First 48 hours

You've received a PSR notice. Read this first.

Slow the moment down. A PSR notice is serious, but the first useful step is usually not a fast reply. It is preserving the record, calling the right adviser, and understanding the process you have entered.

What a PSR review actually is

PSR is the Professional Services Review scheme under Part VAA of the Health Insurance Act 1973. In plain English, it is a peer-review process for possible inappropriate practice in Medicare, PBS or CDBS claiming. The PSR website explains that the process begins when a delegate of the Chief Executive Medicare asks the Director to review services provided during a specified review period.

Section 86 is the entry point: Chief Executive Medicare can request that the PSR Director review a practitioner's provision of services. That does not itself decide that you practised inappropriately. It starts the statutory pathway and identifies the review period and concerns that PSR will examine.

Section 89 sits in the Director-review stage. PSR may seek information, request records, consider billing data, consult relevant material and decide whether the matter should stop, be resolved by agreement, or move to a Committee. PSR's public guidance says the Director may send a report explaining the reasons and invite a response before deciding the next step.

Section 92 is the agreement pathway. If the Director considers a Committee could find inappropriate practice, the matter may resolve by agreement. PSR says an agreement can involve acknowledgement, repayment, disqualification from MBS, PBS or CDBS services for a period, or a reprimand, and it must be ratified by the Determining Authority before taking effect.

The realistic timeline

The first contact usually identifies the services and period under review. After that, PSR may request written information, a sample of clinical records, or other documents. You may be invited to a meeting, although PSR says a meeting is not a legal requirement and may not always be offered.

If the Director forms a preliminary concern, a report and response period can follow. The matter can then end with no further action, proceed to a section 92 agreement, or be referred to a Committee of peers. A Committee process is more formal: PSR describes notices, evidence, possible hearings, draft findings and final reports. If findings proceed, the Determining Authority decides the final consequences after inviting submissions.

The first 48 hours: do

  • Notify your medical defence organisation or legal adviser as early as possible.
  • Preserve records as they are. Keep originals, audit trails, correspondence and billing context intact.
  • Note dates, deadlines, review periods, item numbers, named PSR contacts and requested response methods.

The first 48 hours: don't

  • Do not alter clinical records, backfill details, or tidy notes after the fact.
  • Do not ring colleagues in a panic and create avoidable confusion around confidential material.
  • Do not send a substantive response before your adviser has reviewed the request and the source documents.

Who to call

Call your medical defence organisation first. PSR's own review-process guidance strongly encourages early engagement with a medical defence organisation or legal representative because they understand the administrative and legal requirements of the process. If your letter names a PSR staff member, contact that person for procedural questions about submitting information or records.

PSR's public contact page lists its phone as (02) 6120 9100 and office hours as 9am-5pm AEST weekdays. The listed street address is Level 1, 6 Brindabella Circuit (South), Brindabella Business Park, Canberra Airport ACT 2609, and the postal address is Professional Services Review, PO Box 74, Fyshwick ACT 2609.

How the process usually ends

PSR Pulse analyses every published outcome in its database. The distribution below is not a prediction about your matter. It is the current public outcome mix in the PSR Pulse source record, grouped by the recorded outcome label.

77 published outcomes in the current dataset
Section 92 agreement with repayment48
Final determination with repayment and disqualification17
Other / unclear5
No further action4
Final determination with repayment2
Section 92 agreement1

A published case outcome can hide a long private history: correspondence, records requests, adviser work, negotiations, Committee findings, or Determining Authority steps. Treat the distribution as orientation only. Your facts, records, item mix, deadlines and advice matter more than the average shape of the public record.

Educational disclaimer

This educational module is based on publicly available PSR case-outcome material. It is general educational information only and does not constitute legal advice, billing advice, or a substitute for reviewing the MBS, PSR material, or obtaining professional advice.

PSR Pulse analyses every published outcome

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