MyMedicare

Patients with a Medicare or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Veteran card can register for MyMedicare from 1 October 2023. There will be options for patients to register online and or in-person at their registered practice.

MyMedicare patients will have access to:

• greater continuity of care with their registered practice, improving health outcomes
• longer MBS-funded telephone calls (Levels C and D) with their usual general practice
• triple bulk billing incentive for longer MBS telehealth consultations (Levels C, D and E) for children under 16, pensioners, and concession card holders.

Practice registration opened on 1 July 2023. To be eligible for MyMedicare, general practices must:

• provide Medicare-funded services
• be registered in the following Services Australia systems:
  • Provider Digital Access (PRODA)
  • Health Professional Online Services (HPOS)
  • the Organisation Register
• have at least one eligible provider linked to the practice in the Organisation Register. Eligible providers can be a vocationally registered GP, non-vocationally registered GP or a GP registrar
• be accredited against the National General Practice Accreditation Scheme – non-accredited practices will have 12 months to register with an accreditation agency and gain accreditation.

An accreditation exemption is available until 30 June 2025. This is available to non-accredited practices (including sole providers) who deliver general practice services through mobile and outreach models:

• in rural settings
• in residential aged care
• in disability residential settings
• to First Nations Australians
• to people experiencing homelessness.

MyMedicare practices will have access to:

• more information about regular patients, making it easier to tailor services to fit the patient’s needs.
• the new longer telehealth items linked to MyMedicare outlined above.
• the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive from 1 August 2024, which will support regular health assessments, care plans and regular GP visits for people in residential aged care homes.
• new blended funding payments to support better care in the community for people with complex, chronic disease who frequently attend hospitals. These arrangements will roll out progressively across the country over three years from FY2024–25.
• Chronic Disease Management items linked to a patient’s registration in MyMedicare from November 2024, to support continuity of care for people with chronic and complex conditions. Patients who are not registered in MyMedicare will still be able to receive Chronic Disease Management items from their usual GP.
• Practices that provide services to patients who would benefit from the new MyMedicare-linked MBS long telehealth services or provide care to people in residential aged care are encouraged to register in MyMedicare as a priority over the next three months.

Murray PHN will continue to distribute information as it becomes available through the GP update. To subscribe, click here.

To be eligible for MyMedicare, providers must:

• work at a MyMedicare eligible practice
• be linked to the practice on the Organisation Register
• have a valid provider number and be eligible to deliver Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) or Department of Veterans’ Affairs equivalent services.

The provider must be a GP or nurse practitioner. Eligible GPs include:

• vocationally registered GPs
• non-vocationally registered GPs
• GP registrars.

To register for MyMedicare, practices need to ensure a number of steps are followed, including creating an Organisation Register tile, Record and Site Record in HPOS. For more on these, see the below guide.

• How to register for MyMedicare (August 2023)

• Key messaging for staff and patients (September 2023)
• Practice matters resource (September 2023)
• Data cleansing guide (July 2023)
• RACGP MyMedicare: First steps: What is it, What do I need to know? On-demand webinar recording (31 August)
• Department of Health and Aged Care MyMedicare webinar recording (22 August)