Upcoming changes MBS: Chronic Disease Management Arrangements

The Department of Health and Aged Care has deferred the upcoming changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) for chronic disease management from 1 November 2024 to 1 July 2025.

From Friday 1 July 2025, MBS items will be changing to support continuity of care by requiring patients who are registered in MyMedicare to access management plans through the practice where they are registered.

Please note: patients who aren’t registered in MyMedicare will be able to access management plans through their usual GP.

Current details about the changes to MBS chronic disease management arrangements are available on the Department of Health and Aged Care webpage with more information to be released in time.

How will changes to MBS chronic disease management arrangements affect general practices?

As these MBS items will be linked to a patient’s MyMedicare registration, where a patient meets the eligibility criteria for MyMedicare registration with more than 1 practice, the patient will be able to choose which practice they register with. Only the registered practice will be able to claim the chronic disease management care items and any subsequent incentives linked to their MyMedicare registration.

How can general practices prepare for the change?

The deferred start date of these changes will give general practice teams and allied health providers time to prepare. Ahead of the changes, there are some practical steps you can take to ready your practice.

Participate in Department of Health and Aged Care’s MyMedicare webinars on MyMedicare registration

The Department of Health and Aged Care, in collaboration with Services Australia, is running two webinars in October to cover the registration process for practices, providers and patients in MyMedicare. These webinars are designed to provide clarity and practical guidance on both practice registration and patient registration in MyMedicare.

An overview of each webinar and the registration links are available below. Please note attendance at these webinars is limited to 1000 participants.

Webinar 1: Registering with MyMedicare – Systems overview for practices and providers

Date: Tuesday, October 3, 2024
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM AEST

This webinar will cover:

This webinar will cover:

1. Before you start – an overview of PRODA, HPOS and what you need to set up in the Organisation Register.
2. Linking to HPOS for the Organisation Register.
3. Setting up a business in the Organisation Register, with an Organisation Record and Organisation Site Records.
4. MyMedicare Program registration, including bank details for both practice and provider.
5. Tips to avoid problems.

Register here

Webinar 2: Registering patients with MyMedicare – Systems overview for practices and providers

Date: Tuesday, October 10, 2024
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM AEST

This webinar will cover:

1. MyMedicare Program/Incentive registration, including bank details for both practice and provider.
2. Manual patient registrations.
3. Online patient- and practice-initiated registrations.
4. The MyMedicare Incentive Indicator and linking Responsible Providers and patients for GPACI.
5. Tips to avoid problems.

Register here

Register your practice and patients for MyMedicare

Prior to 1 July, practices are encouraged to:

• register your practice for MyMedicare and link your participating providers to your Organisation Site Record (if you have not done so already)

• register your patients with chronic conditions or existing care plans in MyMedicare as a priority.

Patients with Moderate Complexity (level 3) and Patients with High Complexity (levels 4 and 5) reports in PrimarySense will give you an indication of which of your patients to register in MyMedicare, ahead of 1 July 2025. To pull these reports:

1. Open the Primary Sense desktop application.
2. Select “Reports” from the side menu.
3. Select the Patients with Moderate Complexity (Level 3) or Patients with High Complexity (Level 4 and 5) report.
4. These reports will show you patients who may be eligible for chronic disease health care, including new or reviewed management plans.

More information

For additional information or support please contact us at support@bsphn.org.au.