The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) warmly welcomes the government’s announcement today that funding will be available to recognise GPs who act as nominated healthcare providers when the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records (PCEHR) roll out from 1 July 2012.
RACGP President, Professor Claire Jackson, said she was very pleased with this outcome and thanked the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister of Health, for listening to the profession on this critical issue.
“While some of the details still need to be further discussed, I am delighted that MBS consultation items will be available to GPs if they are adding a shared health summary to the patient's PCEHR, which involves taking a patient’s medical history as part of a consultation.
“The PCEHR has the potential to transform Australia’s health system and to make it work better, safer and more efficiently.
“Together with United General Practice Australia, the College has pushed hard to ensure individual general practices and GPs are properly funded and supported by the government to assist in the smooth implementation of the PCEHR,” she said.
Dr Mike Civil, RACGP e-health spokesperson, said GPs – as the coordinators of patient care – play a vital role in the successful adoption of the PCEHR initiative to ensure patient’s records are relevant and up-to-date.
“GPs are uniquely placed to capture and manage a patient’s shared health summary, with coordination and continuity of care underpinning success factors.
“Recognition and consideration of the impending responsibility to be placed on the GP ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the PCEHR content is significant and will help ensure both the uptake and sustainability of the process.
“Due to the ongoing discussions with the government, better recognition and reward for GPs has been achieved and GPs will be able to deliver better services for patients. And whilst there is still some further need for discussion with government about exactly how it will be implemented, it is pleasing that the government has recognised the additional work required by general practitioners,” he said.
The RACGP is entirely committed to the uptake of e-health initiatives within the health sector. The College looks forward to continuing its strong, productive and enduring working relationship with the government and other key stakeholders to improve access to high quality healthcare for all Australians.