Medicare Benefits Schedule - Item 10983

Attendance by a practice nurse, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner on behalf of, and under the supervision of, a medical practitioner, to provide clinical support to a patient who:

(a)    is participating in a video conferencing consultation with a specialist, consultant physician or psychiatrist; and

(b)    is not an admitted patient

Telehealth Item

Fee: $38.85 Benefit: 100% = $38.85

(See para MN.12.5, MN.12.6 of explanatory notes to this Category)

Extended Medicare Safety Net Cap: $116.55

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These notes provide information on the video MBS attendance items for health professionals to provide clinical support to their patients during video consultations with a specialist, consultant physicians and psychiatrists under items 10945 and 10946 in Group A10 which are available for participating optometrists and item 10983 in Group M12 for practice nurses, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers for services provided for and on behalf of a medical practitioner.

From 1 January 2022, items 10945, 10946 and 10983 apply Australia wide.

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

• a Medicare eligible specialist service is claimed;

• the service is rendered in Australia; and

• where this is necessary for the provision of the specialist service.

Clinical indications

The specialist, consultant physician or psychiatrist 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 specialist, consultant physician or psychiatrist.

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

Restrictions

The MBS video attendance items are not payable for services to an admitted hospital patient (this includes hospital in the home patients). Benefits for patient-end support are not payable for telephone or email consultations. In order to fulfill the item descriptor there must be a visual and audio link between the patient and the remote practitioner. If the remote practitioner is unable to establish both a visual and audio link with the patient, an MBS benefit for a video attendance is not payable.

Record Keeping

Participating practitioners 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 video 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.

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.

Technical requirements

In order to fulfil the item descriptor there must be a visual and audio link between the patient and the remote practitioner. If the remote practitioner is unable to establish both a video and audio link with the patient, an MBS benefit for a video 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 video conference meets the applicable laws for security and privacy.

Duration of attendance

The practitioner 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 specialist. The MBS fee payable for the supporting practitioner will be determined by the total time spent assisting the patient. This time does not need to be continuous.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers

For the purpose of item 10983 an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker means a person who:

a) has a Certificate III or above in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care from the Health (HLT) training package; and

b) is employed by, or whose services are otherwise retained by a medical practitioner or their practice. This includes health service in relation to which a direction made under subsection 19(2) of the Act applies.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners

For the purpose of item 10983 an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner means a person who is registered as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board of Australia. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner must be employed or retained by a general practice, or by a health service that has an exemption to claim Medicare benefits under subsection 19(2) of the Health Insurance Act 1973.

An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner may use any of the titles authorised by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice Board: Aboriginal health practitioner; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner; or Torres Strait Islander health practitioner.

Practice Nurse

For the purpose of item 10983 a practice nurse means a registered or enrolled nurse who is employed by, or whose services are otherwise retained by a medical practitioner or their practice. This includes a health service in relation to which a direction made under subsection 19(2) of the Health Insurance Act 1973 applies.

Related Items: 10945 10946 10983

Publication date: 1 July 2026

SUMMARY

This note sets out the common requirements for MBS services that can be provided on behalf of a medical practitioner by practice nurses, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and/or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners (items 10983, 10987, 10988, 10989, 10997, 93200, 93201, 93202, 93203).

The item requirements and health providers eligible to provide a service differs for each item. Details on item specific requirements are as follows:

USE OF THE ITEMS

Note: The requirements set out in this note must be met in addition to the requirements contained in each item’s relevant associated note. Refer to the table in the Summary section for the relevant associated notes.

These items are used by medical practitioners when specified services are provided on their behalf by eligible practice nurses, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and/or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners to deliver relevant services to patients (as specified in each item).

Services delivered by the health practitioner must be within the accepted scope of practice of the health practitioner, in accordance with accepted medical practice and under the supervision of the medical practitioner.

These items may be claimed with a single bulk billing incentive when they are bulk billed. Information on bulk billing incentives is available in MN.1.1.

The regulations state that the service must be provided under the supervision of a medical practitioner. Does that mean the medical practitioner must be in the same room as the person delivering the service?

No. Supervision at a distance is acceptable. However, in order to claim Medicare benefits, the medical practitioner must be in Australia and be readily contactable to provide timely clinical advice as required. The medical practitioner retains overall responsibility for the patient’s care. 

