The statement warns against signing off on procedures that are not medically necessary, and reinforces the new updated guidance that clinical assessment and patient-centred decision making must take place.
A surgeon should be cautious when asked to support a release of superannuation for the sake of procedures where the clinician has minor or no clear clinical indication as being medically necessary. Some procedures may or may not have clear clinical indications for any given patient. It must fall into the context of surgical assessment and all that entails subsequent to the requirement of a medical indication to underpin their respective desire for release of their superannuation.
Support for the release of superannuation must only occur in specific instances, along with clear, supported documentation that acknowledges medical necessity. The College does not advocate for surgical fees. The focus is on standard of practice to uphold professionalism. Signing a document without clear medical reasoning risks regulatory action against practice standards. Regulatory scrutiny by the government regarding superannuation access to medical procedures has sharpened. Any future reform could ultimately limit access to superannuation for medical procedures, or seek to reform these to independent approval processes.
RACS believes that everyone, including surgeons, who work as a health professional should be bound by an ethical and moral code of conduct which places the best interests of the patient at the centre of all clinical and decision-making processes.
Read joint media release by the ATO and Ahpra.