Changes to the Approved Medical Deputising Service (AMDS) Program
Effective from the 1st August 2020, the AMDS program guidelines are changing, and this will affect some afterhours doctors who are currently on the program.
What is AMDS?
The Approved Medical Deputising Service (AMDS) program is a 3GA program which offers non-vocationally (non-VR) recognised doctors the opportunity to gain general practice experience while being subject to section 19aa of the Health Insurance Act.
Why AMDS?
The AMDS program allows general practitioners who are subject to section 19aa access to deputise after-hours care for their patients to alternate service providers.
Approved participants are granted access to Medicare rebates for providing primary care to patients in an approved AMDS practice, home visits in the patient’s home, or in residential aged care facilities. This reduces the need for patients to attend an emergency department for after-hours care, to allow the Emergency apartment to see patients with actual emergencies.
What is 19aa?
You may hear section 19aa being thrown around a lot, and not realise how it could affect your access to Medicare benefits if you become a permanent resident of Australia.
Doctors who are permanent residents or citizens of Australia who are not vocationally recognised are subject to section 19aa of the Health Insurance Act. In order to get access to Medicare benefits you must go on a 3GA approved training or workforce program.
YDJ has seen many times where doctors with general registration apply for permanent residency, and then have their provider numbers cut as they become subject to section 19aa and are not informed before making the decision to apply for permanent residency.
Changes to AMDS come 1st August
At present doctors who hold limited, provisional, and general registration are eligible for the AMDS program.
From 1st August the guidelines are changing and doctor who hold limited and provisional registration will no longer be available for the program if they are visiting home doctors. Doctors who hold limited and provisional registration and are doing AMDS in-clinic services will remain on the AMDS program.
YDJ would highly recommend that doctors who hold limited and provisional registration currently doing home visits to start looking at their next options.
The Department of Health have put together some frequently asked Questions and Answers which might be helpful for doctors on the program - https://bit.ly/3gEHhWi
If you are looking for further guidance on the AMDS Program or would like to ask any questions about 3GA program options, this is something YDJ can help you out with. Contact us directly via email on justin@yourdoctorjobs.com