In Practice

The RACGP is pleased to announce the 2019 state winners for General Practitioner of the Year, General Practice Supervisor of the Year, General Practice Registrar of the Year, and General Practice of the Year. A list of names will be made available 9:30 am Friday 21 June (AEST). National RACGP Award winners will be selected from the cohort of state winners and will be announced at GP19, the RACGP conference to be held at the Adelaide Convention Centre in October. Visit the RACGP Awards page to see the state award winners.

Nominations for the Growing Strong, Standing Strong Together and Student Bursary awards have been extended to Monday 1 July. RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health offers awards to a Fellow, member of the RACGP or an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person who has contributed to improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Visit the RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health awards page to download a nomination form.

The Department of Health is currently undertaking a review of the Practice Incentives Program Indigenous Health Incentive (PIP IHI) and is seeking your participation. A number of workshops are being held in capital cities and some regional areas throughout June and July. The workshops seek to understand, through your knowledge and experience, how the PIP IHI currently influences the care of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with chronic disease. Contact RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health via aboriginalhealth@racgp.org.au...

Expressions of interest are open to RACGP members for the position of Chair of the Editorial Advisory Committee (EAC) for the Australian Journal of General Practice (AJGP). The EAC exists to provide expert advice on issues relevant to general practice, general practice research, ethics, and professionalism. The EAC supports the medical editors of the AJGP to build the editorial schedule and ensure the journal covers the issues most important to Australian GPs. The Chair is responsible for guiding the committee, ensuring it effectively supports ...

The RACGP is currently preparing a submission to the Department of Health (DoH) as part of its six-month review of changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) for thoracic medicine (respiratory function tests [items 11503 to 11512] and sleep studies [items 12203 to 12272]) that came into effect on 1 November 2018. The 1 November 2018 changes consisted of: redefining the criteria for complex lung function testing, including the introduction of new MBS items to reflect the complexity of these tests amending requirements to encourage appropriate...

The RACGP has made a submission to the Participating Midwife Reference Group, a sub-committee of the MBS Review Taskforce. The RACGP response recommended that the Taskforce: support recommendations that encourage continuity of care between patients and their regular GP and support team-based primary care support measures to improve patient access to telehealth services by expanding the scope of providers eligible to participate in consultations. MBS rules that state GP consultations must be conducted face-to-face should be amended to allow non–...

The RACGP has also made a submission to the Allied Health Reference Group, another sub-committee of the MBS Review Taskforce. The RACGP response recommended that the Taskforce: ensure that any additional care provided by allied health professionals as a result of the recommendations outlined in the report is coordinated through a patient’s usual GP  support the introduction of Medicare rebated Shared Medical Appointments facilitated by GPs and involving, where relevant, other members of the GP-led team support enhanced communication between GP...

The program for GP19, the RACGP’s annual conference held 24–26 October at Adelaide Convention Centre, has been released. GP19 has a new format delivering dynamic education with a focus on topics that affect GPs in their clinical settings. Members attending will experience an extensive array of interactive and highly engaging sessions with take-away skills to implement in everyday practice. Visit the GP19 website to view the program and register attendance. Early bird registration ends Thursday 1 August.