Commonwealth Consolidated Regulations

HEALTH INSURANCE REGULATIONS 1975 - REG 20

         (1)   For the purposes of subsection 23DS (1) of the Act, a medical practitioner who provides diagnostic imaging services (in this regulation called the providing practitioner ) must prepare and maintain records of those services.

         (2)   For each service rendered, the providing practitioner's records must include:

                (a)    a copy of the report by the providing practitioner; and

               (b)    if the service is rendered in circumstances specified in subsection 16B (8) of the Act, sufficient information to indicate the nature of the emergency; and

                (c)    if the service is rendered in circumstances specified in subsection 16B (9) of the Act, words indicating:

                          (i)    that the person to whom the service was rendered, or a person acting on that person's behalf, asserted that a medical practitioner, a dental practitioner, a chiropractor, an osteopath, a physiotherapist, a podiatrist, a participating midwife or a participating nurse practitioner (in this regulation called the requesting practitioner ) had requested that the service be rendered but that the request had been lost; and

                         (ii)    that the providing practitioner, or an employee or agent of the providing practitioner, had sought and received from the requesting practitioner, or from an employee or agent of the requesting practitioner, confirmation that the request had been made; and

                        (iii)    the date and manner of that confirmation; and

               (d)    if the service is rendered in the circumstances mentioned in subsection 16B (10A) of the Act:

                          (i)    words indicating that the providing practitioner has consulted with the requesting practitioner and the date of that consultation; or

                         (ii)    if the providing practitioner has not consulted with the requesting practitioner, sufficient information to demonstrate that he or she has taken all reasonable steps to do so.

      (2A)   If an ultrasound service is performed by a registered sonographer under the supervision, or at the direction, of the providing practitioner, the report mentioned in paragraph (2) (a) must include the name of the registered sonographer who performed the service.

         (3)   The providing practitioner's records must be kept in a manner that enables retrieval of information on the basis of:

                (a)    the name of the person to whom the service was rendered; and

               (b)    the date on which the service was rendered.

         (4)   In this regulation:

"registered sonographer" means a person whose name is entered on the Register of Sonographers kept by the Chief Executive Medicare.