Melb cancer centre under billing review

A Melbourne cancer centre is being investigated over whether its billing arrangements comply with Medicare guidelines.

Both Melbourne Health, which runs Royal Melbourne Hospital, and the Department of Health and Human Services have launched independent reviews into the Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre.

APCRC is a separate entity to Melbourne Health, but they had developed a service agreement to treat patients "in a one-stop shop model, which includes consultation, diagnosis, relevant tests and discussion of results", a Melbourne Health statement said.

Melbourne Health says it has been working with a specialist legal firm and APCRC to "work through" administrative and governance issues including referral processes, branding and scope of work.

But "ongoing, expanded concern" over the issues prompted Melbourne Health to commission an external specialist review.

A DHHS spokesman said it had commissioned Ernst and Young to investigate governance and patient referrals between Melbourne Health's urology unit and the APCRC.

"The review will investigate whether the operation of the private urology clinic run by APCRC is within the terms of the existing service agreement between Melbourne Health and APCRC," he said.

"Specifically whether the billing arrangements for patients referred from Melbourne Health to APCRC comply with the required Medicare guidelines."

APCRC has been contacted for comment.