Information for medical specialists
The Medical Costs Finder Portal and information for you and your patients
The Medical Costs Finder is a guide only. It is not a substitute for a medical quote, diagnosis or Informed Financial Consent.
Access the Medical Costs Finder Portal
If you're interested in participating as a specialist, you can sign up, login or register interest to the Medical Costs Finder Portal.
GPs are unable to participate on the Medical Costs Finder Portal at this time.
Participation is voluntary and open for eleven (11) non-GP specialist areas to help improve costs transparency for patients.
As at 31 January 2024, the list of eligible specialities is:
- Cardiology
- Cardiothoracic surgery
- Gastroenterology and hepatology
- General surgery (abdominal and gastrointestinal)
- General surgery (breast)
- Obstetrics and gynaecology
- Opthalmology
- Orthopaedic surgery
- Otolaryngology (ENT) head and neck surgery
- Plastic and reconstructive surgery
- Urology
For further information refer to:
Portal services per specialty
Portal terms of use
Portal privacy notice
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) on the Medical Costs Finder
Read the AMA’s position statements which encourage specialists to participate in the Medical Costs Finder.
Information that the Portal collects and publishes
You can publish your practice locations, indicative fees and any gap arrangements for select high-volume typical services.
You will be able to complete a public profile. This includes your credentials, qualifications, and years of experience. Additional information can also be published to your profile, including languages spoken, practice website link and participation in clinical quality registries.
Your information is controlled by you and your authorised persons. All users must abide by the Portal terms of use.
How the Portal collects and stores data
You can read about how the Medical Costs Finder Portal collects, maintains, protects and shares personal information in the privacy notice.
You can also see how privacy risks were assessed throughout the development of the Medical Costs Finder Portal in the Supplementary Privacy Impact Assessment – Summary.
Supporting patients through Informed Financial Consent
The Medical Costs Finder helps patients understand the costs of common medical services.
If you’re a referring medical professional, you may need to help your patient understand the implications of out-of-pocket costs.
We encourage specialists to provide patients their cost information including any likely out-of-pocket costs before treatment, and then obtain the patient’s agreement to proceed.
Informed patients contribute towards better Informed Financial Consent outcomes. The Australian Medical Association’s Guide on Informed Financial Consent(opens in new tab) is a helpful resource for both specialists and patients.
Supporting patients online
The National Health Services Directory (NHSD) lists the services health professionals provide across Australia. Participation on the NHSD improves accessibility to consumers and health professionals.
Specialists, including GPs, are encouraged to participate either by:
- signing up(opens in new tab) to the NHSD
- updating your information if you are already on the NHSD.
