21 October 2016


RACGP eHealth forum

The RACGP eHealth forum on Thursday 27 October will be an interactive online member event, including a live Twitter feed and live streaming on RACGP.TV.

This is the second eHealth forum for the RACGP, allowing key stakeholders across the primary care sector, government, and other leaders in the eHealth space to come together and discuss the current state of eHealth in Australia.

The day will be split up into three sessions, each followed by a Q&A session with the expert panel.

  • ‘Farewell fax machine’ supporting the RACGP calls for the use of secure electronic communications across the healthcare sector.
  • ‘Usability – your solution is not necessarily my problem’ will discuss how to progress the clinical usability and safety agenda for clinical software used by general practice. 
  • ‘The data deluge’ will explore the issues of data quality, time and resource constraints, compliance requirements and data security and their influence the way data is used in general practice.

Members can livestream the entire event and submit questions to the panel in real time via RACGP.TV. The live Twitter feed can be followed using #GPeHealth. 

Submit your questions for the panel prior to the event via the eHealth forum shareGP discussion, and search in shareGP for eHealth related conversations with the hashtag #GPeHealth.

Visit the RACGP website for more information.


Practice Incentives Program eHealth Incentive - temporary amendment to requirements

A temporary amendment to the requirements for the Practice Incentives Program eHealth Incentive (ePIP) has been made to allow ePIP registered general practices to achieve their requirement for uploading shared health summaries over a period of nine months, rather than three separate quarterly targets. 

This is a one-off amendment to the ePIP requirements that will cease on 31 January 2017.

This extended period will give general practices enough time to resolve any transitional issues that may have prevented them from meeting their shared health summary upload targets to date.

Practices that opted out of the first quarter ePIP payments will also be provided the opportunity to catch up and meet the requirement so that they are able to claim the full incentive.

Practices are encouraged to take advantage of this one-off amendment to ensure they don’t lose their entitlement to the incentive payments. Practices that do not intend to meet all of the requirements should withdraw from the ePIP entirely to avoid being overpaid, and subsequent repayment of up to three quarterly payments.


Guide to information backup in general practice

The RACGP’s Guide to information backup in general practice provides recommendations, practical advice and checklists to support general practices achieve secure and reliable information backup and data recovery processes. 

Backing up business-critical information is a requirement for a general practice to achieve accreditation. A reliable backup system is also recommended to support timely access to business and clinical information.

The new Guide to information backup in general practice can be downloaded from the RACGP website.


Dermatological surgery – national workshop

Enrolments are now open for the dermatology practical procedures workshop, to be held 5-6 November in Sydney.

The workshop is hosted by the Australasian College of Dermatologists (ACD) in collaboration with the RACGP and the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM).

This workshop forms part of the Certificate of Primary Care Dermatology comprehensive training course and is available to GPs, general practice registrars and ACD training program registrars seeking to improve and expand their dermatological surgery techniques.

Topics covered include cryotherapy, excisions and flap repairs. Visit the RACGP website for more information and to register.


Clinical Pearl

Encourage your patients to do the test - the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program

Australia has one of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world, with around 17,000 people diagnosed each year. The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) recommends faecal occult blood test (FOBT) screening at least every two years for people over the age of 50 who are at, or slightly above, average risk for bowel cancer (about 98% of the population). 

If found early, nine out of 10 cases of bowel cancer can be successfully treated. Current participation in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) is low at 37%.

Research consistently demonstrates that a recommendation from a GP to screen for bowel cancer is an important motivator for participation. Evidence shows that if fully implemented, the NBCSP could save 500 lives each year. You can help participation by displaying information and short videos in the practice, sending letters and talking directly to patients about the program.

To learn about the eligible ages for screening each year, see the online calculator available on the Cancer Screening websiteor visit the NBCSP website.


In Practice poll results

In response to financial pressures, has your practice implemented new business models and billing practices?

As more practices are pressured to look at their financial bottom line, the RACGP is looking to prepare case studies of GPs and practices adapting to the Medicare freeze and financial pressures to inform members of what their peers are doing.

We invited members to answer our poll and provide information regarding any models or approaches their practice has implemented (successful or otherwise).

Results from the poll indicate a fairly even distribution of members whose practice had implemented new business models and billing practices, and those who hadn’t.

Of the respondents, 43% indicated that their practice had not made changes to their billing practices. Conversely, 43% also indicated their practice had successfully implemented new models and practices, while 14% indicated mixed results from such implementation.

In addition to the Medicare freeze being a reason for change, member feedback has indicated their changes were to ensure appropriate remuneration for their services more generally. While some had made an almost exclusive shift to private billing (the success of which had been measured by patient surveys), others outlined how factors such as location, patient demographics and competition can make it difficult to cease bulk billing.

The RACGP will continue to collect member feedback and experiences via our Consultations page and shareGP until 31 October 2016. Feedback can also be emailed directly to advocacy@racgp.org.au 


Media enquiries

Journalists and media outlets seeking comment and information from the RACGP should contact:

John Ronan

Senior Media Advisor