...the system (by which I mean Medicare)...

Since I last comented on this blog, Medicare in its wisdom has indeed allocated item numbers to the specialty of Addiction Medicine.

For any chance reader unfamiliar with the Australian system, a Medicare item number is a description linked payment that the goverment insurer (Medicare) will pay for a type of interaction a health provider has with a patient.

With a significant lack of consultation, or maybe a consultation with the wrong parties (still trying to work that out), the government decided to allocate 2 items for the specialty - an item for new patients and an item for reviews. There are no collaborative care or team care items, no items linked to referrals to allied health professionals, no group therapy items, no care plan items... Basically the items in no way match the style of practice which most Addiction Medicine SPecialists actually practice. I don't know any one of my colleagues who doesn't work with psychologists, social workers, AOD nurses and counsellors as part of their standard practice.

Needless to say, we are attempting to negotiate further on this matter. First of all, we need to get this pesky little thing called a Federal Election out of the way so we know which team we will be negotiating with...

I'll keep you posted...