They also fear they could fall foul of the Health Insurance Act if they claim a Medicare rebate.
Australian Medical Association president Steve Hambleton argues Health Minister Tanya Plibersek's funding pledge amounts to nothing more than "allowing doctors to do this for free".
he contested pledge came last week when Plibersek told the Health-e-Nation conference on the Gold Coast that doctors would be paid a Medicare rebate of up to $101 to set up an e-health record when the government's $500 million Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record scheme starts on July 1.
Plibersek announced there would be three time-based Medicare benefits available for setting up a PCEHR, ranging from $35.60 to $101.55.
Her announcement came after the AMA warned patients may have to pay up to $280 out of their own pocket for a record because there was no Medicare rebate available for the service.
However, Hambleton says no new funding was announced to support the new rebates. But a spokesman for the minister says funding is "provided for in existing budget allocations".
The AMA says it also fears doctors claiming for the extra time spent on a PCEHR may be found to be in breach of the Health Insurance Act. The Act governing Medicare rebates defines a medical service as a "treatment"; Hambleton says preparing a PCEHR may not be regarded as a clinically relevant treatment. If a healthy patient turned up simply to have an e-Health record established, GPs would be breaching the law if they claimed a Medicare rebate, he says.
Hambleton wants the minister to make a determination in the act recognising the preparation of a PCEHR as a service for Medicare purposes.
The spokesman responds: "GPs will be able to use existing Medicare Benefit Schedule consultation items B, C, and D if, as part of a consultation, they are creating or adding to a shared health summary on an e-Health record which involves taking a patient's medical history". He adds that if a patient presents to a GP with a health issue, as part of the consultation GPs will be able to factor in the creation of, or addition to, a PCEHR when making a judgment about which MBS item to bill B, C or D.
"It follows that GPs would consider using the higher-level items for longer consultations where there is substantial patient complexity and history," the spokesman says.
The minister last week confirmed the rollout of the e-Health system would be slow.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Sue Dunlevy
Quelle/Source: The Australian, 07.04.2012
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