5. Medical Services, including investigative, diagnostic and allied health services
Medical services relate to professional services provided by a qualified medical practitioner or other health care practitioner, other than services provided in a hospital setting. Hospital-based medical services are included in Section 6 'Hospital services'.
The units of measurement to be used for medical services are defined in the classification of items in the most recent version of the Medicare Benefits Schedule.
The MBS covers a wide range of medical services, including imaging procedures, pathology tests, other investigational procedures, and services rendered by (or on behalf of):
- a qualified medical practitioner
- a registered allied health professional
- a registered dentist or registered dental specialist
- an eligible nurse or eligible midwife.
Use clinical judgment when selecting the MBS item relevant to the economic evaluation, and justify the item selected.
The unit costs to be used for medical services in an economic evaluation are the Schedule Fees as presented in the MBS. Because the structure of the MBS and its associated Schedule Fees are subject to periodic review and amendment, ensure that the most recent version is used for the submission. Specify the effective date of the MBS used in the submission.
If no MBS item is available for a particular medical service, seek advice from the department (see contact details on page 1), and note this in the submission.
