MyMedicare
MyMedicare is a new voluntary patient registration model, part of governments “Strengthen Medicare” strategy. It aims to strengthen the relationship between patients, their general practice, general practitioner, and primary care teams.
Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) welcome the introduction of MyMedicare (voluntary patient registration) for general practices. MyMedicare will be an important enabler for continuity of care and better health equity in the North Queensland region.
MyMedicare:
- strengthens the role of general practice in the Australian health system
- improves access to care via telehealth, supports GP services to aged care and supports patients who are frequent hospital users
- encourages continuity of care for patients
- is a mechanism to enhance services to patients whose needs may not be met through a solely fee-for-service system, including older people, First Nations people, those who are homeless or have chronic and complex conditions
- formalises the long-term doctor–patient relationship
- supports a shift from episodic care to longitudinal, preventive, multidisciplinary-based models of care
- recognises GPs as best placed to provide care that is patient and community centred
Practices will have better information about which patients see them as their usual practice, making it easier to tailor services to fit their needs. If you don’t register your practice, your patients may register with another practice.
We have been working with the community and general practices to help prepare for and support the transition to MyMedicare.
MyMedicare explainer video for patients – First Nations
What can I do to get our practice ready for MyMedicare?
- Register your practice and link your eligible providers
- Consider practice data cleansing and understand your patient demographics and needs to ensure you are looking at an up-to-date patient cohort.
- MyMedicare will incentivise practices providing continuity of care for their patients by completing GP Management Plans (GPMP) and Chronic Disease Management (CDM). Consider identifying eligible patients early.
- MyMedicare emphasises team-based care, so use MBS items 10997 and 10987 with your eligible patients.
- MyMedicare encourages practices to focus on preventative health. Identify patients eligible for health assessments, such as those aged 40–49 years for diabetes risk or 45–49 for general health assessments.
MyMedicare patients will have access to
- Greater continuity of care with your registered practice, improving health outcomes.
- Longer Medicare Benefit Scheme (MBS) funded telehealth consultations with your GP.
- Triple bulk billing incentive for longer MBS telehealth consultations for children under 16, pensioners, and concession card holders.
- More regular visits from your GP and better care planning for people living in a residential aged care home, from August 2024.
- Connections to more appropriate care in general practice for people who visit hospital frequently, from mid-2024.
Practices can register in MyMedicare by following these steps
- Set up your practice as an Organisation in PRODA.
- Link your Organisation to HPOS ORGREGM01 – Linking an Organisation in PRODA to HPOS.
- Record details in the Organisation Record ORGREGM02 – Creating an Organisation Record.
- Record details in the Organisation Site Record ORGREGM03 – Creating an Organisation Site Record.
- Link participating eligible providers and their provider numbers in the Organisation Register.
Patients can register with their practice in MyMedicare
To complete the MyMedicare registration, dual consent is required. Dual consent can be achieved during the registration process as outlined below:
- If a patient initiates registration through their Medicare online services or Express Plus Medicare Mobile app, this counts as patient consent. The practice must then accept the request through the MyMedicare tile in HPOS,
which acts as the practice’s consent. - If the practice initiates registration via the MyMedicare tile in HPOS, this counts as the practice consent. The patient must then accept the registration via their Medicare Online Services.
- Patients can also register by completing a MyMedicare Patient Registration Form. This counts as patient consent. Practices must then complete the registration in HPOS.
Note: Practices must retain a copy of this form to meet record-keeping obligations in accordance with applicable legislation.
A parent or guardian can register a child under 14 and provide consent on their behalf. Young people aged 14–17 can register and provide consent independently. If a parent or guardian registers a minor aged 14–17, the minor must confirm they have provided informed consent.
Delegating practice staff to access MyMedicare
- Members of the organisation in Provider Digital Access (PRODA) who are directors or have the Owner-Access attribute will automatically have the MyMedicare attribute.
- Other members will need the HPOS-MyMedicare-Program-Staff attribute to access the MyMedicare program. This can only be assigned by a director or a member with Owner-Access.
- Members also need the HPOS-Access attribute to access Health Professional Online Services (HPOS) on behalf of the organisation in PRODA.
For support, please contact the NQPHN Primary Care Engagement Team at pce@nqphn.com.au.
Resources
| MyMedicare | What it is and how to sign up | MyMedicare |
| MyMedicare | MyMedicare | HealthVitalIT | |
| MyMedicare GP Toolkit | An information kit to help you engage with your patients about MyMedicare and answer questions they may have. | MyMedicare GP toolkit |
| MyMedicare FAQ | This document answers patients’ questions about what MyMedicare is, why and how to register, eligibility, benefits and more. | MyMedicare for patients – Frequently asked questions |
| Video | Introducing MyMedicare | Introducing MyMedicare – YouTube |
| MyMedicare community information kit |
|
MyMedicare Community Information Kit |
| MyMedicare Fact Sheet | This fact sheet includes registration instructions for MyMedicare patients and information about eligibility. | Registering in MyMedicare – Fact sheet |
| MyMedicare Registration process for healthcare organisations: Services Australia |
|
Organisation Register – Health Professional Education Resources |
| MyMedicare Patient Registration Form | The MyMedicare Registration Form is available to general practices to download and provide to their patients. | MyMedicare Registration Form |
| Managing Patient Registration |
This module contains information to help the practice staff understand and manage patient registrations in MyMedicare.
|
MYMEDM02-Managing patient registrations |
| Managing Organisation members and their delegations | How to add members to an Organisation in PRODA and manage delegations | PRODAM05 – Managing organisation members and their delegations |
| Educational content regarding Organisation Register | Creating, Amending, relocation of Organisation Site Organisation Register | Educational content regarding Organisation Register |
| Health Professional Education Resources | Education resources to help you understand our health programs and services. | Health professional education resources |
| NQPHN Support | digitalhealth@nqphn.com.au | |
| MyMedicare Help desk | 132 150 and select option 2 |
Key dates and notes
July 2024 - Frequent hospital users incentive begins
New incentives for GPs to provide quality continuity of care to people who frequently attend hospital because of complex chronic disease. The aim is to reduce the likelihood of further admissions through enhanced general practice support.
This initiative will be trialled in nine primary health network catchments – yet to be announced – after which it will be progressively introduced over three years across the country.
July 2025 - Chronic disease management items
- Chronic disease management items will be linked to a patient’s registration in MyMedicare to support continuity of care.
- Patients who are not registered will still be able to receive these items from their usual GP.
- Removal of item 723
- Removal of red tape (for example, fax back)
- Rebalancing of items 721 and 732 (significant increase in item 732 and slight drop in item 721).
Get in touch
For support, please contact the Primary Care Engagement Team at pce@nqphn.com.au