At a practical level, doctors and medical colleges will no longer be asked to compile all the evidence themselves when making a submission for listing of new procedures. In addition, funds may be allocated as part of the research efforts. However, it will not be possible to fund all requests to evaluate new medical procedures, so there will need to be criteria for funding. Listing new procedures in the MBS Medicare benefits are payable for medical procedures appearing in the MBS and are listed on the basis that they are clinically relevant. Both have participation from the medical profession.
Decisions rely too little on comprehensive and systematic evaluation of documented research.
With the rapid development of new medical technologies and the need to respond to claims for Medicare benefits, there was limited capacity under the existing arrangements to systematically evaluate procedures. This initiative is consistent with a strong international movement aimed at building evidence based medicine. This movement is supported by the medical profession, purchasers of health care services and consumers. It is in response to higher costs of health care, rapidly developing medical technologies, and variability in practices among medical professionals and in health outcomes for consumers. Gail Batman, First Assistant Secretary, Health Benefits Division.