What is the MBS ACE Clinic?
The Antenatal Clinic—Endocrine (ACE) is an antenatal clinic for pregnant women with endocrine disorders such as diabetes or thyroid problems. The clinic is a multidisciplinary model of care and the women are looked after by a team including a Consultant Obstetrician, a Consultant Endocrinologist, Specialist Midwives,
Diabetes Educator and Dietitian.
The clinic is run as an MBS-Billed (Medical Benefits Scheme) service and is held weekly each Wednesday morning. On the doctor’s behalf Ballarat Health Services will bulk bill the cost of each consultation through
Medicare and as a result there are no out of pocket expenses for a woman to attend the clinic.
How do I refer my pregnant patients in to the clinic?
General Practitioners (GP’s) will refer pregnant women into the antenatal clinic in the usual manner. If they have a pre-existing endocrine condition, they will then be referred directly into the ACE Clinic from the booking-in interview. Alternatively they may be referred into the Clinic at any stage in the pregnancy if a relevant condition is diagnosed. A referral into the ACE Clinic will be generated by a doctor from Ballarat
Health Services.
It would be preferable for a woman with pre-existing diabetes to have a Chronic Disease Management Plan in place prior to referral to the clinic.
Model of Care
The ACE clinic is a multidisciplinary model of care and enables the woman to have access to a number of different health care providers at each visit, depending on their needs. Routine antenatal care is incorporated into the model and the women also have access to specialist ultrasound and smoking cessation counselling within the clinic. Women who require regular monitoring in addition to their clinic appointments can attend the
Pregnancy Assessment Service as needed, and it should be noted that attendance at the clinic may take 2-3 hours
- patients should be advised to arrange childcare if needed. Whilst the woman will be invited back to the clinic for a postnatal visit for review by the Endocrinologist and Obstetrician at approximately 8-10 weeks postpartum, she should be advised she should still attend the usual postnatal visit with their GP at 6 weeks.
MBS ACE Clinic
Hours of operation
Wednesday
8.30am to 12.30
Maternity Outpatients
For more information phone and speak to the clinic coordinator: 5320 4533
This clinic is a Medicare Benefits Scheme
(MBS) billed service. On the doctor’s behalf, Ballarat Health Services (BHS) will bulk bill the cost of each consultation through Medicare. There is no out of pocket expense to attend this clinic.
MBS billed services require a current referral which will be provided by the doctors who work in the antenatal clinic or your specialist obstetrician.
If you receive an invoice for tests or you received in the MBS antenatal clinic please bring them to your next appointment and BHS will deal with the invoice on your behalf.
If you do not wish to attend the MBS
Antenatal clinic you will still be able to attend the public antenatal clinic on another day.