The Australian Medical Association Limited (AMA) has called on the Government to immediately reject draft proposals which would expand the ability of nurse practitioners to provide Medicare funded services and remove the current requirement for them to collaborate with doctors in delivering care for patients.
The Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) Review Nurse Practitioner Reference Group report (Report) proposed the changes arguing the current system to be inefficient and a ‘barrier to care’.
Under reforms introduced in 2010, nurse practitioners were first permitted to provide Medicare-funded services to patients. These reforms were carefully designed to prioritise patient care and patient access to a doctor. The Government had also introduced a legal requirement for nurse practitioners to work in collaborative arrangements with medical practitioners.
The AMA has stated that its recommendation to “remove the mandated requirement for nurse practitioners to form collaborative arrangements”, will encourage nurse practitioners to work in isolation of the medical profession. The AMA raised concerns that this will fragment patient care, delay access to treatment and increase costs to the health system overall.
Read the Report here and the AMA’s media release here.