1992 Amendments to the Health Insurance Act that restricted access to on-site (near patient testing) pathology, disadvantaged general practitioners and their patients. The legislation imposed significant requirements related to registration, assessment and quality control on general practitioners who undertook to perform pathology outside those on the MBS. The legislation, therefore, effectively restricted the capacity for general practitioners to undertake Near Patient Testing (NPT) beyond those provided for under the MBS by making the costs prohibitive. These high costs have severely limited near patient testing and thus ignored the potential and substantial benefits to be derived.

This restrictive legislation also means that general practice cannot take advantage of the benefits to be derived from significant technological advances that have led to a wide range of inexpensive, simple-to-use, equipment and pathology tests. In the interests of improved health care through access to immediate diagnostic, monitoring and preventative care information during primary care consultations, this technology must be made available for use by general practitioners.