CDM Allied Health — Dietetics

Dietetics health service of at least 20 minutes provided to a patient with a chronic condition and complex care needs, on referral from the patient's GP under a chronic condition management plan.

Plain-English summary. See MBS Online for the verbatim descriptor of each item.

Time

At least 20 minutes

Frequency

Not capped

Referral

Required

Profession

Accredited Practising Dietitian

Requirements to bill

Conditions imposed by the descriptor that must be met to claim this item.

1Patient must have a chronic condition and complex care needs being managed by their GP under a chronic condition management plan (the items historically known as GPMP / TCA, now consolidated as the GP chronic condition management plan), prepared or reviewed in the last 18 months.
2GP must have referred the patient on the approved allied health referral form, naming dietetics as the service required.
3Service must be of at least 20 minutes duration.
4Provider must be an accredited practising dietitian eligible to provide Medicare services.
5Combined cap of 5 individual CDM allied health services per calendar year, across all CDM allied health providers and items.

Your notes must show

Documentation tests — what clinical notes need to demonstrate to survive a PSR audit.

Date, start time, end time, location, and item number claimed.
Referral details — referring GP, plan date, the chronic condition(s) the referral is targeted at, sessions remaining in the calendar-year cap.
How the service relates to the chronic condition management plan goals.
Dietetic assessment (anthropometry, dietary intake, nutrition-related diagnoses), intervention, and patient response.
Plan / next steps and communication back to the referring GP.
Confirmation a written report has been provided to the GP (CDM items require communication back to the referrer).

Common audit failures

Patterns the Professional Services Review scheme and Medicare audits flag.

Session duration not documented — 20-minute minimum cannot be substantiated.
No current GP chronic condition management plan on file.
Notes describe a generic dietetic intervention without referencing the management plan.
No written communication back to the referring GP.
Sessions billed beyond the 5-per-calendar-year combined cap (across all CDM allied health items).

Related MBS items

965

GP Chronic Condition Management Plan — preparation

967

GP Chronic Condition Management Plan — review (face-to-face)

10958

CDM Allied Health — Occupational Therapy

10960

CDM Allied Health — Physiotherapy

Diagnostic codes commonly billed under this item

ICD-10-AM diagnoses whose Medicare pathway includes this item. Click through to the diagnostic-code reference for differential codes and clinical context.

F50

Eating Disorders

Behavioural Syndromes

Templates that document this item

Note templates inside Grounded Scribe that produce documentation aligned to this MBS item.

CDM Dietetics (10954)

Chronic Disease Management dietetic session (MBS item 10954). Documents the chronic condition (e.g. diabetes, CKD, weight-related comorbidities), nutrition goals from the referring chronic condition management plan (GPCCMP item 965 post-1-Jul-2025; legacy GPMP plans continue under transition arrangements until 1 July 2027), dietary assessment and intervention, and feedback to the GP. Structured to satisfy the Medicare item requirements.

In-depth reading in the Library

Medicare Audit-Ready Documentation: A GP's Guide to MBS Item Number Compliance

Professional Services Review audits can result in repayment demands, exclusion from Medicare, and public referral. Your clinical notes are the primary evidence in any PSR investigation. This guide details exactly what your documentation must contain to withstand scrutiny.

Source authority

Documentation tests on this page reference the descriptor conditions and PSR-audit patterns covered in our existing Library guides. Always confirm current rules against the official descriptor.

Item 10954 on MBS Online

Keep reading