The Medicare Healthy Kids Check: a new 3-year-old assessment, explained

The 1 November MBS changes bring something genuinely new: the Medicare Healthy Kids Check, a dedicated developmental health assessment for 3-year-olds under the Thriving Kids initiative.

Who it's for: children aged 3 — a once-off assessment per child. Not available for children under 3 or over 4, so the window is narrow and worth flagging in your recall system. A child who needs more than one assessment around that age uses standard attendance items for the extra visits.

How it's billed: no new item number. It's claimed on the existing time-tiered health assessment items — 701, 703, 705 and 707 for GPs (224–227 for prescribed medical practitioners) — with the tier chosen by time and complexity, 707 being the prolonged (over 60 minutes) tier.

What it must cover: the toddler's progress against age-appropriate developmental milestones, behaviour, family relationships and home environment, and toileting habits and urinary continence. Much of the information-gathering can be nurse-led, with the GP completing the clinical assessment.

Timing and status: at the time of writing, the start is subject to the passage of legislation, and some finer detail comes from secondary sources rather than the final descriptors. Confirm the live item descriptors and start date on MBS Online before claiming.

Getting set up: like every health assessment, this one rewards a system — a way to identify 3-year-olds as they become due, a booking workflow, and a template that captures each required domain.

CTA: health assessment templates at betterbilling.com.au/templates.

(Disclaimer: start date subject to legislation; detail draws partly on secondary sources — confirm on MBS Online. Final billing and clinical decisions remain the treating GP's responsibility.)