Government rollout of remote renal dialysis

Organisations providing vital renal dialysis services in remote areas will receive $592 per individual treatment, which will be billed as a Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) item, as part of the 2018–19 Federal Budget announcement to invest in remote renal services and infrastructure with an MBS item over the next four years.
 
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt and Indigenous Health Minister Ken Wyatt said this program ‘marks a new era’ for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people receiving lifesaving renal dialysis in remote areas.
 
‘The four-year commitment will fund end-stage kidney disease treatment, helping ensure patients – in particular, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – receive the critical care required, when and where they need it,’ Minister Wyatt said.
 
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are more likely to experience the burden of chronic kidney disease than non-Indigenous Australians and have substantially higher rates of end-stage kidney disease, but are much less likely to receive kidney transplants.
 
The Government rollout aims to support dialysis in rural and remote locations, with the services to be provided by Aboriginal health workers or registered nurses.
 
Development of a national roadmap to reduce renal disease is also underway, with the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Health Council confirming the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as a top priority.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kidney disease remote renal dialysis