MyMedicare is a voluntary and free registration that formally establishes a relationship between the patient and their primary care provider. Evidence shows that seeing the same GP and healthcare team regularly leads to better health outcomes.
Benefits
Registering provides benefits to both the patient, and their GP:
- Greater continuity of care with your registered practice, which has been demonstrated to improve health outcomes
- Access to longer Medicare rebated Telehealth and Telephone consultations
- One off authorisation for Bulk Billed Telehealth and Telephone consultations (where occasionally offered)
- Patients who are not registered for MyMedicare will need to manually authorise each and every Bulk Billed Telehealth and Telephone consultation
- Streamlined access for the GP to additional patient information for the purposes of care planning
- Medicare has stated that further registration benefits for patients will continue to be added
Eligibility
You’re eligible to register in MyMedicare if you have:
- a Medicare Card or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Veteran Card and
- had two face-to-face visits recorded with the same practice in the previous 24 months
- Parents/guardians and children can be registered at the same practice if one of them is eligible and registered
How to register
There are multiple ways you can register with your chosen practice in MyMedicare:
- Start the registration process in your Medicare Online Account through the myGov app
- Your practice can start your registration with MyMedicare or you can ask them to register you. This will trigger a registration in your Medicare Online Account, which you can complete via your myGov app
- Fill out a Registration Form and provide it to your practice. By signing the form, you are giving consent to participate in MyMedicare. Practice staff will then complete the registration in the MyMedicare system
- Fill out the Online Version of the Registration Form through HotDoc
Changing GPs or Practices
- MyMedicare does not tie you to a particular healthcare provider. You can change your preferred GP within your registered practice at any time.
- MyMedicare registration will not prevent you from accessing care from other practices and healthcare providers for services that are not specifically linked to MyMedicare
- You may be registered for MyMedicare with only one practice at a time, however you are free to register with a different practice if you meet the eligibility requirements
- If you change the practice you are registered with, the MyMedicare system will automatically cancel your registration with your previous practice