Review of evidence regarding the efficacy and effectiveness of Medicare Benefits Schedule health assessment services within primary care

Opportunistic health assessment, including targeted clinical assessment and the promotion of health maintenance behaviour, is generally accepted to be part of routine preventative care in general practice. A health assessment is an in-depth assessment of a patient, aimed at identifying health issues and conditions that are potentially preventable or amenable to interventions in order to improve health and/or quality of life. The term health assessment is broader than screening as it includes symptomatic conditions that a patient has not
discussed to a GP, whereas screening is focused on asymptomatic undetected conditions or risk factors. There are several specific health assessment items funded under the current Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), such as for diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Additionally, patients’ overall health and disease risk profiles are routinely evaluated in general practice via general consultations (Level A-D attendances).