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A series of fact sheets and quick reference guides with full details of the changes will be published on MBS online shortly (www.mbsonline.gov.au).
Key items for ASUM members to be aware of are:
Changes to Capital Sensitivity
Ultrasound specific changes;
Breast
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Two new items for ultrasound of the breast in conjunction with a surgical procedure will be added.
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The descriptor for breast ultrasound items 55076 and 55079 will be amended so that they also apply to post mastectomy surveillance.
Musculoskeletal - ultrasound of the extremities will be deleted and replaced with items covering unilateral and bilateral scans.
Item descriptors for general ultrasound, obstetric and gynaecological ultrasound and musculoskeletal ultrasound will be amended to remove co-claiming restrictions with cardiac or vascular ultrasound.
Pelvic ultrasound items 55065 and 55068 will no longer be able to be claimed where an obstetric ultrasound item would apply.
Interventional ultrasound fee for items 55848 and 55850 will be increased.
Obstetric ultrasound
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the list of conditions in the obstetric ultrasound items will be deleted.
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less than 12 week scan items (item 55700 and 55703), the items apply where the scan is for ‘determining the gestation, location, viability or number of foetuses’.
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12 to 16 week scan, the items (55704 and 55705) apply for ‘determining the structure, gestation, viability or number of foetuses’. The later obstetric scans apply where clinically appropriate.
Abdominal ultrasound items 55036 and 55037 will be amended to include the term ‘morphological assessment’ so that the items should only be used for imaging purposes, not for non-imaging techniques such as transient elastography.
The changes are the collective result of recommendations from the MBS Review Taskforce agreed by the Government as part of the 2019-20 Budget measure ‘Guaranteeing Medicare – improved patient access to diagnostic imaging’ and the Medical Service Advisory Committee (MSAC). The changes will help to ensure that diagnostic imaging services provided under Medicare are contemporary and reflect best clinical practice.
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