RMSANZ is the professional body for rehabilitation physicians and trainees in Australia & New Zealand and offers a stimulating, supportive and collegial environment of professional development, continuing education, policy review and encouragement of teaching and research.
Latest News
General Meeting of RMSANZ members
A general meeting of RMSANZ members will be held on Thursday, 4 April 2024 at 6 pm AEDT/8 pm NZDT. Please find attached:
- Chair covering letter;
- Proxy Form;
- Notice of meeting;
- Constitution (with tracked changes); &
- Constitution (clean copy).
For instructions on how to join the meeting and how to vote please read the notice of meeting.
Medicare Compliance Activities
Correspondence was received from the Medicare Compliance team regarding claiming MBS services while overseas, please fee links to view letter of explanation from Dr Stephanie Lam, Private Practice SIG chair and also initial correspondence received.
AMA Colleges, Associations and Societies Meeting 2024
The RMSANZ attended a significant meeting in Canberra on 18 March. Medical colleges, societies and associations were invited to discuss health system reform, scope of practice and workforce issues. The presence of federal health minister, Mark Butler, underscored the importance of this meeting, alongside the Australian Medical Association outlined their pre-budget submission.
Key points relevant to rehabilitation included:
- Different funding models to complement current fee-for-service arrangements.
- The development of frameworks for interprofessional competencies.
- Increasing incentives and reducing barriers for team-based care in the community
We voiced the need for a mindset shift, urging a move from viewing health system constraints as stemming from poor hospital access towards recognising barriers at the point of discharge. Acute care clinicians, including the FACEM president, supported this idea and stated that current acute care services are sufficient but cannot be used effectively due to system blockage. The solution we proposed was a subacute rehabilitation directorate at the federal level. This initiative acknowledges rehabilitation’s crucial role in hospital-community transition, where effectively unlock the “back door” of hospitals. We also emphasised the importance of partnerships with non-health systems, recognising multifaceted needs of our patients.
Despite the challenges of a crowded room, our opinions were heard more frequently than many of the large colleges. We are also proud to have offered solutions that went beyond simply asking for funding.
Implementation plans were notably absent from most of the presentations, leaving a gap between proposals and execution. As we await the health budget announcement, we hope to secure subsequent meetings to discuss the role of rehabilitation in continuous enhancement of the health system.
ISPRM Anthem – 25th Anniversary celebrations 2024
The ISPRM will be 25 years old at the Sydney 2024 Congress from 1 – 6 June 2024. The following link shows you 4 musical anthems/ tributes to the society written by colleagues in Italy, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.
Please listen to them and vote for your favourite, which will be played during the opening night party in Sydney on 3 June 2024.
It’s quite an eye opener and show the dedications of our colleagues to the profession.
ISPRM Congress 2024 - Program out now!
Further Information and Registration available on Congress Website
Congratulations to Prof Steven Faux, awarded AM for service to Rehabilitation Medicine and to medical research
International Day of People with Disability
International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is a United Nations observed day held on 3 December each year.
Message from Prof Steven Faux, President, RMSANZ
A disability action plan for an hospital. How does it work?
For more information on the Day and it's origins please click here
Report published: Inquiry into long COVID and repeated COVID infections
In April 2023 RMSANZ together with individual rehabilitation physicians were recognised for their submission on the role of rehabilitation in the treatment of long COVID to Dr Mike Freedlander MP who was the chair of the parliamentary committee on Long Covid. Our submission was noted many times in the report and assisted in the recommendation of early multidisciplinary rehabilitation as a treatment to be commenced as soon as the diagnosis of long COVID is considered. Linked below is a section of the report, the full report can be found here.
The board would like to thanks those rehabilitation physicians that made submission both as part of the RMSANZ submission or on their own or representing their department in their institution’s report.
Particular thanks goes to Prof Maria Crotty, AROC, Dr Gardiner, and Dr Tuan-Anh Nguyen for their substantial contribution in advancing the importance of rehabilitation for long COVID.
Their work has driven another success in advocacy for Rehabilitation Medicine in Australia and New Zealand.
Position Statement on the Role of Rehabilitation Medicine Physicians in the management of COVID-19 patients
New Position Statement produced by a working group put together by the board of Directors.
Please click here to view the Position Statement
RMSANZ submission to Parliamentary enquiry into Long COVID
WHO publication of the integrations of rehab and acute care for COVID
RMSANZ wins concessions to protect the clinical independence of all doctors
Following the negotiations with buying group Honeysuckle Health ((HH) – a joint venture between Cigna, a USA health insurer, and nib, an Australian private health insurer) and nib health funds to secure stronger protection for clinical autonomy and patient care.
Please see below to read a letter from RMSANZ President Dr Zoe Adey-Wakeling explaining the process.
Link to full determination on Australian Competition Tribunal website