Pathology Request Form Changes - Giving Consumers Greater Choice of Pathology Provider

In the 2009-10 Federal Budget, the Australian Government announced that it would seek to increase patient choice by removing restrictions on pathology requesting procedures.  

This measure was enabled by the Health Insurance Amendment (Pathology Requests) Act 2010, which removed restrictions in the Health Insurance Act 1973 that required patients to utilise the provider named on the pathology request form in order to be eligible for a Medicare benefit. There was a late revision to the Amendment that allowed a requester to require a patient to utilise a particular Approved Pathology Practitioner (APP) if there are clinical grounds. The Amendment received Royal Assent on 10 December 2010, with a date of effect of 11 December 2010. 

Regulations are being drafted by the Department of Health and Ageing about the wording of the mandatory patient advice statement.  The regulations are will make it an offence for providers to produce/distribute branded request forms which do not contain this statement from 1 July 2012.  Patients who present after that date with an 'old' form which does not include the statement will still be eligible for their Medicare benefit.