GPs can from today bulk-bill for a range of phone call and videoconference attendances under special COVID-19 funding. Here are the numbers you need to use.
GPs can from today bulk-bill for a range of phone call and videoconference attendances under special COVID-19 funding.
The item numbers for GPs now on the MBS are 91800-91802 for telehealth and 91809-91011 for telephone consultations ranging from under 20 minutes to over 40 minutes.
GPs can also claim numbers 91806 and 91807 for mental health attendances 30-40 minutes and over 40 minutes.
Other numbers can be claimed by nurse practitioners, specialists, consultant psychiatrists, psychologists and clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers.
“Allied health providers with appropriate mental health training who are in isolation for possible COVID-19 infection will also be able to continue to provide mental health services to their patients during the period of their isolation,” the MBS website says.
There are also two new numbers for pathology testing for COVID-19.
The patients eligible for telehealth/phone item numbers are those who either
- have been diagnosed with COVID-19 but aren’t a hospital patient, or have been instructed to self-isolate – this includes health professionals
- are deemed vulnerable because they are either
- over 70
- an Indigenous person over 50
- pregnant
- a parent of an infant under 12 months
- being treated for a chronic health condition, or
- immunocompromised
A health professional at risk for COVID-19 means a person that:
(a) has been diagnosed with COVID-19 but who is not a patient of a hospital; or
(b) has been required to isolate themselves in quarantine in accordance with home isolation guidance issued by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee
The legislation can be found here.
