, myriad rules and strict penalties, including custodial sentences, for no…
The following is an excerpt from the DFAT India Economic Strategy by Mr Peter N Varghese AO
CASE STUDY:
Synapse: A successful model of integrated service delivery for Australia and India
Australian company Synapse Medical Services has found an opportunity to …
Everyone involved in the practice of healthcare is expected to know how to bill correctly yet it’s not being taught in any systematic or organised fashion by anyone.
Synapse Principal and CEO Margaret Faux has been studying this issue in her PhD thesis, this article published …
Pulse+IT article – Synapps MBS launch
Written by Kate McDonald
First published by Pulse+IT on 9/7/2018
Sydney medical billing, clinical coding and medical transcription specialist Synapse has launched a new rules engine-based app called Synapps MBS, aimed at ensuring Medic…
Fourth in series – Articles on out of pocket medical expenses.
The legalities and practicalities behind bulk billing generally are not well understood, but in her latest contribution to Croakey’s ongoing #OutOfPocket series, Margaret Faux, aims to throw some illuminating l…
Third in series – Articles on out of pocket medical expenses.
It is quite possible that reading this article about the complexities of medical fees will furrow your brow and possibly even give you a headache. The issues it canvasses left at least one hospital executive sighi…
Second in series – Articles on out of pocket medical expenses
In her previous post in Croakey’s #OutOfPocket series, Margaret Faux acquainted us with Section 51 (xxiiiA) of the Australian Constitution, which enshrines doctors’ right to set their own fees, regardless of gov…
First in series – Articles on out of pocket medical expenses
Out of pocket healthcare costs are set to be one of the health politics/policy issues for 2018. In this recent Croakey post author Margaret Faux provides some history on the topic along with an outline of the issue…
Australian private health insurers (PHI) have an image problem. They are never out of the headlines for long, are criticised for inappropriately profiteering from a $6 billion government handout and still their products seem to offer poor value and satisfy no one. Margaret Faux d…
Recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report reveals that patients in public hospitals with private health insurance have short waiting times for elective surgery than those without private health insurance. Margaret explores behind the headlines in this article.
h…
A Ministerial Advisory Committee on private health reform has proposed an increase in Medicare rebates as a way of reducing out-of-pocket costs when rural patients require inpatient services. It seems logical but will it really achieve its objective? In this article Margaret expl…