Further information for psychologists approved to provide Medicare services

24 Apr 2015

In the recent issue of the Psychology Board of Australia’s newsletter the Board reported it had received correspondence from Medicare which included advice of amendments to their requirements for approval to provide Psychological Therapy services (clinical psychology).

Psychologists are reminded that under Medicare there are two different items that can be provided by psychologists and Medicare uses the following terms to describe the items:

1. Psychological Therapy services – these are clinical psychology services provided by clinical psychologists, and
2. Focussed psychological strategies (FSP) – these are other psychology services provided by psychologists.

If you are unsure as to what kind of Medicare services you provide, please contact Medicare directly as AHPRA cannot check this for you.

There are no changes to the registration requirements for psychologists providing focussed psychological strategies that is, general registration with the Board is required but there is no requirement to hold an endorsement.

However if you are clinical psychologist approved to provide Medicare Psychological Therapy services under Medicare, you will now be required to have a clinical psychology area of practice endorsement on your general registration.

If you already have a clinical psychology endorsement then this change does not affect you.

If you are already approved to provide Psychological Therapy services under Medicare but do not have a have a clinical psychology endorsement, there are grandfathering provisions that apply to you. Medicare will allow you to continue to provide these services for 12 months (until 1 November 2015), after which time a clinical psychology endorsement is required.

To apply for an area of practice endorsement, please visit the endorsement section of our website for information about requirements and an application form.

Further information is available in the April edition of the Board's newsletter and in an update published by the Australian Psychological Society.