6 September 2024 REVIEW OF GENERAL PRACTICE INCENTIVES – COMMENTS ON CONSULTATION BRIEFING General Comments The National Rural Health Alliance welcomes the opportunity to review the Review of General Practice Incentives Consultation Briefing and acknowledges the work of the Expert Advisory Panel to oversee the review and make recommendations on implementing the recommendations and findings of the. [...] The requirement under this recommendation to enforce GPs to participate in MyMedicare and to be involved in “comprehensive service delivery information and data” will have significant administrative costs for GPs with flow on effects for administrative costs and an increase in the perception that general practice is not autonomous and independent of government. [...] This would include use of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Health Care Standards, for services not currently eligible to be accredited, to increase the participation of primary care providers in Commonwealth funded programs. [...] • partnership and engagement with the primary care sector during the design and implementation of these reforms, including investment in education and training for the sector to transition to the new payment model. [...] The recommendation for more funding to primary care in the early phases of the roll-out is understandable if this relates to investment in the required infrastructure necessary for reforms in practices, together importantly, with change management and education for health professionals and the community on reforms.
Authors
- Pages
- 6
- Published in
- Australia
Table of Contents
- Recommendation 1a 1
- In doing so the new payment architecture should 1
- Comprise a new baseline practice payment that Enables general practices to flexibly provide multidisciplinary care appropriate to their patient 1
- Includes funding for coordination of the work of the primary care team Is calculated based on patient need complexity and rurality 1
- Include payments andor programs to promote quality and innovation teaching after hours care and targeted programs 1
- Require general practices and patients to participate in MyMedicare 1
- Over time replace existing Practice Incentives Programs PIP and Workforce Incentive Program WIP payments while ensuring viability of general practices to meet patient needs. 1
- Recommendation 1b 3
- Recommendation 2 4
- The Australian government should invest in enabling reforms to support the new general practice payments architecture within the context of a cohesive vision for primary care by 2032. 4
- The enabling reforms should 4
- Promote the provision of safe accessible high quality and value-based care across all primary care 4
- Enable general practices to transition to new arrangements by funding change management 4
- Achieve accountability and support fairness for general practices providers and patients. 4
- Recommendation 3 5
- A new independent primary care pricing authority should 5
- Recommendation 4 6
- The Australian Government should facilitate an effective transition to the new payment model to achieve the vision for general practice. 6
- The transition should include 6
