Does Medicare Australia have the power to see patient details now?
No. Until this initiative, the privacy of your patient record has been rigorously protected by law. Currently legislation specifically bans Medicare Australia from requiring doctors to provide clinical details about their patients, except under a warrant issued by a magistrate. Under subsection 8P(3) of the Medicare Australia Act 1973 the CEO of Medicare Australia cannot: (a) require information to be given about the contents of a part of a record that is a part containing clinical details relating to a patient; or (b) require production of a part of a record that contains such clinical details.
