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Health y Kids Check Medicare Item

The Australian Government has introduced a new item number in the Medicare Benefits Schedule for a 'Healthy Kids Check' (items 709 and 711). The item number has been introduced to support general practitioners and practice nurses to undertake a health check for a patient who is receiving or has received their four year old immunisation. Details of the item number are available by downloading the July 2008 MBS supplement.

AGPN has received enquiries from divisions about the availability of the 'Get Set 4 Life- habits for healthy kids', a guide (booklet) produced by the Australian Government for GPs and Practice Nurses to be provided to parents at the time the health check is conducted.

Instructions for ordering will be included on the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) website under the link for the Healthy Kids Check at www.health.gov.au/epc . Information on the new item number and Guide will be uploaded on the website on 1 July 08. Divisions and practices will be able to order copies of the Guide as per their requirements.

DoHA has also advised that a fact sheet, questions and answers sheet and checklist for the Healthy Kids Check will be posted on it's website at www.health.gov.au/epc on 1 July 2008 to coincide with item introduction. These documents will be packaged as a 'Resource Kit', similar to other Kits developed for all Group A14 Health Assessment items.

All of the information is available on the Department website at www.health.gov.au/epc including an electronic copy of the booklet, health check template and Questions and Answers.

DoHA also advised that they have no plans to distribute the resources and will not be mailing them out to divisions or practices. Their advice was that resource kits and copies of the booklets will need to be ordered on an individual basis.