The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) says the Federal Government’s Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) review’s priority must be on the delivery of modern, efficient, quality, patient-focused care.
RACGP President Dr Frank Jones said that the RACGP supports an evidence based health system that genuinely prioritises the delivery of high quality, safe, patient care.
“The RACGP is a strong advocate for evidence based healthcare delivery, and has been a leader in the delivery of efficient quality healthcare. For example, we are a key leader in the Choosing wisely campaign, which aims to create awareness among patients and professionals around medical tests and treatments that don’t have a lot of benefit.
“We don’t want to be stuck in the past. We want to see a modern Medicare that best utilises scarce health resources to deliver high quality patient care.
“However, while the RACGP accepts that Government will be reviewing Medicare with best practice contemporary care, the review cannot be about cost-cutting or budget balancing.
“And if the review finds that there are efficiencies that can be found in certain patient services or procedures, the savings must be directly reinvested into the health system.”
National and international evidence clearly demonstrates that health systems focusing on primary healthcare have lower overall costs, and better patient outcomes.
“Appropriate investment in primary healthcare will result in long-term health savings because fewer people will be treated at hospitals, including out-patient services, where costs can be 10 times higher.”
Collectively, GPs see more than 80% of Australians each year but general practice spending represents less than eight per cent of the overall Government healthcare budget.
The RACGP released its Vision for general practice and a sustainable healthcare system last week, which calls for an overhaul of current GP funding and sets the tone for delivering more efficient and sustainable healthcare.