Helix Updates

An updated July 2026 Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and DVA fee file is available to download.

Download DVA Update            Download MBS Update

There is a 30 second video guide available here on how to update the Medicare Benefit Schedule in Helix.              

The effective date cannot be back dated.  Either the current date or a future date can be selected.

From 1 July 2026 there were several changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and DVA. Read the full details on the MBS website.

If your practice has disabled MedicalDirector Automatic Updates, please follow the instructions below.

For information on how to add these fees to your fee schedule is available in the Helix Knowledge Centre.

Helix Knowledge Centre is the new home of Helix release notes 🌐

The Helix Online Help link has been replaced with a link to the new Helix Knowledge Centre, which also includes all release notes effective from May 2024. 

In addition to a new look and feel, the improved search and topic categorisation allows users to efficiently find the information they are looking for. 

Discover the new Helix Knowledge Centre

Go straight to Release Notes on the new Helix Knowledge Centre.

23 June, 2026

From 1 July 2026, changes from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will affect SMS Sender IDs (the name shown to message recipients instead of a phone number).

SMSGlobal is the SMS service provider used to send messages from MedicalDirector Helix.

What this means for Helix users:

• SMS messages where patients can reply (e.g. appointment reminders with Yes/No confirmation) are already sent from a mobile number and are not affected by this change.
• SMS messages that don’t allow a reply (e.g. one-way recalls, results notifications, or informational updates) are sent using a Sender ID, and will display as ‘Unverified’ from 1 July unless that Sender ID is registered with ACMA.Note: Many practices use both types, so even if your appointment reminders are unaffected, your one-way messages may still be impacted.

To avoid disruption, before July 1 we’ll temporarily switch your messages to send from a verified ID:

• SMS delivery will continue as normal
• Patients can still reply to reminders
• Messages will appear from a mobile number instead of a sender ID

If you would like to display a Sender ID specific to your business when sending SMS messages, please provide the following information to Telstra Health Support. This is optional. If you choose not to register a Sender ID, SMS functionality will continue to operate as normal.

Please provide:

• Australian Business Number (ABN)
• Business name
• Street address
• City
• State or Territory
• Postcode
• Country
• Company website
• Company phone number
• Preferred Sender ID (must comply with ACMA Sender ID requirements – link: 3.1 Ensure your sender IDs meet the valid use case rules | ACMA)
• Details of contact person*

*Contact Person

26 June, 2026

For GPs and Practice Managers.

This page is accurate as at 26 June 2026, we will regularly update this page as and when new information becomes available.    

What to do and when 

What’s changing 

The Health Insurance Amendment Regulations 2025 update how patient consent for bulk billing is captured. The old DB4 form is replaced by a new “DB4 – Post Assignment” agreement with additional required fields. 

On 18 June 2026, the government announced key modifications (RACGP summary): 

• Verbal consent is sufficient for 12 months from 1 July 2026, alongside the requirement to keep the documented agreement for two years (based on current Government guidance as at the date of this newsletter). 

• Compliance enforcement will not begin until regulatory changes are complete — starting with education, not penalties. 

• Enduring AoB (ongoing consent across visits) is available from 1 July for MyMedicare patients, aged care residents, and ACCHO patients. Government is still confirming how this is recorded in software. 

How Helix meets each requirement 

1. Capturing consent — Post-assignment (Release: Helix-145 — live) 

What the legislation requires: An agreement containing patient name, Medicare number, provider details, service date, MBS item(s), agreement date, agreement type, whether the assignor is the patient, and an updated privacy notice. 

In Helix-145: AoB fields are built directly into the bulk billing workflow. When you issue a bulk bill, Helix captures: 

Workflow: 

1. Open the patient visit and select Bulk Bill as the billing type. 

1. The new AoB fields appear on the billing screen. Review and confirm the values. 

1. Issue the bill. The AoB values are locked — they cannot be changed after billing. 

1. To print the DB4 – Post Assignment form: tick the Print checkbox when issuing, or print from Transaction History for a specific Visit ID. 

The printed DB4 – Post Assignment form includes all legislatively required fields: 

Consent enforcement: If no consent option is selected, AoB is not processed. Only one consent option can be active at a time. Once captured, AoB values are displayed and frozen on both the Billing and Resolved screens. 

During the 12-month verbal consent period, you do not need to print the form. Verbal consent is enough. 

2. Capturing consent — Pre-assignment 

What the legislation requires: A separate agreement where the patient consents by service group (e.g., “general consult”) before the consultation. 

