Temporary COVID-19 Allied Health Support Services and GP/OMP Services for Aged Care Residents.

Factsheet for COVID-19 Temporary MBS Allied Health Services and GP/OMP Services for Residents of Aged Care Facilities

Page last updated: 19 October 2021

Commencing 10 December 2020 and available until 30 June 2022, temporary Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items have been made available to improve access to multidisciplinary care for residents of residential aged care facilities (RACF) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new items apply to RACF residents referred for allied health services under the following treatment, management or care plans:
• Multidisciplinary Care Plans; OR
• GP Management Plans; OR
• Shared Care Plans; OR
• Team Care Plans; AND/OR
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Assessments.

Under the new items, allied health providers may claim a call-out or ‘flag-fall’ fee to cover their costs to travel to a RACF to provide a face-to-face service. Existing flag-fall fees for GP and Other Medical Practitioner (OMP) services have also been expanded to include face to face attendances in RACF for the contribution to multidisciplinary care plans and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Assessments.

There will be temporary items to support RACF residents’ increase access to Medicare subsidised allied health services. The new MBS items for patients living in a RACF replicate the existing items for allied health services for chronic disease management, indigenous follow-up services for eligible patients, and group allied health services. In addition, new items support access up to 5 additional services per calendar year for selected physical therapy services, including exercise physiology, occupational therapy and physiotherapy.

RACF residents may also access temporary items for initial/long attendance items with allied health providers. The initial/long items can only be claimed once per allied health provider type per calendar year.

These temporary MBS items are applicable for non-admitted patients that reside in a RACF and cannot be claimed as part of hospital treatment.

Allied health providers - Last Updated 1 October 2021
PDF version Temporary COVID-19 Allied Health Support Services for Aged Care Residents (PDF 324 KB)

Word version Temporary COVID-19 Allied Health Support Services for Aged Care Residents (Word 99 KB)

GP and OMP's - Last Updated 1 October 2021

PDF version Temporary COVID-19 GP and OMP's Support Services for Aged Care Residents (PDF 250 KB)

Word version Temporary COVID-19 GP and OMP's Support Services for Aged Care Residents (Word 90 KB)

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