2 NEWS
2 NEWS
20 MARCH 2026 ausdoc. com. au
Turning the page together: AusDoc’ s hybrid future
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TWO IN THIS ISSUE
13 FEBRUARY 2026
Communicating with patients HOW TO TREAT, PAGE 19
MRI expansion for GPs
Health department backs the move.
Bella Rough GPs would be free to order a range of new MRI scans under Medicare, including foot, ankle, hip and shoulder scans, under proposals by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. It is proposing a staged expansion of MRI under Medicare, including potentially 11 new GP items, such as a
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Former PSR director’ s‘ abuse of process’ NEWS, PAGE 5
$ 552 item for thoracolumbar spine MRI and a $ 402 item for foot or ankle MRI.
Some 1.5 million MRIs are conducted every year in Australia. But GPs, accounting for around 410,000 of the total, can currently only access four items for patients aged 16 or older and for limited indications.
The status quo is based on an outdated view of MRIs as an“ exotic study”, said Professor Mark Morgan, chair of the RACGP Expert Committee on Quality Care.
Genetics and the infertile couple? THERAPY UPDATE, PAGE 36
‘ MRIs are no longer an exotic study.’
“ In effect, it is rationing healthcare to those who access specialist appointments.”
He stressed that most acute musculoskeletal presentations in general practice were managed without imaging or a referral, but imaging was
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Phase 1 of the proposed expansion would introduce GP MBS items for MRI of the lumbar spine, thoracolumbar spine, foot, ankle, hip and shoulder, and for scans of suspected stress or insufficiency fractures.
However, Medicare would only cover two scans per patient every 12 months and only for patients aged 16 or older.
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NAZIS AND THE RORSCHACH TEST
PAGE 41
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My father was the best dad in the world OPINION, PAGE 18
On call with no reprieve
Ciara Seccombe DR Alia Vemuri left the NT once before, accepting a scholarship that could cover the cost of her textbooks and her first stethoscope.
But having studied medicine at Flinders University in SA, she returned home because she loved the Territorians’ generosity. She also knew their need for specialist doctors was dire.
“ It felt wonderful serving the community that I had grown up in, a community that had invested in me during my childhood and adolescence,” Dr Vemuri tells Australian Doctor.
“ It is a very beautiful place to work, and I will sincerely miss it.”
She is about to leave again, despite being the last NT doctor doing private obstetric work.
And the reason is simple. Her practice has become untenable since the closure of the territory’ s only private maternity ward, at the Healthscope-run Darwin Private Hospital.
“ At the moment, PAGE 3
Dr Krishna Bhagwat Cardiothoracic surgeon
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