New Item Numbers for Health Assessments
Michelle MacGillivray, Practice Support 20 Feb 08
The Comprehensive Health Assessment Program [CHAP] is a tool to assist GPs to improve the health of adults with intellectual disability. Completing a full Comprehensive Health Assessment Program satisfies the requirements of the Medicare rebate for new items 718 & 719.
The CHAP tool is designed for use in the general practice setting in an annual health review. In Victoria it is for people with an intellectual disability living in DHS homes managed by Disability Services.
Disability support staff will complete the first part of CHAP and provide the GP with the medical history. The GP is prompted by the second part of the CHAP tool to review specific health aspects. The third section assists the GP and support staff to develop an action plan.
Sharon Lowe and Michelle MacGillivray can assist with the methods to obtain these payments.
The CHAP process was developed by Dr Nicholas Lennox, Director of the Queensland Centre for Intellectual and Developmental Disability. It is used in three other Australian states.
GPs can use CHAP as an education process to promote health and prevent disease for people with an intellectual disability.
Research shows that the Comprehensive Health Assessment Program detected vision impairments (up by a factor of 6), hearing testing frequency increased by a factor of 30 and Pap smears (up by a factor of 8). Immunisation rates improved as did the detection of new disease.
The use of this tool is supported by the introduction of two new MBS items: 718 & 719 for a comprehensive health assessment for a person with an intellectual disability. Click here for more information
This article is available online at http://bddgp.org.au/article/2008/02/chap-new-items
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