Rural generalists still waiting on MBS recognition

The Rural Doctors Association of Australia is calling for Medicare to catch up on recognising the rural generalist medicine speciality.

Rural generalists remain unable to access many Medicare items that recognise the additional skills and services they deliver, leaving them restricted to standard GP consultation items.

President of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) Professor Sarah Chalmers said reform represented a critical next step in embedding rural generalist medicine into Australia's healthcare system.

"We've done the hard work of building the rural generalist workforce. We've secured recognition of rural generalist medicine as a specialty. Now Medicare needs to catch up," she said.

Prof Chalmers said without Medicare recognition, many rural generalists were effectively delivering specialist-level care while being restricted to claiming standard GP consultation items, which did not reflect the reality of the care being provided in rural and remote Australia.

Almost a year ago RDAA, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), RACGP Rural and the AMA Rural Doctors Group put forward a proposal to government outlining a pathway to create dedicated MBS items for rural generalists working within their advanced skills and emergency medicine scope of practice.

“We are still waiting to see meaningful progress,” Prof Chalmers said.

She added that the need for reform had become even more important following the formal recognition of rural generalist medicine by the Australian Medical Council.

She said governments had invested millions of dollars over the past decade to build the rural generalist workforce, recognising the crucial role these doctors play in delivering healthcare closer to home.

"To receive the full return on that investment Medicare must support rural generalists to use their advanced skills and provide the full suite of medical services they have been trained to provide,” she said.

"Every time a patient has to leave their community to access care that could otherwise be provided locally, there is a cost; to the patient, their family, their employer and the healthcare system itself.”

Reform would also help create sustainable and rewarding career pathways that attract and retain more doctors into rural and remote Australia, the RDAA said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing said the government recognised the critical role rural generalists play in delivering healthcare to people living in regional, rural and remote Australia.

They said the government would be led by the MBS Review Advisory Committee (MRAC) on publicly funded services to be listed on the MBS.

“The MRAC is reviewing rural generalist access to MBS items and endorsed the establishment of an MRAC working group,” the spokesperson said.

The group would provide expert advice to MRAC on whether, and how, the MBS should recognise and support rural generalist practice, including consideration of broader workforce, funding and system implications.

I final report will be provided to the government.