Fee schedule
Medicare exercise physiology items 2026-27
Medicare item 10953 pays an exercise physiologist $74.55 (rebate $63.40) for an individual service of at least 20 minutes under a chronic condition plan, capped at 5 services a year shared with other disciplines. A diabetes group program pays $95.65 for the one-off assessment (81110) and $23.80 per client per session (81115), capped at 8 a year.
Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.
- Payer
- Medicare
- Effective from
- 1 Jul 2026
- Official schedule
- Source document
What changed this year
- 10953, 81110 and 81115 all show a schedule fee update dated 1 July 2026 on MBS Online, at $74.55, $95.65 and $23.80 respectively, the same fee level as the equivalent dietetics and diabetes educator items in the same subgroups.
- The 81110 assessment item requires only 20 minutes for exercise physiology, shorter than the 45 minute minimum on the equivalent dietetics assessment item (81120), though both pay the same $95.65 fee.
- 10953 follows the same 1 July 2025 change from GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangements to a single GP chronic condition management plan as every other individual allied health item, with transitional access to old-style plans until 30 June 2027.
All 3 exercise physiology items
| Item | Description | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 10953 | Exercise physiology service, individual, by an eligible exercise physiologist, at least 20 minutes, under a GP chronic condition management plan (rebate 85% = $63.40) | $74.55 |
| 81110 | Type 2 diabetes group service assessment, by an eligible exercise physiologist, at least 20 minutes, individual and in person, payable once a year (rebate 85% = $81.35) | $95.65 |
| 81115 | Type 2 diabetes group service, by an eligible exercise physiologist, per client in a group of 2 to 12, at least 60 minutes, in person, up to 8 a year (rebate 85% = $20.25) | $23.80 |
One item for chronic disease work, a separate program for diabetes groups
Item 10953 is the exercise physiology equivalent of the individual chronic condition management items every allied health discipline shares: $74.55, 20 minute minimum, GP chronic condition management plan, and a 5 service annual cap that is pooled across whichever disciplines the patient sees. Exercise physiologists were added to this item group in 2006, later than physiotherapy and podiatry, but the rule set today is identical.
Type 2 diabetes group services sit in a completely different part of the MBS (Group M9, not M3), with their own assessment step and their own 8-service annual cap. A clinic offering both individual chronic disease consults and diabetes group classes needs both item sets set up, since a patient's use of one does not draw down the other.
The assessment item is shorter for exercise physiology than for dietetics
The suitability assessment before a patient joins a diabetes group program pays the same $95.65 across all three eligible professions, but the minimum service length differs: MBS Online's description for item 81110 (exercise physiology) sets a 20 minute minimum, while the equivalent dietetics item, 81120, needs at least 45 minutes. Whichever profession does the assessment, it can only be billed once a calendar year for that patient across 81100, 81110 and 81120 combined, and the patient can then be referred into a group run by any of the three.
This is a genuine practical difference for a multidisciplinary practice deciding which professional should run the intake assessment for a new diabetes group program: exercise physiology is the shortest appointment to schedule for the same fee.
Group sessions are billed per client, not per class
Item 81115 pays $23.80 per client attending a group session, not a flat fee for running the class. A session of 8 patients bills 8 times at $23.80, a total of $190.40 for that one 60 minute (or longer) session, capped at 8 sessions a year per patient across the three group item series combined (81105, 81115, 81125). Groups must have between 2 and 12 patients and run in person; telehealth is not an option for the group session itself.
After the program's last session, a written report needs to go back to the referring GP, and an attendance record for the group needs to be kept on file, the same report-back obligation that applies to the individual chronic condition management items.
Claiming notes
- 10953 needs a GP or prescribed medical practitioner's chronic condition management plan (or a valid pre-1 July 2025 GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangement), a referral naming exercise physiology, at least 20 minutes, and the service being consistent with the plan.
- The 5 service cap on 10953 is shared across every individual CDM item the patient uses, not an exercise physiology-only allowance. A patient who has already had 3 podiatry visits this year has 2 left, whichever discipline they use next.
- The diabetes group program has its own eligibility gate: confirmed type 2 diabetes, managed under a chronic condition management plan, multidisciplinary care plan, or transitional GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangement, and a specific referral to the group program, separate from a general exercise physiology referral.
- Only one suitability assessment is billable a year, shared across the three professions that can perform it: exercise physiology (81110), dietetics (81120) or diabetes education (81100). Whichever one assesses the patient, they can then join a group run under any of the three professions.
- Group sessions (81115) need 2 to 12 patients, at least 60 minutes, delivered in person, capped at 8 a year shared across 81105 (diabetes education), 81115 (exercise physiology) and 81125 (dietetics) combined.
- After the last group session, the exercise physiologist must prepare or contribute a written report to the referring practitioner, and an attendance record for the group must be kept.
Load these fees into your practice software
- Create 10953 as the standard individual billable item, and 81110/81115 as a separate group program pair, since the assessment (81110) runs at a different duration to dietetics' equivalent (81120) even though both share the $95.65 fee.
- Bulk load all three items in one go through Cliniko's Billable items import (under Settings, Data & docs, Data imports), using a CSV with the columns Item code, Name, Price (ex. tax), Taxable and Item type rather than creating each item by hand.
- For 81115, configure Cliniko's group class or group appointment pricing to charge $23.80 per attendee rather than a flat class fee, since the schedule fee is per client, not per session.
- Name 81110 clearly as the once-a-year diabetes group assessment so reception does not book it more than once for the same patient in a calendar year across the three assessment items combined.
- All three items claim through Cliniko's Tyro Health connection for Medicare bulk billing, the same connection Cliniko's help centre points to as the reason DVA claiming feels familiar once a practice already uses it for Medicare.
- If your clinic also runs the equivalent dietetics or diabetes educator group program, track the shared 8-a-year group session cap with one Cliniko tag or custom field per patient rather than one per discipline, since the cap spans all three professions' items together.
Sources
- Effective 1 July 2026, MBS item 10953 (exercise physiology, individual chronic condition management service) has a schedule fee of $74.55 with an 85 per cent benefit of $63.40, for a service of at least 20 minutes under a GP chronic condition management plan. Department of Health and Aged Care, MBS Online, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- MBS item 81110 (exercise physiology assessment for a type 2 diabetes group service) has a schedule fee of $95.65, is at least 20 minutes, individual and in person, and is payable once a calendar year across items 81100, 81110 and 81120 combined. Department of Health and Aged Care, MBS Online, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- MBS item 81115 (exercise physiology type 2 diabetes group service) has a schedule fee of $23.80 per client, requires a group of 2 to 12 patients and at least 60 minutes in person, and is capped at 8 services a calendar year across items 81105, 81115 and 81125 combined. Department of Health and Aged Care, MBS Online, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Patients can access up to 5 MBS-supported individual chronic condition management services per calendar year across items 10950 to 10970 combined. Department of Health and Aged Care, MBS Online, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Cliniko's data import tool can create billable items from a CSV with the fields Item code, Name, Price (ex. tax), Taxable and Item type. Cliniko, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Cliniko's help centre confirms Medicare bulk bills are processed through the Tyro Health (formerly Medipass) integration, and uses that as the comparison point for how DVA claiming works in Cliniko. Cliniko, checked 25 Sep 2026.