Advocacy News

Medicare Review of Select Ultrasound Imaging Services | Nov 2024

The Department of Health and Aged Care is conducting a review of selected MBS diagnostic imaging items as part of the 2024-25 Budget initiative to ensure equal affordability and access to the MBS for Australian women. A range of items are under review, including many relating to obstetric and breast imaging.

The ASA will be submitting a response to this review. If you have feedback to contribute, please email the ASA Policy & Advocacy team at policy@sonographers.org by 17 November 2024.

The full details of the two consultations and items under review can be found here:

• Review of Select Medicare Funded Diagnostic Imaging Ultrasound Service - Public Consultation Paper
• Review of Medicare Funded Breast Imaging Services – Public Consultation Paper

Tasmanian Budget for 2024-25

The Tasmanian Budget for 2024-25 includes a suite of initiatives across the Health portfolio to increase the health workforce and invest in new infrastructure.

Health Workforce

The focus of workforce initiatives in this Budget is to attract medical practitioners to stay or relocate to work in Tasmania. It funds scholarships and incentive packages for 40 doctors and ‘hundreds’ of nurses and midwives to commit for three years  – especially in rural and regional areas. There is also funding to recruit 44 new doctors and 25 nurses at the expanded Royal Hobart Hospital Emergency Department, 78 new paramedics (including 27 community paramedics), and ten doctors for a new rapid deployment initiative. 

Other health programs and infrastructure

A number of other budget initiatives are likely to be of interest to our Tasmanian members, including:

• $120,000 for a three-year endometriosis campaign, including boosting access to specialists for diagnosis through increased outpatient clinic appointments in public hospitals.
• $40,000 over four years for a medical equipment fund to upgrade equipment, including ultrasound.
• $15 million to build and $1 million ongoing for a new Diagnostic Breast Imaging Clinic co‑located with BreastScreen Tasmania in a new multi‑disciplinary Breast Care Centre at Royal Hobart Hospital, which will accept GP referrals to improve patient access to imaging.
• $36m over four years to alleviate service demand across the health sector – including funding for increased demand for pathology, radiology, oncology, infection prevention and control and pharmaceutical services across the System.
• Co-funding a new Northern Heart Centre, including a new medical imaging unit, subject to Commonwealth co-contribution.
• Continued funding under the Digital Health Transformation for a statewide Electronic Medical Record, which is designed to consolidate systems and make flow of patient information smoother between settings and improve continuity of care, and may impact sonography reporting.
• Continued funding for a special complaints handling system for complex and sensitive complaints in the health sector.
• Funding part of the upgrade to May Shaw Health Centre at Swansea which will help the centre continue GPs allied health and other specialists.
• Building a new hospital in Launceston.

The full details of the budget can be found HERE

Consultation open - Draft National Safety and Quality Medical Imaging (NSQMI) Standards

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care is currently inviting feedback on the draft National Safety and Quality Medical Imaging (NSQMI) Standards, which will replace the current Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation Scheme (DIAS) Standards.

Under DIAS, to access Medicare benefit payments, diagnostic imaging practices are required to be accredited and comply with the safety and quality standards, be registered with Services Australia and hold a Location Specific Practice Number.

The new standards will apply to all medical imaging services, including non-Medicare services. Practices who already comply with DIAS will meet many of the requirements under the new standards, and not all standards will be relevant to all practices. The new standards encompass clinical governance, partnering with consumers, clinical safety, and technical safety.

The Commission is seeking feedback on:

1. The Draft National Safety and Quality Medical Imaging Standards 
2. The Implementation resources include suggested strategies that imaging providers can use to ensure they meet the standards' requirements or implement change.

The ASA will be making a submission. If you would like to contribute to this, please review the draft document(s) and send your feedback and recommendations to the ASA Policy and Advocacy team by email at policy@sonographers.org.

Alternatively, you may wish to make your own personal submission directly to the Commission, online or verbally, as outlined here.  

Submissions close Friday 27 September.

Full details of the consultation can be found on the Commission’s website HERE: 

ASA/ASAR Statement on Commonwealth Prac Placements

The Australian Government's 2024-5 Budget introduced the Commonwealth Prac Payment to assist students in managing costs associated with mandatory placements in higher education courses, offering $319.50 per week to nursing, midwifery, social work, and teaching students. However, the ASA and the Australian Sonographer Accreditation Registry (ASAR) advocate for extending this scheme to sonography students. The ASA and ASAR argue that sonography students face similar financial burdens during mandatory placements, which are essential for accreditation. Excluding sonography students from the Prac Payment scheme exacerbates placement-related financial strains and contributes to the existing shortage of qualified sonographers. ASA and ASAR urge the government to expand the scheme to include sonography students to ensure an adequate supply of qualified professionals and meet the growing demand for ultrasound services.

Read the full statement here

ASA's submission to the MyHealth record consultation

ASA has contributed a submission on the proposed reforms to the MyHealth record.  The Australian Government has announced it intends to require health practitioners to share diagnostic imaging and pathology information ‘by default’ with the MyHealth Record. Consumers will also have access to information uploaded to their MyHealth record in real time, rather than waiting seven days.

As outlined in our submission, the proposed changes to the MyHealth system could improve patient outcomes, empower consumers, and enhance the overall efficiency of Australia’s health system. At the same time, medical ultrasound plays an essential role in our health system and the digital health reforms must take a balanced approach that minimises the compliance burden on the sector. 

Our submission includes recommendations to clarify roles and responsibilities for diagnostic imaging information sharing, support for education and training, minimise interoperability issues, and involving key stakeholders such as our organisation in the development of eRequesting standards.

