The 1 September 2015 MBS files (XML, DOC, PDF, ZIP) can now be downloaded from the 1 September 2015 downloads page.

The following changes will take effect from 1 September 2015:

New item
10944 10945 10946 10947 10948 11719 11720 11725 11726 11801 15900 30105 30287 30326 30608 30611 30618 30619 30622 30623 30626 30627 30636 30637 30639 30643 30645 30646 30649 31516 34529 34534 34540 37801 37804 37807 37810 37813 37816 37819 37822 37825 37828 37834 42576 43805 43832 43835 43838 43841 44101 44104 56553 56555

Deleted items
30612 30616 30617 56552 56554

Amended descriptions
880 11718 11721 11727 18264 30104 30286 30289 30314 30375 30376 30378 30390 30483 30562 30563 30566 30571 30572 30601 30609 30614 30615 30644 30663 30666 31350 31423 31470 32214 32215 32216 32217 34527 34528 34530 37045 37800 37803 37806 37809 37812 37815 37818 37821 37824 37827 37833 42573 43819 43852 43858 43867 43915 43942 43948 43990 43993 43996 43999 44102 44105 44108 44111 44114


Health Assessment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People amendment:
Item 715 has been amended to include reference to Aboriginal Health Worker being able to assist General Practitioners in performing this type of health assessment.

New item for the removal of an embedded corneal foreign body
New item 10944 has been introduced for the complete removal of an embedded corneal foreign body by an optometrist.

New patient-end support items for telehealth services for optometrists
Items 10945, 10946, 10947 and 10948 have been introduced for patient-end support telehealth services for optometrists for use with ophthalmology consultations.

Further details are available in the Optometrical Services Schedule.

Targeted Intraoperative Radiotherapy (T-IORT) during breast conserving surgery using an Intrabeam device^®
From 1 September 2015, two new items will be added to the MBS for the treatment of early-stage breast cancer. Based on recommendations of the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC), MBS item 15900 will be added for targeted intraoperative radiotherapy using an Intrabeam device^®, delivered during breast conserving surgery. The surgical component of the concurrent procedure will be delivered under new associated MBS item 31516. This treatment will provide similar health outcomes to external beam radiotherapy, and will only be available for peri or post-menopausal women (over the age of 45) who meet strict criteria. The criteria will ensure T-IORT is restricted to patients for whom the treatment is proven to be effective.

Implanted Pacemaker and Defibrillator Testing Items
Four new items to enable the routine monitoring of people with implanted cardiac devices to be provided remotely. This will give effect to recommendations made by the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) at its November 2014 meeting.

MBS Item 32096
The 85% benefit for MBS item 32096 has been removed from MBS Online to align with the Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulation 2015.

The revised item descriptor is below:

RECTAL BIOPSY, full thickness, under general anaesthesia, or under epidural or spinal (intrathecal) nerve block where undertaken in a hospital (Anaes.) (Assist) Fee: $256.95 Benefit: 75% = $192.75

MBS Items 32214, 32215, 32216 and 32217
Changes are being made to the item descriptors for items 32214, 32215, 32216 and 32217 to align with Note 2.44.15A - Sacral nerve stimulation of the Health Insurance (General Medical Services Table Regulations) 2015.


New Paediatric surgery items

• 39 new paediatric surgery items - 37 items have been introduced to include a 30% fee loading where the service is conducted on a child under 10 years of age and 2 items where the service is conducted under 2 years of age.

Amendments have been made to:

• 39 existing paediatric surgery items will be amended to restrict the eligibility age to over 10 years of age and in 2 cases over 2 years of age, in line with the introduction of the new items which include the 30% loading,
• 7 items (43852, 43858, 43915, 43942, 43948, 43993 and 43996) will have the out-of-hospital 85% benefit removed as these items have either low or NIL utilisation out of hospital and this will ensure these procedures are only performed in a hospital setting where the relevant standards for infection control and other accreditation requirements are met,
• 3 items (44108, 44111 and 44114) will have the age of eligibility extended from less than 3 months of age to less than 12 months of age,
• 1 item (30617) will be renumbered (to 43805) and relocated from General Surgery to Paediatric Surgery as 100% of the services are performed on children, and
• 4 items (30289, 30601, 30614 and 30615) will be mirrored in Paediatric Surgery (43832, 43838, 43841 and 43835) as the existing items are predominantly performed on children. The new items will cover patients under 10 years of age and the existing items will cover children 10 years of age and over.

Deletion of Items

• Two items (30612 & 30616) will be deleted