General practitioners will have a greater chance to catch heart health issues thanks to what the RACGP has described as a reversal of a funding cut.
Changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) in 2020 significantly reduced funding for electrocardiograms (ECGs) performed by GPs.
As of March, patients will receive the same Medicare support for an ECG service, regardless of whether it is performed by a GP or another specialist.
A $24 million investment over four years to support the change was revealed within the Australian Government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, which was released in December as an update to measures announced in the 2025-26 Budget.
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Since the 2020 change, a GPs ability to claim specific item numbers for tracing and interpreting heart tests had been restricted.
They only had access to an item for tracing, with a lower rebate, otherwise they could refer patients to specialists.
The updated Medicare rebate for patients receiving an ECG service from their GP follows advocacy by the RACGP and other health organisations, and a 2022 recommendation by the Electrocardiogram Review Committee.
The non-invasive diagnostic tool records the heart’s electrical activity, helping diagnose rhythms, heart attacks, or poor blood flow, and is increasingly used to screen for heart health risk in general practice.
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Dr Wright said the move was a win for equal access for patients and recognition that GPs should receive equal funding to other specialists when they deliver the same care.
“A previous analysis by the RACGP found 2.2 million ECGs were not performed by GPs in the two years after the 2020 cut,” he said.
“Those were 2.2 million fewer opportunities for GPs to catch heart health issues early because of a Medicare rule change that meant we as GPs could request another specialist to perform an ECG but were not funded to perform it.
“For GPs and for patients, this made no sense. Why should patients have to book an appointment with another specialist, often with a significant gap fee, to perform a check that’s part of a GP’s normal practice?
“We don’t know how many ECGs were missed as a result. This change was the top recommendation of the 2022 ECG review, and it’s well overdue.”
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