The new menopause and perimenopause health assessment item, worth $102, goes live next week.
The exact requirements for the government’s incoming menopause health assessment have arrived, and are far more specific than that of a regular health assessment item.
Announced in February as part of a pre-election pledge for women’s health, the two new MBS items will go live from Tuesday 1 July.
Items 695 and 19000 are technically temporary, and will be reviewed after a two-year period.
Each assessment must last for 20 minutes at minimum, and include a history to determine menopausal status, a physical examination that includes blood pressure and recording height and weight, initiation of investigations or referrals with particular consideration of cervical screening, mammography and bone densitometry, discussion of management options including both non-pharmacological and pharmacological strategies, implementation of a management plan including patient centred symptoms, and provision of preventative health advice on physical activity, smoking cessation, alcohol consumption, nutritional intake and weight management.
For this, Medicare will shell out $101.90 per assessment.
Related
On a broader level, the requirements for a menopause health check hits the same four bases – patient history, physical examination, initiation of interventions and preventative health advice or management plan – as a time-tiered GP health assessment item.
The key difference appears to be in the specificity of the menopause item when it comes to what each step should cover and the addition of the discussion of management step.
A 30-minute-or-less time-based regular health assessment is rebated at $67.60, a 30-to-45-minute health assessment is rebated at $157.10 and a 45-to-60-minute health assessment is rebated at $216.80.
Patients who receive a menopause health assessment service are still able to receive a separate time tiered or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessment where eligible.
There is no minimum interval of time between the provision of different health assessments.
Practice nurses and Aboriginal health workers can assist with the menopause health assessment in accordance with “accepted medical practice”, so long as they are supervised.
According to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, these activities may include “information collection” or providing patients with information about recommended interventions.
