AHHA Submission to the Effectiveness Review of General Practice Incentives

In practice, the evaluation and measurement design has had the unintended consequence of incentivising increases to the quantity rather than quality of services provided, similar to the fee-for- service model the Incentive Programs were introduced to counter4. [...] In addition, the Department of Health and Aged Care also relies on participation rates of practices in the Incentive Programs as a substitute measure for the quality and accessibility of care provided. [...] OUTCOME MEASUREMENT Without the critical insight provided by accessible and centralised outcomes data, the evaluation of the impact, effectiveness, efficiency and outcomes of the GP Incentive Programs will not yield the lessons needed to base the reforms called for in the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce report. [...] Investment must first focus on enhancing the maturity of outcome measurement in Australia and strengthening the capacity of healthcare professionals and decision makers to understand and use these measures before moving to the development of new funding models. [...] This impedes the interoperability and data linkages required to ensure outcomes data is in the right format, timely and of sufficient quality to support decisions within care relationships and inform improvements in performance through all levels of the health system6.