Changes to neurology-related items for EEG and nerve conduction studies recommended by the MBS Review Taskforce have been postponed from their July 2020 implementation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Medicare has announced that the revised items, developed to deter wasteful and unnecessary use of EEG, nerve conduction studies, electromyography and CNS evoked responses, will not be implemented until later in the year at the earliest.

“Due to a number of factors, including the impact of COVID-19, it is the intention of the Department of Health to defer the 1 July 2020 implementation of changes to neurosurgery and neurology MBS items. The new implementation date is likely to be on or after 1 November 2020,” the Department of Health said in a statement.

The revised items were developed by the MBS Review Taskforce based on a Review of Neurosurgery and Neurology MBS Items in 2018.

The changes were to include new referral guidance and a standardised national referral form for routine EEG for GPs using item 11000 to a to request an EEG from a neurologist. The revised item would not limit access to EEG but would provide additional guidance to deter referrals to reduce unnecessary or unhelpful EEGs, the MBS Taskforce said.

The MBS Review taskforce also recommended revised items to specify use of 10-20 electrode placement for prolonged EEG, as recommended by the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology to improve accuracy.

The Taskforce also recommended closer monitoring of ‘outlier’ neurologists’ overuse use of items for (nerve conduction studies, electromyography and evoked response testing to discourage unnecessary or unhelpful testing.