2019-20 Budget measure to amend intensive care and emergency medicine MBS items

The intensive care items (13815, 13842, 13848, 13851, 13854) have been updated to reflect current clinical practice.

Item 13847 has been consolidated into 13848 to apply to management of counterpulsation by intraaortic balloon services on any day, including the first. Item 13847 has been deleted.

Six new items for extracorporeal life support have been introduced and one obsolete item 14200 has been removed.

The emergency department attendance items (501 – 536) have been restructured into three tiered base items under Group A21 with add-on procedure items under Group T1 to more effectively reflect the level of professional involvement required in emergency medicine services:

18 new attendance items in Group A21 (5001, 5004, 5011, 5012, 5013, 5014, 5016, 5017, 5019, 5039 and 5041) for emergency medicine specialists and mirror items (5021, 5022, 5027, 5030, 5031, 5032, 5033, 5035, 5036, 5042 and 5044) for medical practitioners to replace 11 existing emergency medicine attendance items (501, 503, 507, 511, 515, 519, 520, 530, 532, 534 and 536).

18 new emergency medicine procedures items in Group T1 (14255, 14256, 14257, 14258, 14259, 14260, 14263, 14264, 14265, 14266, 14270, 14272, 14277, 14278, 14280, 14283, 14285 and 14288) for emergency medicine specialists and medical practitioners. The items are to be performed in conjunction with the base items and cover the most common therapeutic and procedural services performed in emergency medicine.

Group A21 ‘Medical Practitioner (Emergency Physician) Attendances to Which No Other Item Applies’ has been renamed as ‘Group A21 – Professional Attendances at Recognised Emergency Departments of Private Hospitals’.

Refer to the Facts Sheets on http://www.mbsonline.gov.au/internet/mbsonline/publishing.nsf/Content/factsheets for more information.

Stroboscopy
Minor amendment to stroboscopy item 41501 to also refer to malignant vocal fold lesions.

Diagnostic Imaging
Correction to diagnostic imaging item 55721 to align with legislation - a patient needed to have received a service under one of the items 55718, 55722, 55723 or 55726 in order to have claimed item 55721.
The descriptor was missing items 55722 and 55726, which are the NK equivalents of items 55718 and 55723.
The correction is not flagged as an amendment in the MBS XML as the correction does not change how MBS benefits are paid.

Deleted Items

New Items

Description Amended

The description to item 55721 has been corrected but is not flagged as an amendment in the MBS XML as the correction does not change how MBS benefits are paid.

Fee Amended