Medicare Benefits Schedule - Note AN.0.22

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Category 1 - PROFESSIONAL ATTENDANCES

AN.0.22

Telehealth Patient-end Support Services by Optometrists

Telehealth Patient-end Support Services by Optometrists

 These notes provide information on the telehealth MBS attendance items for optometrists to provide clinical support to their patients, when clinically relevant, during video consultations with ophthalmologists under items 10945 and 10946 in Group A10. 

Telehealth patient-end support services can only be claimed where:

-           a Medicare eligible specialist service is claimed;

-           the service is rendered in Australia; and

-           this is necessary for the provision of the specialist service. 

A video consultation will involve a single optometrist attending to the patient, with the possible participation of another medical practitioner, a participating nurse practitioner, a participating midwife, practice nurse, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner or Aboriginal health worker at the patient end. The above time-tiered items provide for patient-end support services in various settings, including consulting rooms, other than consulting rooms, eligible residential aged care services and Aboriginal Medical Services. 

Clinical indications

The ophthalmologist must be satisfied that it is clinically appropriate to provide a video consultation to a patient. The decision to provide clinically relevant support to the patient is the responsibility of the ophthalmologist. 

Telehealth specialist services can be provided to patients when there is no patient-end support service provided. 

Collaborative Consultation

The optometrist who provides assistance to the patient where this is necessary for the provision of the specialist service, may seek assistance from a health professional (e.g. a medical practitioner, practice nurse, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander health practitioner or Aboriginal health worker) but only one item is billable for the patient-end support service. The optometrist must be present during part or all of the consultation in order to bill an appropriate time-tiered MBS item. Any time spent by another health professional called to assist with the consultation may not be counted against the overall time taken to complete the video consultation. 

Restrictions

The MBS telehealth attendance items are not payable for services to an admitted hospital patient (this includes Hospital in the Home patients). Benefits are not payable for telephone or email consultations. In order to fulfil the item descriptor there must be a visual and audio link between the patient and the ophthalmologist. If the ophthalmologist is unable to establish both a video and audio link with the patient, a MBS rebate for a telehealth attendance is not payable. 

Individual clinicians must be confident that the technology used is able to satisfy the item descriptor and that software and hardware used to deliver a videoconference meets the applicable laws for security and privacy.

Record Keeping

Telehealth optometrists must keep contemporaneous notes of the consultation including documenting that the service was performed by video conference, the date, time and the people who participated. 

Only clinical details recorded at the time of the attendance count towards the time of the consultation. It does not include information added at a later time, such as reports of investigations. 

Multiple attendances on the same day

In some situations a patient may receive a telehealth consultation and a face-to-face consultation by the same or different practitioner on the same day. 

Medicare benefits may be paid for more than one video consultation on a patient on the same day by the same practitioner, provided the second (and any following) video consultations are not a continuation of the initial or earlier video consultations. Practitioners will need to provide the times of each consultation on the patient's account or bulk billing voucher. 

Also, if a patient has an initial consultation via telehealth, they cannot also claim an initial face-to-face consultation as part of the same course of treatment. 

Aftercare Rule

Video consultations are subject to the same aftercare rules as face-to-face consultations. 

Referrals

The referral procedure for a video consultation is the same as for conventional face-to-face consultations. 

Duration of attendance

The optometrist attending at the patient end of the video consultation does not need to be present for the entire consultation, only as long as is clinically relevant - this can be established in consultation with the ophthalmologist. The MBS fee payable for the supporting  optometrist will be determined by the total time spent assisting the patient. This time does not need to be continuous.  

 

Related Items: 10945 10946


Related Items

Category 1 - PROFESSIONAL ATTENDANCES

10945

10945 - Additional Information

Item Start Date:
01-Sep-2015
Description Updated:
01-Jan-2022
Schedule Fee Updated:
01-Nov-2023

A professional attendance of less than 15 minutes (whether or not continuous) by an attending optometrist that requires the provision of clinical support to a patient who:

(a)    is participating in a video conferencing consultation with a specialist practising in his or her speciality of ophthalmology; and

(b)    is not an admitted patient

Fee: $36.80 Benefit: 85% = $31.30

(See para AN.0.22, MN.12.5 of explanatory notes to this Category)

Category 1 - PROFESSIONAL ATTENDANCES

10946

10946 - Additional Information

Item Start Date:
01-Sep-2015
Description Updated:
01-Mar-2024
Schedule Fee Updated:
01-Nov-2023

 

A professional attendance of at least 15 minutes (whether or not continuous) by an optometrist providing clinical support to a patient who:

(a) is participating in a video conferencing consultation with a specialist practising in the speciality of ophthalmology; and

(b) is not an admitted patient

Fee: $73.45 Benefit: 85% = $62.45

(See para AN.0.22, MN.12.5 of explanatory notes to this Category)


Legend

  • Assist - Addition/Deletion of (Assist.)
  • Amend - Amended Description
  • Anaes - Anaesthetic Values Amended
  • Emsn - EMSN Change
  • Fee - Fee Amended
  • Renum - Item Number Change (renumbered)
  • New - New Item
  • NewMin - New Item (previous Ministerial Determination)
  • Qfe - QFE Change