Health checks resulting in a follow-up
Overview
This chapter presents the number and proportion of health check patients who received a follow-up service in the 12 months following their health check, by the year (both, financial and calendar years, which overlap by 6 months) that their health check was delivered (or ‘follow-up percentage’). The most recent year of health check delivery covered is the 2022 calendar year. Follow-up activity for health check patients from 2022–23 and 2023 was not ready to assess at the time of this analysis, because 12 months has not transpired for all health check patients from those years.
The MBS data collection does not include any information about the outcomes of a health check. This means that it is not known how many people actually required follow-up care after their health checks. Not all First Nations people who have a health check will need follow-up services. Consequently, variation in follow-up percentages (for example, by age group or geographic regions), may partly reflect differences in health status, perceptions of need for follow‑up care, whether people are willing or able to attend recommended follow-up services, and whether services are delivered and claimed through this particular suite of MBS items.
For background information on health checks, see Health checks section.
For background information on follow-up services, see Follow-up services overview section.
This chapter presents information on the use of the following MBS items:
MBS item no. | Description | Mode of delivery |
|---|---|---|
715 | Health check provided by a GP | Face-to-face |
228 | Health check provided by a medical practitioner other than a GP (available from 1 July 2018) | Face-to-face |
92004 | Health check provided by a GP (available from 30 March 2020) | Videoconference |
92016 | Health check provided by a GP (available from 30 March 2020 to 30 June 2021) | Telephone |
92011 | Health check provided by a medical practitioner other than a GP (available from 30 March 2020) | Videoconference |
92023 | Health check provided by a medical practitioner other than a GP (available from 30 March 2020 to 30 June 2021) | Telephone |
10987 | Follow-up provided by an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner or Practice Nurse on behalf of a GP | Face-to-face |
93200 | Follow-up provided by an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner or Practice Nurse on behalf of a GP (available from 20 April 2020) | Videoconference |
93202 | Follow-up provided by an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner or Practice Nurse on behalf of a GP (available from 20 April 2020) | Telephone |
81300 | Follow-up provided by an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker (with referral from a GP) | Face-to-face |
81305 | Follow-up provided by a Diabetes Educator | Face-to-face |
81310 | Follow-up provided by an Audiologist | Face-to-face |
81315 | Follow-up provided by an Exercise physiologist | Face-to-face |
81320 | Follow-up provided by a Dietitian | Face-to-face |
81325 | Follow-up provided by a Mental health worker | Face-to-face |
81330 | Follow-up provided by an Occupational therapist | Face-to-face |
81335 | Follow-up provided by a Physiotherapist | Face-to-face |
81340 | Follow-up provided by a Podiatrist | Face-to-face |
81345 | Follow-up provided by a Chiropractor | Face-to-face |
81350 | Follow-up provided by an Osteopath | Face-to-face |
81355 | Follow-up provided by a Psychologist | Face-to-face |
81360 | Follow-up provided by a Speech pathologist | Face-to-face |
93048 | Follow-up provided by any eligible allied health professional (with referral from a GP) (available from 30 March 2020) | Videoconference |
93061 | Follow-up provided by any eligible allied health professional (with referral from a GP) (available from 30 March 2020) | Telephone |
Note: Outside of MBS item descriptions for health checks, the term 'GP' is used as a generic reference to all medical practitioners providing primary health care services.
The data include MBS items billed to Medicare by Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHSs) or other health services aimed at First Nations people, as well as by mainstream GPs and other health professionals.
Note that the data are limited to services billed to Medicare, and do not provide a complete picture of health checks or follow-up services provided to First Nations people. For example, First Nations people may receive similar care through: mainstream MBS items (that is, items that are not specific to First Nations people); through MBS items delivered in residential aged care; through the Child Health Check Initiative (CHCI) under the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) that ended in June 2012; through a health care provider who is not eligible to bill Medicare; through follow-up items for patients with Team Care Arrangements, a shared care plan, or a multidisciplinary care plan; or may have chosen to use private health insurance cover instead of Medicare. Those have not been included in this report.
The minimum time allowed between health checks is 9 months. People can therefore receive more than one health check in a year.
For items relating to follow-up services from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner or Practice Nurse on behalf of a GP (10987, 92300, 93202), patients can receive up to 10 of these follow-up services in a calendar year.
For allied health items (81300–81360, 93048, 93061), patients need a referral from their GP, following a health check (MBS item 715, etc.) or mainstream health check (MBS items 701, 703, 705 or 707). Patients can receive up to 5 of these allied health services in a calendar year.
- For analysis of the number of people who received a follow-up service by year, see the chapter, Follow-up services overview.
- In this report, ‘follow-up service’ is used interchangeably with ‘follow-up’ to assist readability.
- People who received an MBS service are referred to as ‘patients’.
- In this chapter, ‘the proportion of health check patients who received a follow-up service in the 12 months following their health check’ is used interchangeably with ‘follow-up percentage’ to assist readability.
- All people who received one of the MBS services for First Nations people are assumed to be First Nations people.
- Health check patients in this chapter are reported based on the date of service, which was not necessarily the date that the service was processed by Services Australia. MBS services in this chapter were processed on or before 31 March 2024.
- Some records from a small number of service providers have been excluded due to data quality concerns.
- A single follow-up service may follow (within 12 months) more than one health check, across consecutive years in some cases.
- For patients with more than one health check in a given year, the 12-month follow-up window applies to both health checks.
- Patients' age was calculated at the end of each reference year presented. Patients’ place of residence was based on information at the time of their latest health check in the reference year. Patients may move to a different location in Australia, move abroad or die in the 12 months following their health check.