Clinical resources
45 year old health check (MBS Item 717)
From 1 November 2006, a new Medicare item is available for a 45 year old health check. This is available as a once only service to patients aged 45 to 49 years (inclusive) who are at risk of developing a chronic disease. The rebate for the item is $100.
The health check will assist with the detection and prevention of chronic disease, and enable early intervention strategies. A patient must be at risk of developing a chronic disease, and the general practitioner must identify a specific risk factor. Factors that may be considered include lifestyle risk factors, biomedical risk factors and family history. It is likely that a large proportion of patients within the eligible age range will already have a risk factor for chronic disease. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimates that 94% of males and 89% of females in the 45-54-age range have at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease.1 Almost one in four Australians 25 years and over has either diabetes or impaired glucose metabolism, which increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes later in life.2
The RACGP has developed resources to support general practitioners in undertaking this health check:
- A presentation (PDF 62Kb) - explaining what the 45 year old health check is and what general practitioners and their teams need to do.
- Checklist (PDF 130Kb) - Based on the RACGP Guidelines for preventive activities in general practice (the Red Book), this checklist provides an evidence-based summary of the key factors to be assessed, how to assess these, and what to do if a risk is present.
- Template letters to patients – these templates can be adapted to your preferences to write to patients who you have identified as eligible for the health check (ie those with a risk factor )(DOC 25Kb), or who are within the eligible age range and may have a risk factor (DOC 28Kb). They can be uploaded into the electronic health record to facilitate recall.
- Patient Practice Prevention Survey (PDF 47Kb)– taken from the Putting prevention into practice (the Green Book), this survey can be used to establish patient eligibility through identification of risk factors.
- MBS Item descriptor
- Practice audit – A practice audit is currently being developed as a Category 1 QA&CPD activity.
- Other issues that may affect the delivery of the 45 year old health check
Further RACGP resources:
- Guidelines for preventive activities in general practice (the ‘Red Book’).
- Smoking, Nutrition, Alcohol and Physical Activity (SNAP): a population health guide to behavioural risk factors in general practice (the ‘SNAP guide’)
- Putting prevention into practice: guidelines for the implementation of prevention in the general practice setting (the ‘Green Book’)
Other resources:
- The Department of Health & Ageing’s Lifescripts resources (also available from your Division)
- NH&MRC Overweight and Obesity in Adults: A guide for general practitioners
- NHMRC Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults
- Department of Health and Ageing information on the 45 year old health check
Useful patient information
- Better Health Channel
- Health Insite
- National Heart Foundation patient resources
- Nutrition Australia
- Quit
1. AIHW: O’Brien K 2005.
Living dangerously: Australians with multiple risk factors for
cardiovascular disease. Bulletin No. 24. AIWH Cat.No.AUS 57. Canberra:
AIHW.
2. Zimmet P. Diabesity in
Australia: An affair of the heart. Heart Lung Circ. 2003;12 Suppl
2:S95-8
