What's new?

May 2013

The Healthcare Identifiers Service Licensed Materials for the May 2013 release are now available.

January 2013

New eligibility requirements for the PIP eHealth Incentive start 1 February.

The Department of Human Services’ Compliance Program 2012—13 is now available.

The 2013 Medicare Teen Dental Plan voucher is valued up to $166.15

The Medicare Safety Net threshold figures for 2013 are now available.

Nurse practitioners and midwives

On 1 November 2010, new laws came into effect that give eligible nurse practitioners and midwives access to specific items in the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and access to a limited list of items under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

To be eligible to access these services you must apply for a Medicare provider number and PBS prescriber number.

How do I know if I am eligible?

To be eligible for a Medicare provider number you must:

  • be registered under the National Registration Accreditation Scheme, and
  • be endorsed as a nurse practitioner by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, or
  • be notated as an eligible midwife by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, and
  • be in private practice to access MBS services, refer to specific specialists and request some pathology and diagnostic items.

To be eligible for a PBS prescriber number you must:

  • be registered under the National Registration Accreditation Scheme, and
  • be endorsed as a nurse practitioner by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, or
  • be notated as an eligible midwife who is qualified to prescribe by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.

To be identified as a nurse practitioner or eligible midwife, the Board needs to assess your qualifications and experience.

You can apply to the Board using the following forms:

  • Application for endorsement as a nurse practitioner – AENP04
  • Application for notation as an eligible midwife – ANMW04

For more information about the registration requirements, visit the Nursing and Midwifery Board of AustraliaExternal link website.

Once I have my endorsement/notation─how do I apply for a Medicare provider number and/or PBS prescriber number?

To apply, complete the Application for a Medicare provider number and/or PBS prescriber number for a midwife or nurse practitioner [PDF, 148Kb]PDF reader required form.

Note: a Medicare provider number will only be issued if you are in private practice.

Medicare bulk bill information sheets

eLearning for nurse practitioners and midwives

To help nurse practitioners and midwives, a series of eLearning modules have been created. The modules are interactive, easy-to-use and cover the below topics. Each module will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete.

Medicare and You

  • Introduction to Medicare Australia
  • Introduction to the Medicare Benefits Schedule
  • Billing and claiming
  • Referrals and requests

PBS and You

  • What is the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme?
  • Using the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits
  • Ensuring the Integrity of the PBS

PBS Stationery order forms (for nurse practitioners and midwives only)

The personalised and non-personalised prescription pads for authorised nurse practitioners and midwives have the same look and feel as prescription pads for other prescribers but the colour is different. On the personalised prescription pads the indicator NP for nurse practitioner or MW for midwife is printed after the prescriber number to help the pharmacy identify the prescriber type. On the non-personalised prescription pads, authorised nurse practitioners and midwives indicate their prescriber type by ticking the appropriate box on the prescription form.

Standard prescription form - sample [PDF, 60Kb]PDF reader required

Note: the PBS stationery supplier changed on 1 September. This may affect the way you order. Find out more on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) page.

New reason codes

As part of these initiatives, two new reason codes were introduced on 1 November 2010.

606 – Prescriber is not authorised to prescribe this item.
You will receive this reason code when the prescriber is not authorised to prescribe this item.

607 – Prescriber is not authorised to prescribe this item at date of prescribing.
You will receive this reason code when the prescriber was not authorised to prescribe the item on the date on the prescription.

For more information about reason codes call the PBS general enquiries line on 132 290* (option 2)

For more information

* Call charges apply

Some documents on this page may require the free Adobe PDF reader.

Last updated: 5 September, 2012