From 24 December 2022 until 31 December 2023, a new temporary exemption from the established clinical relationship requirement (which is defined as at least one face-to-face consultation with the General Practitioner (GP), or another practitioner at the same practice within the 12-months preceding the telehealth service) for GP and Other Medical Practitioners (OMP) telehealth consultations will commence. Under these new arrangements, any GP or OMP can provide a telehealth consultation to patients who:

· do not meet the established clinical relationship requirement;

· are eligible for Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule (PBS) criteria for antiviral therapy;

· and who are experiencing acute respiratory symptoms;

· and are seeking a request to a private pathologist for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing in relation to COVID-19.

This exemption will allow patients who meet the criteria above to receive a telehealth or phone consultation for the purpose of seeking a request for a Medical Benefits Schedule (MBS) PCR test. Where a treating practitioner considers a test for COVID-19 to be necessary for the clinical management of their patient, it should be explicitly stated in the request, including where testing for COVID-19 is requested alongside testing for other respiratory pathogens (e.g "Respiratory virus PCR including COVID-19").

This will apply to services referenced within the GPs and OMPs factsheet on the MBS Telehealth Services from 1 July 2022 page.

Further information is available in the following factsheet:

PDF Version Factsheet for high risk group exemption (PDF 159 KB)
WORD Version Factsheet for high risk group exemption (Word 119 KB)