Effective this month, eligible nurse practitioners and midwives will be able to access specific items in the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS).

This reform has been a long time coming, and is expected to increase affordable access to health professionals for patients across Australia. The Australian Nursing Federation’s assistant secretary Yvonne Chaperon has said that the community has voted with their feet in support of this reform, and cited a nurse-led clinic in Canberra which is staffed by nurse practitioners and advanced practice nurses, and which saw 2,400 patients in the first two months of operation.

To provide MBS services and prescribe specified PBS subsidised medicines, Nurse Practitioners and Midwives need to apply for a medicare provider number and a PBS prescribe number. You can only receive a Medicare provider number if you are in private practice. For more information and to access the requisite forms, visit the Medicare Australia website.

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