MyMedicare

What is MyMedicare?

MyMedicare is a voluntary patient registration model designed to help deliver a streamlined continuity of care and to strengthen the relationship between patients, their GP’s and primary care team, resulting in better patient health outcomes. 

Supported by recommendations from the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce, the recent Commonwealth 2023–24 Budget invests $19.7 million over 4 years in MyMedicare. A further $39.8 million will be delivered to support systems delivery through Services Australia.

Registration in MyMedicare is voluntary for patients, general practices and providers. We encourage all eligible practices to consider registering as the system will improve patient outcomes and enable financial incentives for providers. 

MyMedicare seeks to improve health outcomes by:

1. consolidating the GP’s role as the primary provider and leader in continuity of care for patients
2. strengthening patient relationships with the extended primary care team and increasing multidisciplinary care
3. improving communication between general practice and other health providers
4. improving equitable access for priority population groups.

A range of incentives are offered for general practice to participate, including for telehealth consultations with MyMedicare registrants.

Key Information about MyMedicare

Registration eligibility:

From Saturday, 1 July 2023, eligible practices can register with MyMedicare through their PRODA account.

A condition of practices registering is that they must be accredited against the National General Practice Accreditation Scheme, practices who are not accredited and wish to register in MyMedicare will have a 12 month grace period to register to become accredited through an accreditation agency.

An exception has been made until 30 June 2025 for non-accredited practices (which includes sole providers) who operate as a general practice service through mobile and outreach models:

• in rural settings
• in residential aged care
• in disability residential settings
• to First Nations Australians
• to people experiencing homelessness.

Healthcare providers such as GPs and practice nurses who wish to register must work at a MyMedicare eligible practice, be linked to the practice through their organisation register and have a valid provider number. They must be eligible to deliver Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) or Department of Veterans’ Affairs equivalent services.

For more information, visit the MyMedicare FAQs.

How to register your practice:

Practices can register through their PRODA account. For registration instructions, visit the Services Australia Health Professional Education website. A comprehensive checklist has also been developed to assist practices through the process. 

Prepare your practice for patient registration:

We have developed a simple preparation checklist to assist practices in enrolling patients to MyMedicare.

The Department of Health and Aged Care has published a General Practice Communication Toolkit to help guide practices through registration conversations with their patients. It also includes communication resources and scripts that can be used on your website, patient newsletter, and social media.

Patient registration

Patient registration commenced on Sunday, 1 October 2023. Patients are eligible if they-

• have a Medicare Card or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Veteran Card

• had one face-to-face visit for practices in remote locations (MMM 6 and 7)
• had two face-to-face visits for practices in other locations in the previous 24 months.
• are facing hardship, such as domestic violence or homelessness will be exempt from all eligibility requirements.
• Parents/guardians and children on the same Medicare card can be registered at the same practice if either is eligible and registered. Young people aged 14 to 17 years can register and provide consent without a parent/guardian.

How patients can register:

• Patients can register through the Medicare Online Account or Express Plus Medicare Mobile app, once completed the practice will have the opportunity to confirm and accept the registration; OR
• Your practice can initiate the registration in MyMedicare on the patients behalf,  this process will trigger a registration in the patients Medicare Online Account or Express Plus Medicare Mobile app, which they can then complete; OR
• The patient can complete a patient registration form. By completing this form, the patient is providing consent to participate in MyMedicare. The practice will then be required to add the patient’s registration into Medicare. Practices will be required to file and keep signed consent forms.

 For more information, please visit MyMedicare or contact your Primary Care Engagement Officer.