About Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health assessments

Patients of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent are eligible for health assessment items:

• 228 - Other Medical Practitioner (OMP)
• 715 - General Practitioner (GP).

You can claim them once every 9 months.

Patients aren’t eligible if they’re either:

• in-patients of hospitals
• care recipients in residential aged care facilities.

These items do all the following:

• Provide a comprehensive health check for all ages.
• Evaluate your patient’s health, including their physical, psychological and social wellbeing.
• Support good health or improve health and prevent or reduce chronic disease risk factors.

To provide items 228 and 715 you must be an eligible practitioner working in general practice. You must also personally attend your patient. You can’t be a specialist or consultant physician.

When you provide the items, you must do all the following:

• Take your patient’s history.
• Examine your patient and investigate as required.
• Make an overall assessment.
• Recommend appropriate interventions.
• Advise and inform your patient.
• Keep a health assessment record.

The explanatory notes on MBS Online website outline specific requirements for items 228 and 715 at different patient life stages.

Generally, your patient’s usual doctor does the health assessment.

When doing a health assessment all the following must happen:

• You must explain what’s involved in the health assessment to your patient, parents or carers.
• Your patient must give their consent for the health assessment and collection of their personal information.
• You must record their consent.

Health assessments aren’t the same as a health screening service.

Others can do health assessments under your supervision if they’re any of the following:

• a qualified practice nurse
• an Aboriginal health worker
• an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner.

You must be satisfied they have the required skills, expertise and training to both:

• collect information
• provide information on recommended interventions to patients, parents or carers.

Offer your patient a written report, including any recommendations on the health assessment. If they agree, you can provide relevant extracts to their carer.

A 55 year old patient presents with moderately severe impetigo requiring antibiotic treatment.

As their usual medical practitioner, you’re concerned about improving their general health.

You make the clinical decision to do a health assessment while your patient is at the practice.

There are the health assessment actions you and your patient follow before, during and after the health assessment.

Before

Before the health assessment your patient gives consent for you to:

• discuss your patient’s health and potential benefits of a health assessment to identify and prevent or reduce chronic disease risk factors
• explain what’s involved in the health assessment
• ask if they mind having the practice nurse help with collecting information for the health assessment.

During

During the health assessment the patient cooperates with you to:

• consider physical, psychological and social factors
• conduct an examination.

After

After the health assessment the patient agrees to:

• discuss health issues identified in the health assessment with your patient
• agree on a strategy to improve their health and reduce the risk of future disease.

As part of this strategy you can do all the following:

• Refer your patient for 10 follow-up allied health services.
• Ask them back for follow-up services with the practice nurse to encourage medication compliance, education and lifestyle advice.
• Offer a written report on the health assessment with recommendations on matters covered.