Tuyển tập báo cáo các nghiên cứu khoa học quốc tế ngành y học dành cho các bạn tham khảo đề tài: Utilisation of podiatry services in Australia under the Medicare Enhanced Primary Care program, 2004-2008. | BioMed Central Journal of Foot and Ankle Research Research Utilisation of podiatry services in Australia under the Medicare Enhanced Primary Care program 2004-2008 Hylton B Menz Address Musculoskeletal Research Centre Faculty of Health Sciences La Trobe University Bundoora Victoria 3086 Australia Email Hylton B Menz - Open Access Published 30 October 2009 Received 29 July 2009 Journal of Foot and Ankle Research 2009 2 30 doi 1757-1146-2-30 Accepted 30 October 2009 This article is available from http content 2 1 30 2009 Menz licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http licenses by which permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background In 2004 as an extension of the Enhanced Primary Care EPC program the Australian Government introduced a policy of providing Medicare rebates for allied health services provided to patients with chronic or complex health conditions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the utilisation of podiatry services provided under this scheme between 2004 and 2008. Methods Data pertaining to the Medicare item 10962 for the calendar years 2004-2008 were extracted from the Australian Medicare Benefits Schedule MBS database and cross-tabulated by sex and age. Descriptive analyses were undertaken to assess sex and age differences in the number of consultations provided and to assess for temporal trends over the five-year assessment period. The total cost to Medicare over this period was also determined. Results During the 2004-2008 period a total of 1 338 044 EPC consultations were provided by podiatrists in Australia. Females exhibited higher utilisation than males 63 versus 37 and those aged over 65 years accounted for 75 of consultations. There was a marked increase in the number of .
