Shared Medical Appointments: A Proven, Patient-Centred Innovation in Primary Care
The Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (ASLM) reaffirms its strong support for Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs) and Medical Yarn Ups (MYUs) as highly effective, efficient, and patient-valued models for managing chronic and lifestyle-related diseases, particularly within underserved and Indigenous communities.
Recent commentary regarding Medicare billing for group consultations highlights the urgent need for policy clarity that supports innovation in healthcare delivery. SMAs and MYUs are not informal group chats; they are structured, clinician-led medical consultations where each patient is individually seen and billed in accordance with Medicare requirements. The format enhances patient education and peer support, while maintaining clinical rigour and privacy.
Importantly, recent independent advice from the Synapse Consultancy report on MBS billing and SMAs shows that there is no law preventing billing for SMAs, provided MBS regulations are followed.
"Each patient receives a personal consultation with the GP, who addresses individual health concerns in turn," said Dr John Stevens, a leading SMA researcher, facilitator and trainer. "Patients benefit not only from their consultation but from the shared wisdom and support of others managing similar conditions."
MYUs and SMAs offer a culturally safe and responsive approach for First Nations people and communities to engage with existing health services.
Professor Bob Morgan highlights that “SMAs provide an opportunity to decolonise the medical consultation space, empowering communities to take back more control of their health needs and making significant progress in removing the unacceptable health gap.”
Pictured above – Shared Medical Appointments – known in Yolngu Matha as Medical Dhäwu Dhäwu – taking place on Milingimbi Island, part of the Crocodile Islands group in the East Arnhem Land Community.
This is reinforced by emerging evidence, including recent studies showing type 2 diabetes remission among rural Indigenous women participating in group-based models of care. These outcomes underscore the enormous, yet untapped, potential of SMAs and MYUs to address the complex burden of chronic disease—if only there were the government leadership and policy support to match.
A growing body of research continues to demonstrate the wide-ranging benefits of SMAs, including significant improvements in clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and health literacy, as well as reductions in emergency department visits and hospital admissions. Crucially, SMAs align with the healthcare sector’s ‘quintuple aim’: improving care outcomes, lowering costs, enhancing patient and provider experiences, and promoting equity.
ASLM has trained more than 1,200 clinicians in SMA delivery and continues to collaborate with Primary Health Networks to scale this model nationally. Internationally, countries like the UK and New Zealand have embedded similar group consultation models into routine care, with the NHS naming them a key solution to post-COVID healthcare system pressures.
"Shared Medical Appointments are a smart, evidence-based evolution in care for patients with complex, chronic conditions," said ASLM President, Dr Hung The Nguyen. "We call on policymakers to support this model with clear, enabling guidance and Medicare recognition that reflects the needs of modern, multidisciplinary, and community-led healthcare."
For media inquiries or to arrange interviews with SMA-trained clinicians, MYU facilitators, or patient advocates, please contact:
More information
- Roni Beauchamp – CEO, ASLM
- Phone: +61 03 7020 6996
- Email: info@lifestylemedicine.org.au
- Website: www.lifestylemedicine.org.au
About Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs)
Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs), or ‘Group Visits’, are “a series of consecutive individual medical consultations in a supportive group setting where all can listen, interact, and learn.”
As such, SMAs are both an individual consultation and an informal group education session, and:
- Increase clinical cost-efficiency
- Use peer support for better outcomes
- Mean not repeating yourself ad nauseum
- Improve clinical teamwork
- Increase patient/provider satisfaction
- Make clinical practice more fun!
The current SMA Protocol was adapted from overseas models by Prof Garry Egger and A/Prof John Stevens, and has since developed into an efficient and effective form of patient consultation and management with a robust protocol, a number of local research studies, and an abundance of real world application.
About ASLM
The Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (ASLM) is a multidisciplinary society working towards improved prevention, management, and treatment of chronic, complex and lifestyle-related conditions. ‘Lifestyle-related’ includes environmental, societal, behavioural and other factors. ASLM members include GPs and medical specialists, allied health practitioners, public health physicians, educators, scientists and researchers.
Together, we advocate for a multidisciplinary, multi-system approach to the chronic and lifestyle-related disease problem, and for a comprehensive understanding of health and wellbeing, that is, not just the absence of disease, but for vibrant health with meaning and purpose, for health equity, social justice, corporate responsibility and environmental sustainability.
Learn how to conduct SMAs
Register for this online workshop to learn how to conduct SMAs, whether as the doctor or the facilitator, and complete the assessment to receive an ASLM Certified SMA Facilitator certificate for CPD purposes.