Health Insurance (Professional Services Review) Amendment Regulations 1999 (No. 1)
Statutory Rules 1999 No. 346
I, WILLIAM PATRICK DEANE, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following Regulations under the Health Insurance Act 1973.
Dated 15 December 1999.
WILLIAM DEANE
Governor-General
By His Excellency’s Command,
MICHAEL WOOLDRIDGE
Minister for Health and Aged Care

Health Insurance (Professional Services Review) Amendment Regulations 1999 (No. 1)1
Statutory Rules 1999 No. 3462
made under the
Health Insurance Act 1973

Contents
	Page
	1	Name of Regulations	2
	2	Commencement	2
	3	Amendment of Health Insurance (Professional Services Review) Regulations 1999	2
Schedule 1	Amendments	3

1	Name of Regulations
		These Regulations are the Health Insurance (Professional Services Review) Amendment Regulations 1999 (No. 1).
2	Commencement
		These Regulations commence on 1 January 2000. 
3	Amendment of Health Insurance (Professional Services Review) Regulations 1999
		Schedule 1 amends the Health Insurance (Professional Services Review) Regulations 1999.

Schedule 1	Amendments
(regulation 3)
[1]	Regulation 3, note
omit
Note
insert
Note 1
[2]	Regulation 3, after the note
insert
Note 2   The expressions Committee, inappropriate practice, person under review, profession, referred services and service are defined in s 81 of the Act.
[3]	After Part 2
insert
Part 3	Prescribed pattern of services
7	Definition
		For this Part:
professional attendance means a service of a kind mentioned in group A1, A2, A5, A6, A7, A13, A14 or A15 of Part 2 of the general medical services table.
Note   The expressions general medical services table, general practitioner and medical practitioner are defined in s 3 of the Act.
8	Purpose of this Part
		This Part prescribes the circumstances in which referred services constitute a prescribed pattern of services for Part VAA of the Act.
Note   Section 106KA of the Act provides that conduct of a person under review in connection with rendering or initiating services that constitute a prescribed pattern of services may be taken to be inappropriate practice.
9	Practitioners affected by these Regulations
		For subsection 106KA (3) of the Act, the following groups of practitioners in the profession of medicine are groups to which these Regulations apply:
	(a)	general practitioners;
	(b)	other medical practitioners rendering professional attendances.
10	Circumstances constituting a prescribed pattern
		The circumstance in which services that are professional attendances constitute a prescribed pattern of services is that 80 or more such services are rendered on each of 20 or more days in a 12 month period.
11	Exceptional circumstances
		For subsection 106KA (5) of the Act, the following circumstances are declared as constituting exceptional circumstances:
	(a)	an unusual occurrence causing an unusual level of need for professional attendances;
	(b)	an absence of other medical services, for patients of the person under review during the relevant period, having regard to: 
	(i)	the location of the practice of the person under review; and 
	(ii)	characteristics of the patients of the person under review.
Note   For relevant period, see s 106KA of the Act.
Notes
1.	These Regulations amend Statutory Rules 1999 No. 258. 
2.	Made by the Governor-General on 15 December 1999, and notified in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 22 December 1999.