Table 1 A brief example of the types of item codes in each BTOS category [42]
BTOS Category | Examples of services included |
|---|---|
Non-referred attendances – General Practitioner (GP)/Vocationally registered GP (VRGP) (101) | Attendance by a GP or VRGP |
Non-referred attendances – enhanced primary care (102) | Health assessments; GP management plans, team care arrangements and multidisciplinary care plans; case conferences; GP mental health treatment plans; domiciliary and residential management reviews |
Non-referred attendances – other (103) | Professional attendance at consulting rooms, or nursing home, or hospital, to which no other item applies; family group therapy, examination by a specialist in preparation for the administration of anaesthetic |
Practice nurse items (110) | Services provided by a practice nurse or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner on behalf of a medical practitioner |
Other allied health (150) | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services provided by an eligible Aboriginal health worker or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioner, dental services, diabetes education services, mental health services, physiotherapy services, etc |
Specialist attendance (200) | Attendances by a consultant physician practicing in his or her own specialty, and was not limited to specialists practicing in haematology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, or surgical oncology |
Anaesthetics (400) | Administration of anaesthetic for medical procedures |
Pathology collection items (501) | Initiation of a patient episode by collection of a specimen |
Pathology tests (502) | Included all pathology tests, such as simple basic pathology tests, chemical, haematology, immunology, microbiology, tissue pathology, and cytology |
Diagnostic imaging (600) | Included all modalities (ie ultrasound, computed tomography, diagnostic radiography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine imaging), and for all purposes (ie general, cardiac, vascular, injury, obstetric and gynaecological) |
Operations (700) | Surgical procedures for any speciality, including colorectal, ear nose and throat, general, gynaecological, plastics and reconstructive, urological, vascular, etc |
Assistance at operations (800) | 11 item codes for which assistance was required during an operation |
Optometry (900) | Initial consultations, subsequent consultations, appointments for contact lenses etc |
Radiotherapy and therapeutic nuclear medicine (1000) | Included item codes for radiation oncology such as superficial, megavoltage, brachytherapy, and computerised planning; as well as therapeutic nuclear medicine such as administration of a radioisotope, or iodine etc. |
Other MBS services (1100) | Other diagnostic and therapeutic procedures not listed elsewhere |