Telehealth for health professionals
Eligibility for telehealth
There’s no formal application process for you to take part in a telehealth video consultation. You’re eligible for telehealth if you:
- have a Medicare provider number and you’re in a private practice as a:
- specialist
- consultant physician, or
- consultant psychiatrist.
- have a Medicare provider number, provide support to a patient located in an eligible telehealth area during a video consultation with a specialist, and you’re in a private practice as a:
- medical practitioner
- nurse practitioner, or
- midwife.
- provide services on behalf of a medical practitioner using their provider number and are a:
- practice nurse, or
- Aboriginal health worker.
Note: from 1 November 2012, there must also be 15km distance by road between a patient and a specialist, consultant physician or consultant psychiatrist at the time of a video consultation.
Telehealth incentives
Your payments are based on MBS claims and will be paid into the bank account we have recorded for payment of your Medicare benefits.
There are two types of telehealth incentives available to you.
On board incentive
The on board incentive is a two-part payment. You’ll be paid after you claim the first and tenth telehealth video consultations. The incentive is paid to you once, no matter how many provider numbers you have.
Telehealth Service incentive
The Telehealth Service incentive is an ongoing payment. It’s based on the MBS claims paid and the number of telehealth video consultations you’ve provided over a quarterly period:
- July–September
- October–December
- January–March, and
- April–June.
You’ll be paid at the end of each quarter.
MBS item numbers
You can bill a range of telehealth MBS item numbers. These will allow your Medicare and Department of Veterans’ Affairs patients to claim a benefit or you can be paid directly if you bulk bill.
There are 23 MBS items available to medical practitioners, nurse practitioners, midwives, practice nurses and Aboriginal health workers.
There are 11 derived fee item numbers available to specialists, consultant physicians and consultant psychiatrists. This lets you claim an exsting attendance item number as a video consultation.
More information on MBS item numbers is available at mbsonline.gov.au
Claiming information
Specialists, consultant physicians and consultant psychiatrists
You must lodge telehealth MBS item claims separately to other non-telehealth claims. For example, you can only claim the base consultation (Item 104) and derived fee (Item 99) together. This makes sure the derived fee item number is allocated to the correct base consultation item.
Under Regulation 13 of the Health Insurance Regulations 1975, all item numbers claimed must include the amount being charged, including telehealth derived fee item numbers.
Note: telehealth derived fee items can't be bulk billed using Medicare Easyclaim
Bulk billing
Patients who have a telehealth video consultation with a specialist have the option to assign their right to a Medicare benefit to the specialist via an ‘Email Agreement’.
For more information, visit bulk billing for telehealth-specialists, consultant physicians and consultant psychiatrists.
Medical practitioners, Aboriginal health workers and practice nurses
You can lodge telehealth claims with all other non-telehealth claims. Claims should be lodged using Medicare Online, Easyclaim or using a Bulk Bill (assignment of benefit) form for general practitioners. [PDF, 144Kb]
Nurse practitioners and midwives
You can lodge telehealth claims with all other non-telehealth claims using Medicare Online, Easyclaim or a Bulk Bill (assignment of benefit) form for general practitioners [PDF, 144Kb] form.
Payment information
Telehealth incentive payments and claims are paid into the bank account you have registered with us for the payment of your Medicare benefits.
You can register your details using the Provider registration for EFT payments [PDF, 175Kb] form.
When bank account details are registered against a provider number, all Medicare payments will be made via EFT into this bank account.
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Last updated: 22 October, 2012