Submission to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) Review Taskforce Diagnostic Imaging Clinical Committee – Breast Imaging


Last updated 31 May 2019

Summary

10 October 2018

On 22 August 2018, the MBS Review Taskforce released the Report from the Diagnostic Imaging Clinical Committee – Breast Imaging for consultation.

Recommendations that could potentially affect general practice were identified throughout the report. The RACGP sought feedback from expert committees to inform its submission.

The RACGP:

  • agreed with the Committee that if a mammography is performed solely due to the presence of a positive family history of breast or ovarian cancer, the family history should be significant, noting the descriptor for item 59300 needs to better reflect clinical guidelines
  • agreed with the Committee’s recommendation to create a new bilateral mammography item with an increased fee to encourage uptake of digital radiography mammography
  • recommended that GPs should be included in the list of eligible referrers for breast MRI
  • identified examples of exceptional circumstances when it would be necessary to use fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) alone
  • identified a need for a marker clip item that is not dependent on the breast biopsy item 31548.

The RACGP welcomes the MBS Review as an opportunity to modernise Medicare and argues for better recognition and focus on GPs through the MBS review process.

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