I am qualified health professional (not a medical practitioner) and I am able to practice independently within my scope of practice. Why do I need supervision when providing these services?

The MBS considers these items to be medical practitioner items. This means the service can be provided by another health professional on behalf of the medical practitioner but the medical practitioner remains legally responsible for the service.

Supervision in these items refers to the legal responsibility under the MBS. MBS supervision requirements are distinct and separate to supervision requirements, including ability to practice independently, under the National Boards and the Australian health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Aphra).

The health practitioner that provides the service on behalf of the medical practitioner is still subject to their professional standards, scope of practice and State and Territory laws.

Can I provide remote supervision from overseas? 

No. The Health Insurance Act 1973 requires the person rendering the service to be in Australia. As the medical practitioner’s Medicare provider number is used to claim the service, they are considered to be the person who renders the service. 

We have a nurse practitioner at the practice. Can they provide practice nurse services under these items?

Yes. Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with an endorsement as a nurse practitioner. Therefore, provided they are working in general practice or a health service with a relevant section 19(2) exemption to the Health Insurance Act 1973, they meet the definition of a practice nurse for the purposes of these items.

Nurse practitioners may also provide services using nurse practitioner attendance items (see MN.14.12). If a nurse practitioner provides a service to a patient on behalf of a medical practitioner and an attendance service on the same day, the services must be independent services and clinically necessary. Both items cannot be claimed for the same service/time.

Is it ever appropriate to co-claim another item with an ‘on behalf of’ item during a patient’s visit?

Yes. Co-claiming may be appropriate where both services provided by the practitioner(s) are distinct and clinically relevant services consistent with the patient’s health needs, there is no duplication of services, the requirements of each item (including time requirements) are fully and independently met and there are no relevant co-claiming restrictions on the other item.

ELIGIBLE PATIENTS

Any patient who is eligible to receive Medicare benefits, is not an admitted patient of a hospital, and meets the criteria for one or more of the following items may receive one of these services, subject to the specified service limits:

ELIGIBLE PRACTITIONERS

These items are medical practitioner items. The services are delivered by an eligible practitioner on behalf of, and under the supervision of, a medical practitioner.

The medical practitioner must claim the MBS item and retains responsibility for the health, safety and clinical outcomes for the patient. The health practitioner delivering the service on behalf of the medical practitioner must be appropriately qualified and trained to deliver the service.

Services must be rendered according to the provisions of the relevant Commonwealth, State and Territory laws. For example, practitioners may only administer a vaccine where the service is in line with the provisions of relevant State and Territory laws for the regulation, control, supply and use of drugs and therapeutic goods.

As set out in the table below, depending on the item rendered, eligible providers may be practice nurses, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners and/or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers.

The terms ‘practice nurse’, ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker’ and ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner’ are defined in the Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulations 2021 (the Regulations).

The Regulations define a practice nurse as "a registered or an enrolled nurse who is employed by, or whose services are otherwise retained by, a general practice or by a health service to which a direction made under subsection 19(2) of the [Health Insurance] Act applies.”

The Regulations define an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health worker as "a person:

1. who holds a qualification of Certificate III or higher in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care from the Health (HLT) training package; and
2. who is engaged by a medical practitioner in a general practice or a health service to which a direction made under subsection 19(2) of the [Health Insurance] Act applies.”

The Regulations define an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner as “a person:

1. who is registered under the national law in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice profession; and
2. who is employed by, or whose services are otherwise retained by, a medical practitioner in a general practice or a health service to which a direction made under subsection 19(2) of the [Health Insurance] Act applies.”

RECORD KEEPING AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

Providers are responsible for ensuring services claimed from Medicare using their provider number meet all legislative requirements and they may be required to submit evidence for compliance checks related to Medicare claims. Practitioners should ensure they keep adequate and contemporaneous records. For information on what constitutes adequate and contemporaneous records see GN.15.39.

RELEVANT LEGISLATION

Details about the legislative requirements of the MBS item(s) can be found on the Federal Register of Legislation at www.legislation.gov.au. These items are set out in the following regulatory instruments:

• Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulations 2021 – item 10983, 10987, 10988, 10989, 10997
• Health Insurance (Section 3C General Medical Services – Telehealth Attendances) Determination 2021 – items 93200, 93201, 93202, 93203
  

Related Items: 10983 10987 10988 10989 10997 93200 93201 93202 93203