If you are new to EasyAssist you can read our quick 'How To Use' guide here
What's New
EasyAssist Latest Fees Schedules
01/01/2021, Revision 2, includes:
- MBS - changes to now include rebate for assistant for 39018, 39109 and 39113
- WorkCover NSW - annual indexation of fee schedule
EasyAssist Program Change Log
v1.71
04/01/2021
- minor bug fix
v1.70
29/09/2020
- Changed the "split" feature in Excel which was inexplicably causing high CPU usage on some systems
v1.69
11/10/2019
- Changed name of ADF health services provider to Australian Defence Force Health Services (provided by BUPA)
v1.68
09/04/2019
- Internal update to licencing system
v1.67
30/11/2018
- Changed the way WorkCover QLD calculates multiple item numbers in accordance with their changed multiple-item-number policy
v1.66
04/04/2018
- Fixed major issue with latest release of Excel 2016 which rendered EasyAssist unusable
v1.65
01/07/2017
- Added new health funds myOwn Health Insurance and Suncorp Health Insurance
v1.64
07/02/2017
- HBF uses AHSA Access Gap Cover for all states except WA from 13 February, 2017
- GMF is owned by HBF and all GMF members are becoming HBF members from 13/2/17 onwards
v1.63
01/01/2017
- Emergency Services Health and Nurses & Midwives Health added to EasyAssist
v1.62
01/11/2016
- The Doctors' Health Fund is renamed as Doctors Health Fund in EasyAssist
- Qantas Assure Health Insurance added
v1.61
01/07/2016
- small bugfix
v1.60
25/03/2016
- GMHBA now uses the AHSA Access Gap Cover schedule of fees for all its policies
- RACT Health no longer operating, so it is removed from the list of health funds
v1.59
15/02/2016
- Replaced old digital code-signing certificate
- Corrected multiplier for HBF for item 51303
v1.58
23/10/2015
- EasyAssist now opens in Excel 2016 with the standard loader (no need to use the alternate loader any more)
- Corrected minor typographical error
v1.57
14/10/2015
- NIB updated their derived fee calculation method (e.g. for 51303) from 17 August onwards; now their fee is simply a percentage of the MBS fee, like most other funds.
v1.56
06/08/2015
- Two new funds added: APIA Health Insurance and United Healthcare Global
- In 'Industry Suggested Fees', incorrect fee for for 49561 and missing fee for 49563 corrected
- HCF 'Known Gap' Medicover now shows as allowing patient co-payments on the Estimate of Fees screen
v1.55
03/07/2015
- Bugfix - couldn't select the month following current month - fixed
v1.54
01/07/2015
- Added UniHealth Insurance to list of health funds
- HCF now has 'No Gap' and 'Known Gap' options
- EasyAssist now starts by default with the current month selected
- The date list now includes the month following the current month
v1.53
05/03/2015
- Fixed bug that prevented any dates from March 2015 onwards from appearing.
v1.52
26/09/2014
- Added Comcare and WA Government Medical Services Schedule to list of Fee Schedules
- BUPA allows known gaps automatically on Estimate of Fees screen now
v1.51
21/03/2014
- Updated list of Fee Schedules
v1.50
1/03/2014
- All 2010 schedules have been removed to make way for new schedules (EasyAssist only has room for a finite number of schedules)
v1.49
31/10/2013
- Bug with Medicare Benefits Schedule 75% amount not showing - fixed
v1.48
25/10/2013
- Added Budget Direct Health Insurance and removed Manchester Unity
v1.47
17/10/2013
- several minor bug-fixes
v1.46
26/09/2013
- AMA Fees removed from EasyAssist after the AMA demanded we do this and threatened legal action if we did not comply
v1.45
11/07/2013
- EasyAssist wouldn't start with Excel 2013 - fixed
- Display mode in Excel 2013 is always maximised
v1.43
30/06/2013
- fixed minor hyperlink bug
v1.42
02/12/2012
- Item 51315 now includes item 42725 in its list of item numbers (see MBS for details)
v1.41
01/11/2012
- added Medibank Health Solution Defence Force Contract as a new fees schedule
v1.40
11/07/2012
- fixed minor bugs with WorkCover QLD messages not displaying correctly for May-Oct 2011
v1.39
24/06/2012
- minor bug fixes
v1.38
31/05/2012
- zoom buttons inadvertently went missing after v1.32 - restored
- other minor fixes
v1.37
22/05/2012
- Added RACT Health to health fund list
v1.36
02/05/2012
- EasyAssist now includes item numbers from MBS Category 4 for operations where the main operator is a dental surgeon without access to Category 3 who was approved before 1 November, 2004.
