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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 though 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 timeline - DoHAC

  •  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 who are providing continuity of care for their patients by doing GP Management Plans (GPMP) and Chronic Disease Management (CDM) so you could consider identifying eligible patients early.
  • MyMedicare emphasises team-based care, so use MBS 10997 and 10987 with your eligible patients.
  • MyMedicare encourages practices to focus on preventative health. Identify your patients who are eligible for health assessments, such as aged between 40-49 years for diabetes risk, or 45-49 for health assessments.

MyMedicare

  • 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.

To complete the MyMedicare registration, dual consent is required. Dual consent for MyMedicare can be achieved during the registration process, as outlined below:

  • If a patient is initiating MyMedicare registration through their Medicare online services, or Express Plus Medicare Mobile app, this acts as the patient consent for registration. The patient-initiated registration is only considered to be successful after the practice has accepted this registration request through the MyMedicare tile in HPOS which acts as the practice consent.  
  • If a practice is initiating MyMedicare registration on behalf of their patients through the MyMedicare tile in HPOS, this acts as the practice consent for registration. The practice-initiated registration is only considered to be successful after the patient has accepted this registration request in their Medicare Online Services
  • Patients can also register for MyMedicare by filling out a MyMedicare Patient Registration Form. Completing this form acts as the patient consent to the registration process. Practices are then required to finalise the MyMedicare patient registration process through the MyMedicare tile in HPOS, acting as the practice consent for registration. Note: Practices will be required to retain a copy of this form to comply with record keeping obligations in accordance with Federal, State, or Territory legislation, applicable to their practice.

A parent or guardian can register a child under 14 years of age and provide consent on their behalf, but young people aged 14 to 17 years can register and provide consent without a parent or guardian. If a parent or guardian registers a minor aged between 14 and 17 years, the minor will need to tick a box declaring they have provided informed consent.

  • Members of the organisation in Provider Digital Access (PRODA) who are directors or have been assigned the Owner-Access attribute will automatically have the MyMedicare attribute.
  • Other members will need to have the HPOS-MyMedicare-Program-Staff attribute assigned to them to access the MyMedicare program. This can only be added by the director or a member with Owner-Access.
  • Members will also need to have the HPOS-Access attribute assigned 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

MyMedicare

What it is and how to sign up

MyMedicare | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care

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 | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care

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 | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care

Video

Introducing MyMedicare

Introducing MyMedicare - YouTube

MyMedicare community stakeholder information Toolkit

  • Community stakeholder information kit
  • FAQ
  • Communication resources
  • Newsletter Articles
  • Social Posts

MyMedicare – Community stakeholder information kit (health.gov.au)

MyMedicare Fact Sheet

This fact sheet includes registration instructions for MyMedicare patients and information about eligibility.

Registering in MyMedicare – Fact sheet | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care

MyMedicare Registration process for healthcare organisations:  Services Australia

  • eLearning
  • Simulations
  • Infographics

Organisation Register - Health Professional Education Resources (servicesaustralia.gov.au)

MyMedicare Patient Registration Form

The MyMedicare Registration Form is available to general practices to download and provide to their patients.

MyMedicare Registration Form | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care

Managing Patient Registration

This module contains information to help the practice staff understand and manage patient registrations in MyMedicare.

  • Find a patient in HPOS.
  • Practice initiated patient registration.
  • Deleting and amending patient registration.
  • Withdraw a patient. Export patient list.

MYMEDM02-Managing patient registrations (servicesaustralia.gov.au)

Managing Organisation members and their delegations

How to add members to an Organisation in PRODA and mange delegations

PRODAM05 - Managing organisation members and their delegations (servicesaustralia.gov.au)

NQPHN Support

 

digitalhealth@nqphn.com.au

MyMedicare Help desk

 

132 150 and select option 2

Key dates and notes

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.

  • 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

Primary care professionals Medicare MyMedicare