Health Insurance (Telehealth Services) Determination 2012
Health Insurance Act 1973
I, RICHARD BARTLETT, delegate of the Minister for Health, make this Determination under section 3C of the Health Insurance Act 1973.
Dated 13 August 2012
RICHARD BARTLETT
FIRST ASSISTANT SECRETARY
MEDICAL BENEFITS DIVISION
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND AGEING
Contents
Part 1 Preliminary 2
1 Name of Determination 2
2 Commencement and term 2
3 Definitions 2
4 Treatment of relevant services 3
5 Limitation on support services 3
Schedule 1 Services and fees 4
Practice Nurse, Aboriginal Health Worker and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner services and fees 4
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Name of Determination
This Determination is the Health Insurance (Telehealth Services) Determination 2012
2 Commencement and term
This Determination is taken to have commenced on 1 November 2011 and shall remain in force until midnight 31 October 2012.
3 Definitions
(1) In this Determination:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner means a person:
(i) who is registered under a law of a state or Territory as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner; and
(ii) who is employed by, or whose services are otherwise retained by, a medical practitioner in a general practice.
Aboriginal health worker means a person:
(i) who holds a Certificate III in Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Health Worker Primary Health Care (Clinical) or other appropriate qualification; and
(ii) who is engaged by a medical practitioner in a general practice.
Act means the Health Insurance Act 1973.
Inner metropolitan area means an area classified as an inner metropolitan area in the document titled ‘Telehealth Eligible Service Areas’, as in force on 30 June 2011 and approved by the Minister.
Note A copy of ‘Telehealth Eligible Service Areas’ can be found at mbsonline.gov.au.
participating in a video consultation means participating in a consultation via video conference with a specialist or consultant physician practising in his or her specialty where:
(a) there is an item that relates to the specialist or consultant physician’s service; and
(b) the specialist or consultant physician’s service is rendered in Australia.
practice nurse means a registered or an enrolled nurse who is employed by, or whose services are otherwise retained by, a general practice.
relevant provisions means all provisions, relating to professional services or medical services, of:
(a) the Act and regulations made under the Act; and
(b) the National Health Act 1953 and regulations made under that Act.
Note Unless the contrary intention appears, expressions used in this Determination have the same meaning as in the Act – see section 13 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. The following terms are defined in subsection 3 (1) of the Act:
· general medical services table
· general practitioner
· medical practitioner
relevant service means a health service that is specified in the Schedule.
(2) Unless the contrary intention appears, a reference in this Determination to a provision of the Act or the National Health Act 1953 or regulations made under the Act or under the National Health Act 1953 as applied, adopted or incorporated in relation to specifying a matter is a reference to those provisions as in force from time to time and any other reference to provisions of an Act or regulations is a reference to those provisions as in force from time to time.
4 Treatment of relevant services
For subsection 3C (1) of the Act, a relevant service provided in accordance with this Determination is to be treated, for the relevant provisions, as if:
(a) it were both a professional service and a medical service; and
(b) there were an item in the general medical services table that:
(i) related to the service; and
(ii) specified for the service a fee in relation to each State, being the fee specified in Schedule 1 in relation to the service.
Note For this Determination, an internal Territory is deemed to form part of the State of New South Wales — see subsection 3C (7) of the Act.
5 Limitation on support services
(1) Use this section for the item in Schedule 1.
(2) The item applies only when both of the following are met:
(a) the service is provided in the course of a personal attendance by a single specified health professional on a single patient on a single occasion and no other service described in an item in (b) below is provided to the patient on the same occasion;
(b) i) an item in Part 2 of Schedule 1 or in Part 3 of Schedule 2 of the Health Insurance (Midwife and Nurse Practitioner) Determination 2011;
ii) item 2100, 2122, 2125, 2126, 2137, 2138, 2143, 2147, 2179, 2195, 2199, 2220, 10983 or 10984 of the general medical services table.
Schedule 1 Services and fees
Practice Nurse, Aboriginal Health Worker and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner services and fees
Item
Service
Fee for all States ($)
90983
An attendance by a practice nurse, an Aboriginal health worker or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner provided on behalf of, and under the supervision of, a medical practitioner that requires the provision of clinical support to a patient participating in a video consultation who is located outside an inner metropolitan area, not being an admitted patient.
31.80
Note
1. All legislative instruments and compilations are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments kept under the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. See http://www.frli.gov.au
