May Budget is D-Day for health
The Federal Budget next Tuesday (3 May) is the Turnbull Government’s final chance to show Australia it is serious about providing adequate funding for GPs and our world-class healthcare system.
The impending Federal election, expected in July, will give voters an opportunity to make a judgement call depending on what Tuesday’s Budget reveals.
In the coming weeks and months I’ll be giving you constant updates on the work we are doing to get our health messages to Canberra and the general public.
Over the past few months the RACGP has been tireless in its efforts to persuade the Federal Government to adopt four main strategies to better support quality general practice.
1. Stop the MBS freeze
2. Adopt the patient-centred medical home
3. Make a firm commitment to research in primary care
4. Provide greater support for interns and junior doctors to enable early exposure to general practice
The freeze on the indexation of the Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS), especially in primary healthcare, impacts quality provision and cost-effectiveness, with a negative flow-on effect to the rest of the health system.
Reversing the freeze is absolutely essential if the Government is to be true to its stated goal of improving general healthcare standards.
Evidence shows that primary healthcare services prevent higher expenditure on more expensive hospital services.
The RACGP’s argument is simply that the indexation of MBS patient rates must keep pace with the cost of quality healthcare services.
The RACGP pre-budget submission also outlines recommended steps towards implementing the patient-centred medical home, which will provide our patients with quality continuity of care in context, especially for patients with complex co-morbidities.
The RACGP is also calling for a genuine commitment to more academic research into primary care with dedicated funding for general practice research and support for general practice research infrastructure. We need a Primary Health Care Institute of Research just like the UK and Denmark.
And finally we need to re-invest in prevocational GP exposure for our junior doctors. We need the brightest and the best because generalism is the hardest speciality of all.
The RACGP’s 2016-17 pre-budget submission is available on the RACGP website.
I urge you to read the submission for more details on the key themes we will be calling for over the coming weeks and months in the lead-up to the election.
Dr Frank R Jones
RACGP President
General practices encouraged to update privacy policies
A report launched on Thursday by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) suggests that some general practices could use more practical support and training to improve their privacy policies.
The report, based on an assessment of 40 general practices selected at random throughout Australia, found four did not have an identifiable policy at hand. Of those that did, only four contained appropriate contact information for individuals to submit access or correction requests or complaints to the practice.
During 2015 the RACGP worked with the OAIC to review, revise and improve its privacy policy template, developed to suit individual general practice needs with editing and simple modification, whilst meeting the requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles (APP).
Read the RACGP media release for more information.
GP16 registration opens Monday 2 May
It’s time to start planning your attendance at GP16! Registration for the RACGP’s annual conference opens on Monday 2 May.
Register before 15 July to save up to $100 with early bird rates and to go into the draw to win your way to GP16. The winning delegate will receive a complimentary full delegate registration, one Gala dinner ticket, return flights from their nearest capital city and four nights’ accommodation at the Parmelia Hilton Perth.
GP16 will be held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre from Wednesday 29 September to Saturday 1 October, 2016.
Register today on the GP16 website and check out the program, download the GP16 app and catch up on the latest conference news.
RACGP Council election nominations 2016
The current terms for the positions of President, Censor-in-Chief and Registrar Representative on RACGP Council conclude at the close of the RACGP annual general meeting (AGM) on 30 September 2016.
Nominations for these positions open on Monday 2 May at 9.00 am AEST, and close on Monday 30 May at 5.00 pm AEST.
Nomination forms and eligibility requirements are now available on the RACGP website.
For more information please contact Helen Gaskin, RACGP Executive Assistant, Office of the President and CEO on 03 8699 0321 or email elections@racgp.org.au.
RACGP Clinical Pearl
Choosing Wisely Pearl 4
The RACGP is proud to be a partner of Choosing Wisely Australia. Over the next few weeks, In Practice will highlight recommendations of tests, treatments and procedures that should be questioned by GPs and their patients.
CLINICAL PEARL 4:
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Don’t treat otitis media with antibiotics in non-Indigenous children aged 2-12 years where reassessment is a reasonable option
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In high-income countries like Australia, most cases of acute otitis media spontaneously remit without complications. Routine use of antibiotics should be avoided except in a child with acute systemic features such as high fever, vomiting or lethargy. Clinical review at 24–48 hours is good practice if possible. Regardless of whether one or both eardrums are red or bulging, antibiotics do not reduce pain at 24 hours. The evidence shows up to 20 children must be treated to prevent pain in one child at two to seven days.
One in 14 children will develop antibiotic side effects, particularly rash, diarrhoea or vomiting. Antibiotic use promotes bacterial resistance, both in the individual and the community.
Note that there are exceptions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and infants under six months.
Visit the Choosing Wisely Australia website for more information, including exceptions and supporting evidence.
In Practice poll results
Practice Incentive Payment: Diabetes incentive
Over the past three weeks, the RACGP has surveyed members’ views on the inconsistencies in HbA1c test billing by pathology providers, following member concern that some pathology providers are not using the correct item numbers when billing HbA1c tests.
The majority of respondents (56%) believe these inconsistencies are an ongoing problem that has negatively impacted on their practice’s Diabetes PIP outcome payments. An additional 6% of respondents stated they have experienced inconsistencies in pathology billing, but have developed solutions in partnership with pathology providers to correct these inconsistencies.
36% of respondents said such inconsistencies have not been an issue for their practice.
The RACGP thanks all poll respondents for their feedback. We will use this information when progressing any work surrounding the Diabetes PIP and will work collaboratively with all relevant stakeholders to achieve a suitable solution.