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Grounded Scribe
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 27 April 2026.

  • Better Access
  • Registered Psychologist (eligible under the Better Access initiative)
  • 4 variants

Items 80100–80115

Better Access — Registered Psychologist (individual focussed psychological strategies)

Focussed psychological strategies (FPS) health service provided to a patient individually and in person by an eligible psychologist under Better Access. Item billed depends on duration (≥20 min and <50 min, or ≥50 min) and service location.

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.

ItemTime Location Typical use MBS Online
80100 ≥20 min and <50 min Consulting rooms Standard FPS session Open ↗
80105 ≥20 min and <50 min Other location Home / hospital / school visit Open ↗
80110 ≥50 min Consulting rooms Initial assessment / extended FPS session Open ↗
80115 ≥50 min Other location Initial assessment — home / hospital Open ↗

Requirements to bill

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

  1. Current referral from a referring practitioner — typically a GP under a Mental Health Treatment Plan, or a psychiatrist or paediatrician.
  2. Provider must be on the Medicare register as an eligible psychologist for Better Access items.
  3. Service must be provided to the patient individually and in person (or by an approved telehealth equivalent item).
  4. At the completion of a course of treatment, the referring practitioner must review the need for further treatment.
  5. On completion of the course of treatment, the psychologist must give a written report to the referring practitioner.
  6. Up to 10 individual Better Access sessions per calendar year (with a referrer review after the initial 6).
  7. Item claimed must correspond to the actual face-to-face duration of the clinical service.

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, location, and item number claimed.
  • Referral details — referring practitioner, MHTP date, sessions attended, sessions remaining.
  • Presenting issue and link to the MHTP diagnosis / formulation.
  • The focussed psychological strategy applied this session (e.g. CBT, behavioural activation, problem-solving therapy, ACT).
  • Mental state and clinical content of the session.
  • Risk assessment where clinically indicated, and the action taken.
  • Explicit reference to MHTP goals and progress toward them.
  • For initial assessments (≥50 min): full history, formulation, treatment plan aligned with MHTP.
  • At end-of-course: confirmation a written report has been provided to the referring practitioner.

Common audit failures

Patterns the Professional Services Review scheme and Medicare audits flag.

  • Session duration not documented — item time threshold cannot be substantiated.
  • Item claimed does not match the actual face-to-face duration (e.g. 80110 billed for a 45-minute session).
  • Notes describe generic supportive counselling rather than a focussed psychological strategy.
  • Notes never reference the MHTP goals.
  • Missing or expired referral on file.
  • Sessions billed beyond the calendar-year cap, or after session 6 without referrer review.
  • No end-of-course written report to the referring practitioner.
  • Travel, documentation, or telephone follow-up time included in the face-to-face duration.

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.

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.

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