The agency overseeing the NDIS has released a more-detailed information sheet about expectations and preparations for doctors
In a shift from the usual secrecy over GPs’ role in the National Disability Insurance Scheme rollout, the agency overseeing the scheme has released a more detailed information sheet about the expectations and preparation.
Because copies of the patient’s plan will not automatically be sent out, GPs are encouraged to ask patients to bring it to their next consultation to help the transition to the NDIS.
“GPs don’t have to send a prospective participant to specialists for completion of the Access Request Form,” the fact sheet from the National Disability Insurance Agency says. Nevertheless, the sheet explains there are no separate Medicare item numbers for the consultation.
Instead, GPs can summarise existing medical reports to describe the diagnosis and the impact of the disability on the person’s function.
The claim needs to detail the primary disability, or disability that has the most significant impact on the individual, as well as any other disabilities. When considering the impact the disability has on the patient’s life, the doctor should assess what the patient’s life is like without support.
“It is important to include information regarding treatments completed or planned, permanency of the impairment and the impacts the impairment has on the person’s functional capacity,” the sheet says, providing a case study for GPs to familiarise themselves with.
NDIS GP update also encourages doctors to be as comprehensive as possible to reduce the chance of the patient’s support being delayed, and to consider the patient’s mobility, communication, self-care, social interaction, learning and self-management.