You can read our full submission here

AHPRA criminal history standard review

The ASA has contributed to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) consultation on the Criminal history registration standard (the Standard). Our submission sets out aspects of the Standard that could be amended to provide stronger protections for patients, while supporting the rights of health practitioners to natural justice and privacy of their personal information. 

Of course, the Standard applies only to the 25% of sonographers who are dual-qualified as radiographers. Our submission advises Ahpra that patients of the 75% of sonographers who are not dual qualified as radiographers do not benefit from the Standard’s protections.

You can read our full submission here.

Workforce 

The ASA has been gathering critical data on the workforce situation in both Australia and New Zealand, including information on graduate numbers, clinical placements, retiring sonographers, and the dropout rate of students due to a lack of clinical placements. This data is used by the ASA to inform key stakeholders about the state of the sonographer workforce in both countries. 

Building a sustainable sonographer workforce in Australia

In March 2023, the ASA hosted an industry Roundtable event in Canberra to discuss the sonography workforce and propose solutions to current concerns. The Roundtable brought together over 20 leaders from across the world of sonography, government, and the rural allied health sector.

The ASA has produced a report from that initial discussion, which contains the key points and recommendations recorded at the Roundtable.

Key report recommendations:

1. Incentivisation is needed for diagnostic imaging sites to take on student placements
2. Consider developing an apprenticeship/cadetship model for students
3. Consider accreditation of training sites and trainers
4. Specialist pathways should be further developed, in addition to general sonography
5. Stronger focus on competency-based student placements and assessment
6. Financial incentivisation will help enable organisations to take on sonography students
7. The onus should be on universities to organise placements, rather than on students
8. Collaboration is key – particularly between the private, public, and university sectors
9. Demands on sonographers’ time could be freed up through different measures including triaging between referrers and diagnostic imaging to address possible overservicing
10. Developing measures to address workforce shortages in rural areas, including promoting and training locals to help retain staff
11. Developing measures to address the shortage of clinical supervisors in sonography, including subsidising the cost of training for clinical supervisors
12. Developing measures to ensure career satisfaction and reduce burnout.

The ASA will use this report to advocate its key recommendations to Government, industry, the education sector, and the wider sonography profession. The ASA plans to hold another Roundtable event with Government and industry partners, to present and discuss the recommendations and their implementation, as well as the allocations of funding required from the different sectors and government.

New Zealand 

The New Zealand Sonographer Advisory Group (NZSAG) was formed in late 2022 to assist the ASA on addressing issues in New Zealand. NZSAG has been very active in the first few months of 2023, assisting in the responses to two consultations. On 8 February 2023, the ASA met with the Chief Allied Health Officer and had a workforce discussion with key industry stakeholders. The conversation was very productive, and the Ministry of Health aims to build a picture of key issues impacting on the health workforce. 

Read more about the issue of Workforce here 

Australian Government Federal Budget 2023-24

The 2023-24 Budget was announced on 9 May 2023 with a significant focus on health, items relevant to sonography practice in Australia included -

Supervision requirements

Under the Health Insurance (Diagnostic Imaging Services Table) Regulations (No. 2) 2020 (DIST), all R-type services must meet the requirements stipulated in clause 2.1.2.

Changes were made in the Budget, and the current clause 2.1.7 on Musculokeletal (MSK) ultrasound services - personal attendance will be removed. From 1 November 2023, personal attendance by the responsible medical practitioner will no longer be required for MSK ultrasound services. Clinical supervision of MSK ultrasound by the responsible medical practitioner will still be required in accordance with the regulations.

Scope of practice review for Allied Health

$3 million in 2023-24 and 2024-25 to undertake a review that examines current models of care against community needs and recommends appropriate expansion to scopes of practices and models of care for a range of health professionals providing primary care services (both registered and self-regulated, including medical practitioners, nurses, midwives, and allied health). The Review will involve extensive consultation with various stakeholders including (but not limited to) state and territory governments, health services, peak bodies, employers, relevant health professional Boards and education and training institutions.

ASA consultations and submissions update

The ASA has responded to several consultations in 2023, including a proposed AHPRA data strategy, a consultation on a sustainable healthcare module, the Australia pre-budget submission, the post-budget response New Zealand, the Student Placement Project New Zealand and Primary Health Tasmania Allied Health Engagement Strategy (live video consultation only).  

Read our recent written Consultations and Submissions here 

NSW Town Hall Meeting on Sonographer Awards

On 14 March 2023, the ASA hosted a Town Hall meeting on sonographer awards in NSW. The interactive meeting was very well attended: participants had opportunities to respond to polls, provide comments and speak to the wider group during the lively online discussion. This event has been invaluable in providing the ASA with material on members’ views on Award reform going forward. We will continue to engage the NSW membership on this issue.

Sonographer regulation 

In 2022, the ASA held over 30 meetings with health ministers, shadow health ministers and advisors across the country from diverse sides of politics, as well as unions, Commonwealth and State Department of Health officials, MRPBA, RANZCR, CAHOs, and representatives from the Health Chief Executives Forum (HCEF) to brief them on the issue of sonographer regulation. 

In 2023 the ASA has already had 10 meetings to discuss sonographer regulation. Key meetings included Professor Brendan Murphy, Penny Shakespeare, Matthew Williams, Michael Ryan, Teressa Gorondi and Jonathan Bray from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, Dr Gordon Reid MP, and RANZCR. 

We have been working with the Federal Shadow Health Minister, Senator Anne Ruston, on tabling questions on notice on the subject of sonographer regulation.  

Read more about Sonographer Regulation in Australia here