Search the MBS - Hint Sheet

Advice on how to use the MBS Online Search the MBS functionality.

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Search using ...

1. Item Number
2. Item Number Range
3. Exact Phrase Selection
4. Wildcard (*)
5. Conjunctions (and or +)
6. Top 10 Searches

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Item Number Search

For example searching for individual MBS item number – 23

• Enter 23 in the ‘Search box’.
• Select the ‘Search on Item Numbers only’ radio button.
• Press [Search >].

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Item Number Range Search

For example searching for item numbers – 3, 23, 75009 to 75021(inclusive)

As for ‘Item Number Search’, substituting the item ranges (separated by commas) for the item number.

• Enter 3, 23, 75009-75021 in the ‘Search box’.
• Select the ‘Search on Item Numbers only’ radio button.
• Press [Search >].

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Exact Phrase Selection

For example searching for the phrase – endoscopic laser therapy

For ‘Exact Phrase Selection’ the entry must be enclosed within quotes (single or double).

• Enter “endoscopic laser therapy” in the ‘Search box’.
• Select the ‘Search all’ radio button.
• Press [Search >].

This example will return hits for:- Items 30479 and 52035. Click on the relevant item to view information including the relevant explanatory note.

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Wildcard (*)

The ‘*’ wildcard can be used as a replacement for a group of letters within a search word. For example searching for – Oesoph*

• Enter oesoph* in the ‘Search box’ (do not use quotes).
• Select the ‘Search all’ radio button.
• Press [Search >].

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Conjunctions (and / or / +)

A search for phrases containing words separated by the conjunction and will return references where all the specified words are present. For example searching for – Ultrasound associated with vascular.

• Enter Ultrasound and vascular in the ‘Search box’ (do not use quotes).
• Select the ‘Search all’ radio button.
• Press [Search >].

Please note: The search system assumes that a space between words substitutes for and. Therefore, in this example, the search entry – Ultrasound vascular, would return the same result as – Ultrasound and vascular, as would the entry - Ultrasound + vascular.

A search for phrases containing words separated by the conjunction or, will return references where either of the specified words are present. For example search for instances where – Ultrasound or vascular are present.

• Enter Ultrasound or vascular in the ‘Search box’ (do not use quotes).
• Select the ‘Search all’ radio button.
• Press [Search >].

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Top 10 Searches

The top 10 searches during 2008 were:

	Search Term	Searches
1	23	14,842
2	104	10,490
3	721	8,080
4	36	7,252
5	110	6,969
6	2710	6,510
7	17610	6,122
8	105	5,812
9	116	5,044
10	717	4,418

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Page last updated 11 March 2009