Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Health Insurance Amendment (Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation) Bill 2009, which proposes amendments to the Health Insurance Amendment (Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation) Act 2007 which established the Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation Scheme. The amendments seek to broaden the existing accreditation scheme to practices offering non-radiological diagnostic imaging procedures, which are currently not covered by the accreditation scheme. Diagnostic imaging covers a wide range of technologies used by medical practitioners to assist in diagnosis by allowing them to effectively look inside the human body and which includes X-rays, CT scans, MRI, ultrasound, mammography and PET scans. The Australian government provides Medicare rebates for diagnostic imaging services listed in the diagnostic imaging services table as set out in the Medicare Benefits Schedule. It is estimated that approximately 70 per cent of these services are funded by Medicare, and that amounts to several billion dollars of expenditure annually for around 20 million diagnostic imaging services.

The process of accreditation ensures that organisations meet defined safety and quality standards in the delivery of services. Importantly, accreditation provides a mechanism through which government can be assured that services supported by Medicare are being provided by organisations that are performing against those standards. The Leader of the Opposition, who was the then health minister, Tony Abbott, introduced legislation in 2007 to establish the Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation Scheme. At the time he recognised that accreditation would in time be extended to other diagnostic imaging procedures and the legislation was designed to allow for the introduction of accreditation schemes for other diagnostic imaging services. Minister Roxon has decided to proceed with further legislation, and this bill will amend the coalition’s 2007 legislation. It will also expand the reach of the accreditation scheme to all diagnostic imaging services provided to the Australian community.

Stakeholder groups were generally accepting of the initial scheme, and also of this move to widen accreditation across the diagnostic imaging sector. In general, they have not voiced major concerns and accept the scheme and its extension as an expected development and part of the ongoing staged process. However, through consultation processes concerns have been raised that include the suitability of a single accreditation model across a diverse range of medical practices and worries about duplication, costs and administrative burdens. Departmental information has suggested the costs for accreditation would not be overly onerous. However, the government must take note of these concerns and maintain ongoing consultations with all stakeholders on these issues as they develop the accreditation process, particularly as many of the stakeholders captured under this bill are private specialist practices.

I note that the Minister for Health and Ageing has assured the House that the Department of Health and Ageing has consulted comprehensively with the health professions and industry and that the government will keep the burden of compliance to a minimum. In introducing this scheme in 2007, the coalition acknowledged that the scheme would provide benefits for consumers, the provider and the Commonwealth, which could be assured that services supported by Medicare were being provided only by organisations meeting an endorsed set of standards. While we do not oppose the passage of this bill today, the coalition seeks an assurance that an evaluation be carried out to ensure the scheme is working reasonably without an onerous cost burden being passed on to consumers.