v1.35
24/04/2012
- updated EasyAssist's multiple-operation rule calculator to exclude all item numbers outside of Group T8 (Category 3) in the MBS (in addition to subgroup 12 of T8) from the multiple-operation rule
v1.34
16/04/2012
- fixed bug on My Numbers page with Excel 2010 and row highlighting
- Added new health fund - health.com.au
v1.33
13/04/2012
- updated broken website links attached to clickable messages within EasyAssist
v1.32
16/01/2012
- Splash screen wouldn't show in v1.31 - fixed
- Minor change to one information message
v1.31
2/12/2011
- BUPA identified as 'No Gap' Gap Cover fund on Estimate of Fees screen
v1.30
1/11/2011
- BUPA added as a health fund in its own right
- AHM now owned by Medibank Private and uses this Gap Cover schedule from 1/11/11
- some number were not centered on the "My Numbers" screen - fixed
v1.29
13/08/2011
- fixed bug where the full list of funds was not accessible on low resolution displays with older versions of Excel
v1.28
27/07/2011
- minor change in wording to the licence write error message
v1.27
28/06/2011
- adjusted rounding algorithm to increase fee accuracy for funds that round to nearest 5 cents
v1.26
03/05/2011
- zoom feature now increments in 10% steps
v1.25
25/03/2011
- added zoom feature
- installer and EasyAssist workbook now signed with digital certificate
- WorkCover QLD orthopaedic and hand operations never use 51300, always 51303
- several other bug fixes
- EasyAssist now bundled with free Surgical Assistant Invoice Generator
v1.24
27/01/2011
- all BUPA funds now round up
- bug fix with reading licence information on some computers
v1.21
18/01/2011
- changed license registration system to increase compatibility across systems
- fixed splash screen window cut off with some resolutions
- several other bug-fixes
v1.20
02/01/2011
- NEW FEATURE - 'Estimate of Fees' produces a summary of fee information, rebates and gaps when you charge a patient co-payment, useful for providing informed financial consent pre-operatively or a breakdown of fees on your invoice
- fixed bug for GMF health fund in WA after 1 November, 2010 - this fund uses the AHSA fees schedule after this date
- added Fit Health Fund
- AMA item numbers for surgical procedures performed by GPs now included
- increased compatibility with Excel and computer systems
- fixed bug with some systems where fees schedules wouldn't load properly
v1.16
03/11/2010
- EasyAssist recognises the new 16528 item number for Caesarean sections
v1.15
19/10/10
- NEW FEATURE - 'My Item Numbers' lets you store a personalised list of item numbers for easy access
- NEW FEATURE - 'Search MBS Online' lets you enter search terms into the MBS Online website from directly within EasyAssist; results display in your browser
- updated health fund names, deleted obsolete funds
- no need to pick orthopaedic or non-orthopaedic for TAC, WorkSafe Vic and AMA - EasyAssist now automatically detects orthopaedic item numbers
- all BUPA funds now round to nearest 5 cents
- 'About' now shows length of time left on your license
- update-checking code completely re-written to address problem of auto-update-check not working on some systems
- fixed bug - surgeon's fee for some schedules was displaying $0.00 (did not affect calculations)
- improved compatibility with Excel 2010
- improved compatibility with Windows 7
- removed Uninstall option from Start Menu Program folder - EasyAssist should now be uninstalled by using the Windows uninstaller in the Control Panel
- other minor bug fixes
v1.07
- fixed bug where input not accepted after saving preferences until Enter or ESC or arrow keys pressed
- updated help file with screenshot
- fixed bug in auto-updater which prevented it from working properly on some systems
- other minor bug fixes
v1.05
- fixed bug where the chosen date might change after an update (date will change after update to v1.05 but subsequent versions will not have this problem)
- removed Quick Guide (frequently buggy - comprehensive help file has replaced this)
- clicking 'Useful Websites' now prompts the user to go to web page or cancel
v1.04
- fixed small bug related to update checking of fees schedules only (did not affect program update checking)
v1.03
- annoying popup 'External Data' toolbar now disappears automatically
- the 'Useful Websites' button now opens a web page in the default browser; much easier to keep these links updated
- fixed bug where 51300 wouldn't appear for WorkSafe Victoria Orthopaedic operations
- fixed bug which showed TAC in the information message when WorkCover SA/NT/Tas selected
v1.02
- added the AMA Fee Schedule to the available schedules list
- added GMHBA 'Premium' Gap Cover rates (for patients with Premium cover)