As of 1 November 2019, a new suite of 64 Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) item numbers will be available to support eligible patients with an eating disorder under an Eating Disorder Management Plan (EDMP).
Under an EDMP, eligible patients will be able to access Medicare rebates for up to 40 eating disorder psychological treatment (EDPT) sessions and 20 eating disorder dietetic treatment (EDDT) sessions in a 12-month period.
Essential information for GPs can be found here: https://www.nedc.com.au/assets/Fact-Sheets/Cheat-sheet-for-GPs.pdf
Patient eligibility criteria is listed below.
*Please note: Our practitioners are available to assist with the eligibility assessment process through conducting a thorough assessment, administrating and scoring the questionnaire, and providing a summary report to GPs.
*Note to GPs: Please check your patient’s eligibility on HPOS before billing an EDMP item.
There are two cohorts of patients eligible to access an EDMP:
- Patients with a clinical diagnosis of anorexia nervosa.
- Patients who meet the eligibility criteria (below), AND have a clinical diagnosis of any of the following conditions;
- Bulimia nervosa
- Binge-eating disorder
- Other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED)
Eligibility criteria for patients with diagnoses other than anorexia nervosa are:
- The person has been assessed as having a global score on the Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire or EDE-Q score of 3 or more; and
- The person’s condition is characterised by rapid weight loss, or frequent binge eating or inappropriate compensatory behaviours (3 or more occurrences per week); and
- The person has AT LEAST TWO of the following indicators:
- Body weight less than 85% expected weight (where weight loss is directly attributable to the eating disorder);
- Current or high risk of medical complications due to eating disorder behaviours and symptoms;
- Serious comorbid medical or psychological conditions significantly impacting on medical or psychological health status with impacts on function;
- The person has been admitted to hospital for an eating disorder in the previous 12 months;
- The person has experienced inadequate treatment response to evidence-based eating disordered treatment over the past 6 months despite active and consistent treatment.i
See our form for GPs to develop an Eating Disorder Plan:
- An EDMP lasts for 12 months / 365 days from the date the MBS item was claimed by the GP.
- Another EDMP cannot be claimed by a GP until that one expires: 367 days or after.
- All services claimed must be within 365 days of the original plan (not the review)
- All reviews by the GP must be claimed within 365 days of the original EDMP.
Patients who do not meet the eligibility criteria for an EDMP are still be eligible for rebates under a Mental Health Care Plan as well as a Chronic Disease Management Plan.
Please note that some patients may interpret their ineligibility for the EDMP in ways that may exacerbate their illness and/or interfere with treatment engagement. It is recommended that, in the case of ineligibility, this information is delivered with upmost caution and sensitivity.
DON’T WAIT until you meet the eligibility criteria to seek treatment. Left untreated, eating disorders are pervasive and enduring. They can impact all domains of a person’s life and persist for an average of 7 years! The sooner you start, the sooner you turn your life around.
There is still help available. While we understand that you might be disappointed that you don’t meet the eligibility criteria for this particular initiative, there is still help available to you. You are still eligible to access up to 10 sessions with a psychologist under a Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP) and up to 5 sessions with a dietitian under a Chronic Disease Management Plan (CDMP).
You can see the 64 relevant MBS items numbers for doctors and psychologists here.
Contrary to some misinformation that has been circulated, there has been no change to those who can provide eating disorders treatment services under Medicare, or to which professionals are eligible to treat people with an eating disorder under Medicare.
Practitioners eligible to provide Eating Disorder Psychological Treatment (EDPT) services under the EDMP are all mental health professional holding a current Medicare provider number who are currently eligible to provide focused psychological services under the Better Access program. This includes psychiatrists, GPs, clinical psychologists, psychologists, mental health social workers and mental health occupational therapists. However, please note that psychological treatment is restricted to a list of evidenced-based treatments and mental health professionals providing services for eating disorders are expected to meet the national workforce core competencies for the safe and effective identification of and response to eating disorders.
While there are currently no mandated competency requirements for clinicians providing eating disorder treatment, individuals and referring clinicians can ask for a clinician to detail their experience working in the area before referring or working with them. North Brisbane Psychologists currently has two ANZAED credentialed practitioners, as well as others in the process of gaining their credentials.
