The Vision provides the solution to achieve long-term savings for the healthcare system and the Australian economy – through decreased secondary healthcare use, improved illness prevention and improved economic productivity.
Implementing and maintaining a sustainable healthcare system requires a shift in focus from reactive hospital-based care to proactive community-based disease prevention. The Vision for general practice and a sustainable healthcare system (the Vision) demonstrates how this can be achieved by supporting the general practice team to deliver sustainable,* equitable, high-value healthcare.
Collaboration between health providers and health funders is key to achieving the Vision. General practitioners (GPs) can provide the solutions to improving the healthcare system based on evidence and our experience working at the coalface of patient care. However, without the support of governments at all levels, we will struggle to see these solutions realised.
We estimate recurrent annual savings of up to $4.5 billion can be achieved by simply supporting GPs and their teams to undertake their important roles in the community. This is made up of:
- an annual saving of up to $1.5 billion if GPs and their teams were better supported to manage low-urgency emergency department presentations
- an annual saving of up to $3 billion if GPs and their teams were better supported to manage conditions commonly resulting in preventable hospital admissions.
Further savings would be achieved through better support for coordinated and preventive care and improved economic productivity due to decreased illness.
The potential for these savings has been long known, yet little has been done to change our healthcare system. The RACGP sees that deficiencies in the current general practice funding model are largely to blame.
GPs are primarily funded by the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) to undertake their roles through a fee-for-service model. This means that GPs are encouraged to see patients on an episodic basis (ie ‘deal with the problem in front of them’).
Other than the MBS items for chronic disease management, there is no funding to support GPs to prevent hospital admissions and manage patients before they present to an emergency department.
The RACGP seeks to engage with governments at all levels to provide appropriate funding that will meet the dual objectives of implementing the RACGP Vision and saving the healthcare system billions of dollars each year.
This resource provides a high-level overview of the supports that are required to address the challenges facing general practice and the healthcare system. It is intended to guide the conversation about how GPs and all levels of government can work in partnership to achieve a sustainable high-performing healthcare system that benefits all Australians. It outlines potential changes in two broad categories:
- Improvements to existing general practice services
- Introducing innovative models of care
*For the purpose of this document, ‘sustainability’ refers to business sustainability and the ability for general practices to maintain viable practices and continue providing high-quality care to their patients.