Reference only — not billing advice

MBS items change. Verify the current descriptor, fee, and rules on MBS Online before billing. This page does not include a fee amount. Last reviewed 28 April 2026.

Specialist
Consultant Psychiatrist
5 variants

Items 300–308

Psychiatric attendance — duration-tier follow-up

Professional attendance by a consultant psychiatrist at consulting rooms following referral. Five items differ only in the duration of the attendance — 300 (≤15 min), 302 (>15 to ≤30 min), 304 (>30 to ≤45 min), 306 (>45 to ≤75 min), 308 (>75 min). All share a 50-attendances-per-calendar-year combined cap across the in-rooms items (296/297/299/300/302/304/306/308) and their telehealth equivalents (91827–91831, 91837–91839, 92437). The time band documented must match the item claimed.

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

Which item should I bill?

All variants share the same documentation requirements (below). The item number you bill is determined by the actual face-to-face duration and the location.

Item	Time	Location	Typical use	MBS Online
300	Not more than 15 minutes	Consulting rooms	Brief medication-only review or short follow-up.	Open ↗
302	More than 15 min and not more than 30 min	Consulting rooms	Standard short follow-up review.	Open ↗
304	More than 30 min and not more than 45 min	Consulting rooms	Standard follow-up review.	Open ↗
306	More than 45 min and not more than 75 min	Consulting rooms	Extended follow-up — complex case discussion or major medication change.	Open ↗
308	More than 75 minutes	Consulting rooms	Prolonged complex follow-up requiring an extended block.	Open ↗

Requirements to bill

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

Current referral from a medical practitioner.
Attendance must be at consulting rooms (telehealth equivalents are separately numbered: 91827–91831, 91837–91839, 92437).
The face-to-face duration documented must fall within the time band of the item claimed.
Combined cap of 50 attendances per calendar year per patient across items 296, 297, 299, 300, 302, 304, 306, 308, and their telehealth equivalents.
Where the patient has not been seen by this psychiatrist in the preceding 24 months, the new-patient items (296/297/299) apply instead of this family.

Your notes must show

Documentation tests — what clinical notes need to record to match what the item asks, regardless of which variant you bill.

Date, start time, end time, and total face-to-face duration. This is the most-audited element in the 300-series — duration must fall within the item's time band.
Item number anticipated against the documented duration (e.g. "Item 304 — 38-minute consultation").
Annual attendance count for the patient across the family (e.g. "session 12 of 50 cap").
Interval since last consultation and any third-party reports received.
Patient self-report — symptoms, functional changes, medication adherence and tolerability, life events, treatment engagement.
Mental state examination — focused update against the previous MSE, specifically noting changes.
Risk update — current risk level, any new risk factors, any safety-plan deployment since last review.
Investigations — bloods, ECG, BP, weight, side-effect monitoring (e.g. AIMS for tardive screening) where indicated, with results documented.
Psychometric reassessment where the practitioner uses an instrument longitudinally.
Treatment-plan changes — medication adjustments with reasoning, psychotherapy adjustments, investigations ordered.
Communication plan — letter to referrer where indicated (medication initiation/change, change in diagnosis, change in risk).
Review interval — when the next consultation is scheduled and which item is anticipated.

Common audit failures

Patterns the Professional Services Review scheme and Medicare audits flag.

Time-band mismatch — note records a duration that does not match the item billed (e.g. 304 claimed for a 28-minute consultation that should be 302). The most common single PSR finding for psychiatry.
Annual cap breach — claiming beyond 50 attendances per calendar year combined across the family.
Wrong family — billing 300/302/304/306/308 for a patient who has not been seen in the preceding 24 months (296/297/299 apply instead).
No documented MSE — narrative-only notes that do not show an explicit mental state examination.
No risk assessment — particularly absent in shorter attendances where the practitioner relies on prior knowledge of the patient.
Investigations referenced but results not documented in the note (e.g. "lithium level checked" without the value).
Medication change recorded without the structured framework (current med + adherence + reasoning + side-effect screen + monitoring + patient understanding + follow-up).
No communication to referrer for significant decisions (medication initiation/change, change in diagnosis, change in risk).

Related MBS items

Diagnostic codes commonly billed under these items

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

Templates that document these items

Note templates inside Grounded Scribe that produce documentation aligned to these MBS items.

Psychiatry Ongoing Consultation (300-308)Ongoing psychiatric review consultation, billed by duration across MBS items 300–308. Captures interval history, MSE, response to medication and/or psychotherapy, risk re-assessment, and updated management. Suitable for routine reviews, medication titration, and shared-care updates back to the GP.

In-depth reading in the Library

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.

Last updated: 28 April 2026