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www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au
Speak Out
October 2015
7
•
Stroke
•
Progressive
Neurological
conditions
•
Traumatic brain injury
•
Global developmental
delay/intellectual
disability
•
Specific
language
impairment
•
Infant feeding
•
Cleft palate
•
Head and neck
cancer
•
Fluency/stuttering
•
Voice disorders
•
Mental health
conditions
•
Literacy
•
Other conditions
(such as early
language delay,
dysphagia).
What are the
funding options for
our services?
•
Fee for service
•
MBS Chronic Disease Management Item
•
Helping Children with Autism Package (HCWA) –
Early Intervention Services
•
HCWA assessment and treatment Medicare items
•
Better Start for Children with Disability –
Early intervention Services
•
Better Start assessment and treatment
Medicare items
•
Medicare follow up Allied Health Service for People
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Descent
•
Department of Veteran Affairs
•
Commonwealth Home Support Programme
•
National Disability Insurance Scheme
•
Private Health Insurance (extras and private
hospital private practice care)
•
State and territory work cover schemes
•
State/territory traffic accident insurance schemes
•
State and territory specific programs.
What we think could be
improved with the CDM
items?
•
Increase the number of sessions
•
Expand the eligibility of conditions
•
Reduce the number of allied health practitioners required
in team plan
•
Expand to group and tele-practice delivery options
•
Financial recognition that the first assessment session can be
time consuming
•
Consistency in GP decisions about eligibility
•
GP and patient expectation of bulk billing of SP service
•
Referral pathways direct from other medical specialists
•
Standardised referral paperwork
•
Require two way communication between GP and SP
•
Increase the rebate for services
•
Allowing the rebate component of the fee to be paid to the
SP directly
•
Reduce reporting requirements
•
Provide remuneration for report writing and liaison with
other team members.
Who are our
clients?
Over 90%
of respondents received Chronic
Disease Management program referrals for the
following conditions:
Infants
(59%)
Children
2–5 years
(90%)
Adolescents
13–17 years
old (66%)
Adults
18–64
(35%)
Older/age
65+
(24%)
Children
6–12 years
(90%)
What do our services cost?
4.9%
of practitioners regularly bulk bill for CDM items.
45 minute consult
Average cost $110
60 minute consult
Average cost $143
30 minute consult
Average cost $79
14%
of private practitioners
work in practices that have
clinical student placements.