Summary
Date: 20 May 2019
The Nurse Practitioner Reference Group (the Reference Group) was established in 2018 to make recommendations to the MBS Review Taskforce on MBS items relating to Nurse Practitioners.
The RACGP response to the Nurse Practitioners Reference Group’s Report:
- opposes the Reference Group’s recommendations to:
- expand the scope of practice for nurse practitioners to provide Medicare funded services
- remove current requirements for nurse practitioners to collaborate with doctors in delivering care to patients
- create new, and expand current, nurse practitioner telehealth items.
- supports the Reference Group’s recommendation to improve patient access to telehealth services by expanding the scope of providers eligible to participate in consultations to include GPs.