Review of the Professional Services Review (PSR) Scheme
Information about the Inquiry
On 06 July 2011 the Senate referred the following matter to the Senate Community Affairs Committees for inquiry and report.
A review of the Professional Services Review (PSR) Scheme provided for under the Health Insurance Act 1973 (the Act) which is responsible for reviewing and investigating the provision of Medicare or Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme services by health professionals, with particular reference to:
(a) the structure and composition of the PSR, including:
(i) criteria for selection of the executive and constituent members encompassing
their experience in administrative review proceedings,
(ii) the role of specialist health professionals in assisting in cases where
members lack relevant specialist expertise, and
(iii) accountability of all parties under the Act;
(b) current operating procedures and processes used to guide committees in
reviewing cases;
(c) procedures for investigating alleged breaches under the Act;
(d) pathways available to practitioners or health professionals under review to
respond to any alleged breach;
(e) the appropriateness of the appeals process; and
(f) any other related matter.
Submissions should be received by 12 August 2011. The reporting date is 22 September 2011. On 12 October 2011,the Senate granted an extension of time for reporting until 01 November 2011.
The Committee is seeking written submissions from interested individuals and organisations preferably in electronic form submitted online or sent by email to community.affairs.sen@aph.gov.au as an attached Adobe PDF or MS Word format document. The email must include full postal address and contact details.
Alternatively, written submissions may be sent to:
Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia
Notes to help you prepare your submission are available from the website at https://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/wit_sub/index.htm. Alternatively, the Committee Secretariat will be able to help you with your inquiries and can be contacted on telephone +61 2 6277 3515 or facsimile +61 2 6277 5829 or by email to community.affairs.sen@aph.gov.au.
Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to Parliament House TTY number 02 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools at http://access.adobe.com/ for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. If you require any special arrangements to enable you to participate in the Committee's inquiry, please contact the Committee Secretariat.
Once the Committee accepts your submission, it becomes a confidential Committee document and is protected by Parliamentary Privilege. You must not release your submission without the Committee's permission. If you do, it will not be protected by Parliamentary Privilege. At some stage during the inquiry, the Committee normally makes submissions public and places them on its website. Please indicate if you want your submission to be kept confidential.
For further information, contact: Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia