Panel hearing summary 2020.0871

Decision of the Medical Board of Australia

Performance and professional standards panel 

Jurisdiction: Western Australia
Date of Decision: 20 October 2019

Classification of Notification

Billing – Inappropriate fees or billing practices / Over-charging, Billing – Inappropriate fees or billing practices, Documentation – Health records – Inadequate or inaccurate or misleading

Summary

The Board referred a number of allegations to Panel in respect of the Practitioner's management and billing of three separate patients including, but not limited to, inappropriately claiming a rebate from Medicare for attendances that did not fall within the description of the service, inappropriately invoicing a patient for services that did not fall within the descriptor and failing to maintain adequate medical records.

All allegations were proven, and the Panel decided that the Practitioner had behaved in a way that constitutes unprofessional conduct. The Panel cautioned the Practitioner. In making its determination, the Panel had regard to the fact that the Practitioner had undertaken remedial steps to improve his practice including education in relation to billing practices.