In Helix-145: Pre-assignment details can be captured from the Billing and Transaction History screens. However, the primary pre-assignment pathway is through our partners — see Section 4 below. Hotdoc, AutoMed, and HealthEngine handle pre-assignment consent during the booking flow. Helix receives an acknowledgement with a date/time stamp. 

SMS consent: Helix supports SMS via its existing SMSGlobal infrastructure. Practices can send AoB consent requests to patients via SMS. Contact Helix support to set up SMS templates for AoB consent. 

3. Running reports and keeping records (Release: Helix-145 — live) 

What the legislation requires: Practices must keep AoB records for 2 years and provide a copy to the patient on request. 

In Helix-145: A new Assignment of Benefits report is available under the Financial Reports dropdown. 

How to access: Navigate to Financial Reports → select “Assignment of Benefits” from the report dropdown. 

Filters: 

• Patient name (with “select all”) 

• Centre 

• Provider name (with “select all”) 

• Date range (filters on date of service) 

• Visit ID 

Export: CSV export, print, and preview. The report currently shows all records but will be filtered to show Medicare Bulk Bill records only when Helix release 146 goes live later this year.. 

4. Enduring AoB (ongoing consent across visits) 

What the legislation provides for: Enduring consent for MyMedicare patients, aged care residents, and ACCHO patients from 1 July 2026. The government has not yet published how this is recorded in software. 

Status: Helix is committed to working with the Department of Health on implementing the new Enduring Assignment of Benefit workflows as and when they become available. 

What our partners are doing 

Before making changes in Helix, check what your practice already uses. If a partner captures AoB, there is no need to capture it again. 

This document is a general overview based on publicly available government materials and current product plans as at 25 June 2026. It does not constitute legal or professional advice. Refer to RACGP guidance and Services Australia for further information. For product support, visit the Helix Knowledge Centre. 

Step 1: Initial Setup

The Practice

Prior to sending an Electronic Prescription, your site must be registered with eRx Script Exchange to send eScripts. Please check if the practitioners have entity ID in user settings and have an active account. If the entity ID is missing in the user settings, please contact MedicalDirector Customer Support to assist with the setup.

Each practice must have an HPI-O (Healthcare Provider Identifier – Organisation) number, which must be added to the Centre Settings (accessible via the System Administrator login).

Practitioner

Each registered practitioner must have an HPI-I (Healthcare Provider Identifier – Individual) number, which must be updated and saved in the User Settings in Helix.

Ensure all practitioners wishing to participate have Electronic Prescribing enabled in their Preferences settings.

Step 2: Prescribing Electronically

The prescribing workflow in MedicalDirector Helix has been amended to enable ePrescribing. To view the new workflow, read the step-by-step guide.

Read the instructions

From 1 November 2023 higher bulk billing incentives for Commonwealth concession card holders and patients aged under 16 years of age will be introduced and may be co-claimed with the specific consultation items. Please see the MBS Online Fact Sheet for Bulk Billing in General Practice here for further information. 

The new MBS Item numbers that are being released on 1 November to support the triple incentive items are included in the November MBS Fee Update. 

It is not currently possible to automatically add the relevant incentives to only the applicable MBS items 91801, 91802 and 91920 Video Telehealth, and the 91900 and 91910 Phone Telehealth items as this incentive is reliant on the patient being registered at their practice through MyMedicare. At this stage, a patient’s MyMedicare registration is not able to be stored within Helix and therefore unable to be verified as part of this billing workflow. Software Vendors, the MSIA and Services Australia are working together to make this possible in the future.  

To add the new incentive item numbers for eligible patients requires 3 steps detailed below: 

1. Download the November MBS fee schedule
2. Import into Helix MBS fee schedule

Enable Incentives for the item numbers: 

1. Go to ’Settings’
2. Go to ‘Centre’. Click on ‘Centre settings’
3. Find your practice and click the ‘Edit’ icon’
4. Go to ‘Billing’
5. Add the new incentive item number into the ‘Bulk Billing Default Incentive Item No’ field.
6. Click ‘Save’
   

27 November, 2023

New MyMedicare Registration Template 

We have implemented a template to minimise the impact on patient registration. When you want to register patients for MyMedicare, we have created a form that will auto-populate to help customers streamline the workflow. These templates can be accessed in Letter Writer by simply searching for ‘MyMedicare Patient Registration Form’.

Click on ‘Generate’ and you will have the form ready with patient details filled out.

Other Useful Links:

• About MyMedicare
• Information for MyMedicare patients
• Information for MyMedicare practices and providers
• MyMedicare Webinars
• MyMedicare Resources