Video and phone consults: the MBS telehealth items
Checked against the MBS in force from 1 November 2026 · Last updated 12 November 2026
The GP video and phone attendance items, Levels A to E, in plain words, the way the MBS Scribe claim check reads them. The descriptors on MBS Online are the authority: each item number below links to its own.
The items at a glance
| Level | Video | Phone | Your time with the patient | What the note shows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 91790 | 91890 | Video: no time set. Phone: under 6 minutes. | A plainly simple problem, with a brief history and limited management. |
| B | 91800 | 91891 | Video: 6 to under 20 minutes. Phone: 6 minutes or more. | At least one of: a short history, investigations, a management plan or preventive care. |
| C | 91801 | 91900* | 20 minutes or more. | A detailed history, investigations, a management plan or preventive care, as clinically relevant. |
| D | 91802 | 91910* | 40 minutes or more. | An extensive history, investigations, a management plan or preventive care, as clinically relevant. |
| E | 91920 | None | 60 minutes or more (video only). | An extensive history, investigations, a management plan or preventive care, as clinically relevant. |
* Phone Levels C and D need the patient to be registered in MyMedicare at your practice.
Who can be seen by telehealth
For the attendance items, the patient needs one of these with your practice:
- seen face to face at the practice in the last 12 months;
- registered in MyMedicare at the practice; or
- an exemption, which the note names with its clinical reason.
Phone Levels C and D carry MyMedicare registration in the item itself. The patient also mustn’t be an admitted hospital patient. The rule is in explanatory note AN.1.1.
Phone: Level B is the top without MyMedicare
For a phone consult of 20 minutes or more, the level depends on MyMedicare. If the patient is registered in MyMedicare at your practice, Level C (91900) or Level D (91910) applies. If not, Level B (91891) is the highest phone item. There is no phone Level E. When registration isn’t known, the check shows the higher level as Possible until you set it.
Time: what counts
Your time with the patient on the call sets the level from Level B up. Levels C, D and E have no upper limit in the descriptor, so one attendance per consult means the highest level that fits the time replaces the ones below it. Level A has no time by video; by phone it is under 6 minutes.
In MBS Scribe the recording gives the time and you confirm it. For a pasted note you enter the minutes, and until then the level shows as Possible.
In-person consults use the same time bands as video: see Levels A to E in your rooms.
How the claim check shows it
For a video or phone consult, the claim check marks each level Supported, Possible or Not supported, with the sentence in the note behind it and the reason a level doesn’t apply, such as “Level C applies instead” or “needs the patient to be registered in MyMedicare with this practice”. If you bulk bill, it checks the bulk-billing incentive for your practice’s Modified Monash area too. See how the claim check works and every item it checks.
Questions
- Is there a phone Level E?
- No. The phone items stop at Level D (91910). Video has a Level E (91920) for 60 minutes or more.
- What is the highest phone item for a patient not registered in MyMedicare at my practice?
- Level B (91891). Phone Levels C and D (91900 and 91910) need the patient to be registered in MyMedicare at your practice.
- Who can be seen by telehealth?
- For the attendance items, a patient seen face to face at your practice in the last 12 months, registered in MyMedicare at your practice, or covered by an exemption that the note names with its clinical reason. Phone Levels C and D carry MyMedicare registration in the item itself.
- What counts as the time?
- Your time with the patient on the call. When you record in MBS Scribe the recording gives the time and you confirm it; for a pasted note you enter the minutes.
This page describes how MBS Scribe’s claim check reads these items, in paraphrase. It isn’t billing advice. The full descriptors are on MBS Online, with the explanatory notes the telehealth rules come from: AN.0.9, AN.0.74 and AN.1.1.