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Dr Tony Bartone
The AMA warns it is losing confidence in the MBS Review process because specialists are being excluded from consultations and kept in the dark on new fee schedules.
AMA president Dr Tony Bartone has accused the MBS Taskforce of giving specialist groups unreasonable timeframes of just a few weeks or months to provide feedback on proposed item number changes, and with some key groups excluded from consultation altogether.
The AMA is also upset about the lack of transparency and rushed implementation of new fee schedules, leaving insurers and specialists in disarray when it comes to setting fees at the no or known gap levels.
Dr Bartone says the MBS Taskforce’s Clinical Committees spend years working on MBS item revisions but then dump numerous reports simultaneously out for consultation, expecting doctors to respond at short notice.
In a letter to the MBS Taskforce Chair Professor Bruce Robinson, he asks for extensions to deadlines for feedback on MBS item reviews and also more time for doctors and insurers to work through the details of fee schedules.
“The AMA has heard of significant dissatisfaction amongst the craft groups regarding the unreasonable timeframes,” Dr Bartone said.
“The AMA therefore, urges the taskforce to be flexible on the consultation timelines, as is reasonably practical, to ensure proposed changes are based on robust clinical and profession feedback.”
He also protested that MBS Review reports were only being circulated to a select few ‘targeted’ groups and individuals.
“Glaring” omissions during consultation included the oncology review’s failure to consult with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and the colonoscopy review excluding the Australian Private Hospitals Association.