The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) strongly opposes proposed reforms to the PIP e-Health that would see payments linked to meeting targets for uploading shared health summaries (SHS).
This week the RACGP has responded to the Department of Health (DoH) Practice Incentives Program (PIP) e-Health Incentive discussion paper, which was released as part of the consultation process to revise the current PIP e-Health Incentive eligibility criteria to encourage ‘active and meaningful use’ of the My Health Record (formally PCEHR).
Increased uptake of My Health Record will be achieved by addressing the fundamental usability issues as raised by the profession, rather than implementing misaligned financial incentives.
RACGP President Dr Frank R Jones said proposed changes to the PIP aimed at encouraging practitioners’ participation were futile.
“The proposed changes to the PIP e-Health Incentive are misaligned, ill-timed, superficial, will not support meaningful use, and – as a result – will not improve patient care and safety”.
“When usability issues for the My Health Record have been addressed, additional MBS rebates or a Service Incentive Payment (SIP) would be a better approach to support practitioner uptake”, Dr Jones said.
The RACGP submission was based on member feedback, with many GPs expressing concern regarding the DoH’s proposals for the PIP e-Health requiring the uploading of shared health summaries (SHS) as the sole measure of ‘active and meaningful use’ of My Health Record.
“Meaningful use is not just uploading information to My Health Record, and nor is uploading information an acceptable starting point for meaningful use,” Dr Jones said.
“Meaningful use relates to safety, quality, communication and healthcare outcomes – not merely numbers.”
The current proposal from the DoH fails to recognise that the PIP is a practice level incentive, designed to encourage practices to provide the necessary infrastructure to facilitate implementation. Use of a practice incentive payment to drive practitioner activity is misaligned.
Dr Jones said GPs were likely to be the most frequent users of the My Health Record.
“Therefore the RACGP will ensure that our stance on the PIP e-Health be made clear to the government, and insist that our guidance be taken into account in the interests of supporting quality general practice in Australia,” Dr Jones said.
The full submission is now available on the RACGP website.