The Approved Psychological Treatments to be Delivered Under Medicare are:
- Family Based Treatment for Eating Disorders (EDs) (including whole family, Parent Based Therapy, parent only or separated therapy)
- Adolescent Focused Therapy for EDs
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for EDs (CBT-ED)
- CBT-Anorexia Nervosa (AN) (CBT-AN)
- CBT for Bulimia Nervosa (BN) and Binge-eating Disorder (BED) (CBT-BN and CBT BED)
- Specialist Supportive Clinical Management (SSCM) for EDs
- Maudsley Model of Anorexia Treatment in Adults (MANTRA)
- Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) for BN, BED
- Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) for BN, BED
- Focal Psychodynamic Therapy for Eating Disorders
The new items are specifically for these evidence-based eating disorders treatments only.
The full list of MBS rebates for doctors and psychologists can be found here. Patients can call call us on 3726 5595 or Medicare on 132 011 for more information.
No. Only one EDMP plan is needed.
Within that one plan, the referring doctor can specify whether the referral is to be used for eating disorder specific psychological treatment (EDPT) and/or eating Disorder specific dietetic treatment (EDDT).
If a patient has already exhausted all of the sessions available to them under a MHTP (10 sessions) or a CDMP (5 sessions) PRIOR to a EDMP being created, those appointments attended do not count toward the total number of sessions available under a EDMP (40 psych and 20 dietetics).
However, the patient accesses services under a MHTP or CDMP referral AFTER a EDMP has been created it will count toward the total number of sessions available under a EDMP (40 psych and 20 dietetics).
If as a GP you aren’t activating an EDMP plan, and you simply want to refer your patient to a psychiatrist, then you refer to the psychiatrist as per usual.
Should the psychiatrist believe an EDMP is warranted, the psychiatrist would then claim MBS item number associated with the EDMP activation.
It is wise to refer and book the 20th session review as soon as you can. Otherwise you may not get an appointment in time for the review.
Whilst it is not a requirement of Medicare, NBP does request that all individuals receiving treatment for an eating disorder have regular medical monitoring.
If an individual has not been engaged with treatment for 3 or more months, we require the individual to attend a review with their GP to confirm their suitability for outpatient treatment.
Once the 12-month period for an EDMP expires there have several options. If eating disorder related concerns are still relevant, the individual can be assessed for a new EDMP. It is also important to note however, that no one can receive rebates for more than 40 psychological treatment sessions in one calendar year.
This means that if they have used 40 rebated sessions within one calendar year, they will need to wait until the next calendar year to redeem sessions under their new EDMP. If they have used 35 of their previous EDMP sessions in one calendar year, they can use 5 of their new EDMP sessions in that calendar year but must use all other sessions in the following calendar year.
If their EDMP expires and they would like to seek support for non-ED related concerns, they can be considered for a Mental Health Care Plan or Chronic Disease Management Plan.
No. Unfortunately a diagnosis of Avoidant and Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) does not currently meet the eligibility criteria for an EDMP as set out by Medicare. However, ARFID can be an equally serious condition necessitating treatment and GPs are encouraged to refer to other options.
Please note that some patients may interpret their ineligibility for the EDMP in ways that may exacerbate their illness and/or interfere with treatment engagement. It is recommended that, in the case of ineligibility, this information is delivered with upmost caution and sensitivity.
DON’T WAIT until you meet the eligibility criteria to seek treatment. Left untreated, eating disorders are pervasive and enduring. They can impact all domains of a person’s life and persist for an average of 7 years! The sooner you start, the sooner you turn your life around.
There is still help available. While we understand that you might be disappointed that you don’t meet the eligibility criteria for this particular initiative, there is still help available to you. You are still eligible to access up to 10 sessions with a psychologist under a Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP) and up to 5 sessions with a dietitian under a Chronic Disease Management Plan (CDMP).
Yes, patients can access all of their EDMP services via Teleheath if:
- The service provider is satisfied that it is clinically appropriate, and
- Telehealth services are provided via video only (not telephone or email).
No. A patient does not need to meet EDMP eligibility at all review points following the creation of the original EDMP.
Assessment for ongoing use of the EDMP, rather, is a matter of clinical judgment and assessed based on factors including; the patient’s progress, patient engagement, treatment effectiveness and overall suitability.
No. If after 20 EDMP sessions a patient is not approved for additional courses of treatment they cannot access Better Access for eating-disorder related concerns within that calendar or rolling year.
However, if a patient wishes to seek support for non-ED related concerns and has not exceeded 10 Medicare rebated psychological therapy sessions within the calendar year, they are able to seek a Mental Health Care Plan or Chronic Disease Management Plan for support with non ED-related concerns, provided they do not exceed 10 Medicare rebated sessions within the calendar year.