Entries by admin

Train GPs in the Bush for the Bush: Deputy PM

By Michael McCormack*
It’s simply not good enough. That is your first thought when you meet the people affected by Australia’s rural doctor shortage.
The people who travel for hours on country roads or who wait for weeks or even longer just to see a doctor. Those who do their best – who rally local business communities to help, who open their arms to a new recruit and make them welcome – just to make sure the doctor stays. Yet […]

Australia comes out well in 11-nation health study

Australia’s health system comes out very well in a recent US study comparing health care system performance in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Welcome to our first newsletter for 2018

Member Communication and Practice Support

As we mentioned in our December newsletter we have been working to try to improve communication and support our members who are spread across the country.

In February we trialled an online interactive seminar (read Webinar you can hold a discussion in) for the Queensland members and some other Queensland practice owners. The topic was Changes to the Cybersecurity Legislation and the Requirements for Reporting Security Breaches. We had a very good presentation from Redfish and a great discussion.

Part of the reason for the limited distribution of such an important topic was a request from Redfish that we keep it small and Queensland based. We are now working out how to repeat it for a national member audience.

The outcome of our trial is that we are going to buy a Zoom licence and use it to hold a series of seminars which we will open to all members. We also intend that this will be the platform for holding our AGM and any other national meetings that we need to hold.

We have a few ideas about possible topics, but we would like to hear from you if there are any topics / discussions that you think we should be covering.

Pathology Rents Revisited

This issue seems to be quietly bubbling away in the background still, and remains a significant economic issue for many practices.

Despite some rumours and speculation we are not aware of any changes to the requirements for establishing agreements with pathology services providers. The key compliance issues that must be satisfied are that rents are negotiated willingly, be within market value and payment must not be dependent on the volume of business. So apparently no change to the present position.

However, there has been some recent activity and commentary. These have been separately posted. A summary of each and links to the full articles appear below.

Meanwhile, here is a summary of recent events.

The new pathology duopoly

Primary Health Care and Sonic Healthcare are an oligopoly present investment opportunity, according to an article by Graham Witcomb, an analyst with Intelligent Investor, in The Sydney Morning Herald. He writes that the growth in productivity of Australian pathology has been spectacular. Rebates for pathology have, in real terms, fallen by about 60 per cent since Medicare began in 1984, and yet the businesses delivering these services have done extremely well.

Department to look at pathology blow-out and GP conduct

The rising number of tests and scans at major clinics and medical centres is under investigation by the Federal Department of Health, according to a report in The Australian. It will focus on whether the cause is inappropriate financial arrangements. The department will look at compliance and whether GPs are getting unlawful kick-backs to request pathology services, especially where the services are co-located.

Historic agreement landed for rural practice

A landmark agreement has been reached (Feb 2018) to develop a national framework for Rural Generalist medical specialty. The agreement has been delivered by the National Rural Health Commissioner Professor Paul Worley and announced at the rural and regional health forum in Canberra.

Concern over charges to private health funds

The Federal Government is very concerned about the growing practice of private health insurance being charged by public hospitals for treatments that should be free, according to the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt. Figures released (Dec 2017) by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) show that state governments and hospitals are continuing to actively encourage patients to use their private health insurance to boost hospital revenue.

What to do with GPs’ mine of data

Dr Edwin Kruys*

General practice has been sitting on a goldmine of digital data, locked away on hard drives in our practices all over the country. And while we were busy looking after our patients, others have quietly started mining it for us.