Managing Medicare Assignment of Benefit Changes Across General Practice and Residential Aged Care

This session is a Southern Alliance (formerly VTPHNA) collaboration which provides a practical overview of the Assignment of Benefit changes that commenced 1 July 2026, and strategies for practices to maintain compliance while managing new consent, documentation and workflow requirements.

Significant changes to the Assignment of Benefit process took effect from 1 July 2026, introducing requirements for obtaining, recording and retaining patient consent for bulk-billed services. These changes will impact workflows, documentation processes and compliance obligations across general practice and aged care settings. 

This session will provide a practical overview of the new requirements, explore compliant workflow solutions, and discuss strategies to manage consent challenges for vulnerable patients, substitute decision-makers and residential aged care residents.

Speaker:

Wendy O’Meara, Education Consultant, Larter

Wendy has 27 years’ experience in general practice. She currently works as a practice manager in a large, 22 GP practice in Gisborne, Victoria.

She is a passionate educator and has a thorough understanding of all facets, with a special interest in MBS and chronic disease management.

While working full-time, she takes any opportunity she can to meet and work with new practice managers, guiding them through the complexities of general practice. She has been working as an education consultant with Larter since 2017.

In registering for this event, you acknowledge that attendance and evaluation data will be shared with the participating PHNs.

Learning outcomes:

• Describe the key Assignment of Benefit changes commencing 1 July 2026, including consent, documentation and Medicare compliance obligations for bulk-billed services.
• Recall practical workflows solutions to obtain, record, and retain Assignment of Benefit consent, ensuring compliance across all services
• Identify compliance risks and develop strategies to support managing consent for vulnerable patients, substitute decision-makers, and residential aged care residents.