Follow-up eligibility requirements

There are eligibility rules for patients and health professionals who act on your behalf for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessment follow-ups.

Health professional eligibility

Either of the following health professionals can provide follow-ups on your behalf:

• a practice nurse
• an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner.

They can provide up to 10 follow-ups per calendar year. Once they provide the follow-up, you can claim the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) 10987 attendance item.

Patient eligibility for referred allied health services

You can refer your patient for up to 10 allied health follow-up services per calendar year. The 10 services can include:

• 10 of the same service type; for example, physiotherapy
• a mix of different service types; for example, one dietetic, 4 podiatry and 5 physiotherapy services.

In-patients of hospitals aren’t eligible for follow-up allied health items.

Patients in the community are eligible for items 81300 to 81360.

You can claim an attendance item for your follow-up consultation with your patient.

Referral requirements for referred allied health services

For your patient to access follow-up allied health services, you must do all the following:

• Identify which allied health services are appropriate for your patient.
• Refer your patient to the relevant allied health professional.
• Use the referral form for follow-up allied health services on the Department of Health and Aged Care website or a form that contains all the components of this form.

You can use one referral form if you’re referring to either of the following:

• a single service
• the same service multiple times.

You’ll need to use a separate referral form for different service types.

You can read the relevant MBS item descriptions and explanatory notes and find out more about referred allied health follow-up services on the MBS Online website.

Reporting requirements

Allied health professionals must provide a written report for you, including details about all of the following:

• Investigations, tests and assessments performed on your patient.
• Treatment provided.
• Future management needed for your patient’s condition or problem.

Where allied health professionals provide multiple follow-up services, they must provide a report at either of the following times:

• after the first and last service
• more often, if clinically necessary.

Where they provide only a single service, they need to provide a report after that service.