Ep56: Billing in Byzantium

Australia has one of the best value health systems in the world, but also some of the most Byzantine health regulation. Between the federal Medicare scheme, the state hospitals, the private health insurers and the patient, it’s not always clear how a provider should invoice their services.

To explain some of the fundamentals our guest is former nurse and lawyer, Margaret Faux of Synapse Global Medical Administration. She also describes areas of ambiguity in the legislation and the Medicare Benefits Schedule which creates confusion as to when and where certain services can be billed, or which items should not be claimed together. While there are many traps for well-intentioned providers and loopholes for the less well-intentioned, there are some simple solutions that would make medical billing much more streamlined.

Guests
Margaret Faux (CEO, Synapse Global Medical Administration)

Production
 Written and produced by Mic Cavazzini. Tracks licenced from Epidemic Sound include ‘Organic Textures 2 – Johannes Bornlöf, ‘Temple of Runha’ – ELFL. Tracks licenced from Free Music Archive include ‘Here’s the Thing’ – Lee Rosevere, 'Secret Place' -Alex Fitch, ‘Electro Cool’—4T Thieves, ‘Please Listen Carefully’- Jahzarr. Image licenced from Getty Images. 

Editorial feedback for this episode was kindly provided by members of the RACP’s Podcast Editorial Group; Jenae Valk, Seema Radhakrishnan, Phillipa Wormald, Seema Radhakrishnan, Lisa Mounsey, Alan Ngo, Oliver Dillon, Rhiannon Mellor, Alexis Frydenberg, Duncan Austin, Keith Ooi, Sern Wei Yeoh.

Please visit the RACP website for a transcript embedded with citations. Fellows of the College can claim CPD credits for listening and additional reading.