45-49 Year Old Health Check *NEW*

Project Officer - Christopher Daniel
ph 9799 0933

MBS Item 717
MBS Item 717 is a new item number for GPs to conduct health checks on patients who are between 45 and 49 years of age. This new Commonwealth initiative falls within the Enhanced Primary Care framework, and is designed to help GPs identify potential risk factors for chronic disease in their patients and to put in place whatever strategies are deemed appropriate for early intervention and prevention of chronic disease. The rebate for this item is $100.

PLEASE ENSURE YOU READ AND ARE FAMILIAR WITH
THE MBS ITEM DESCRIPTOR AND EXPLANATORY NOTES FOR MBS ITEM 717, available as a PDF

• Patients should be informed of the health check and should give their consent prior to conducting the health check. Their consent may be verbal or written


• Patient clinical history should be collected. Guidelines are available from the RACGP checklist
  
• An assessment of the collected patient information should be made. Identification of any risk factor should be recorded in the patient file
  
• Based on the overall assessment made, any necessary interventions (including referrals to other health professionals or services, or pharmacotherapies, or Lifescripts) should be put in place
• 
  Patients should receive tailored health advice in light of the assessment of their identified risk factor(s) for prevention/early intervention of chronic disease

Important Considerations when Claiming MBS Item 717

In order to claim Item 717, please remember the following:

• Eligible patients may receive the 45 Year Old Health Check under Item 717 only once; in order to check if a patient has already received a Health Check under Item 717 elsewhere, GPs can contact Medicare (with the patient present) on 132 011

• Patients may receive the 45 Year Old Health Check during an opportunistic consultation with their GP, or their GP can recall them on the basis of age or risk factor previously identified. You can download a template of a suggested letter to recall patients on the basis of eligible age .

• The 45 Year Old Health Check may be initiated and completed in one consultation, or it may require more than one consultation to conduct all components mentioned above.

• In the event that the components of the health check span more than one consultation (for example, when waiting for results from investigations such as blood tests in order to be able to conduct an overall assessment and plan interventions), GPs would claim the normal consultation Item Number for the initial consultation and then claim Item 717 once all components of the Health Check are completed.

• It is critical that at least one risk factor must be identified, in order to claim Item 717. It is most likely that GPs will be able to identify at least one risk factor, but in the event that no risk factor is detected, the GP can still claim a normal consultation Item Number (i.e. not Item 717).

• Practices nurses (or other health professionals as specified in the MBS Item Descriptor) may be able to conduct certain aspects of the Health Check (for instance, the collection of patient information such as height and weight, blood pressure, and information on lifestyle factors). However, it is important to note that the GP is responsible for the overall health check and that other staff involved in the health check must be under the GP’s supervision.

Important links to RACGP, Department of Health & Ageing & ADGP websites are available here

RACGP
Australian Government Department of Health & Ageing
ADGP – Lifescripts Resources in Guidelines

Important Resources for the 45 Year Old Health Check are available here

Medical Director 45 Year Old Health Check template
Best Practice 45 Year Old Health Check template
SNAP Guidelines
Lifescripts Resources
Guidelines for Preventive Activities in General Practice (RACGP Red Book)
Putting Prevention into Practice – Guidelines for the implementation of prevention in the general practice setting (RACGP - Green Book)
NH&MRC Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults

Practice Waiting Room poster
Presentation on Motivational Interviewing with Professor Nicholas Zwar
Presentation on 45-49 year old health check with Professor Harris

If you would like any resources delivered to your practice, or you would like to discuss any aspect of the 45 Year Old Health Check, please contact Christopher Daniel on 9799 0933 or mobile 0433 914 888.