Case Management: Regulatory Risk and Safety for Skin Cancer Practice

GPs practising skin cancer medicine face regulatory and medico-legal risk at every stage of care, from how a consultation is billed and documented, to how a complication, complaint or regulator letter is handled. This course provides General Practitioners with a practical framework for managing these risks, covering compliant Medicare billing and informed financial consent, defensible clinical decision-making and record-keeping, and safe, transparent management of complications, complaints and regulatory scrutiny.

Through eight interactive case studies, participants explore the regulatory risk and safety challenges of skin cancer management in general practice, including:

1. Applying correct Medicare billing and informed financial consent during a routine skin check
2. Making and documenting defensible decisions between biopsy and excision for suspicious lesions
3. Planning and recording multiple excisions safely within a single visit
4. Managing procedural scope, scarring expectations and referral defensibility
5. Following up positive margins and pathology results with an uncontactable patient
6. Meeting advertising obligations and managing online reviews and reputation
7. Responding to a surgical complication with open disclosure and appropriate documentation
8. Managing a patient complaint, practice audit and regulator (AHPRA) notification

Learners will develop practical skills in compliant Medicare billing and financial consent, defensible clinical documentation, safe management of multiple procedures and follow-up systems, open disclosure following complications, and confident, well-supported responses to complaints, audits and regulatory correspondence.

1. Determine the regulatory and legal requirements governing skin cancer consultation and procedural practice, including Medicare Benefits Schedule billing rules, state/territory health legislation, professional board standards, and medico-legal risk obligations.
2. Plan clinical records, consent processes, and risk management strategies for skin cancer procedures that satisfy regulatory, medico-legal, and patient safety requirements across billing, documentation, and clinical governance frameworks.

All degree qualified medical practitioners.