Details are finally beginning to trickle out about the Department of Health and Aged Care’s MyMedicare scheme, previously known in various permutations as MyGP, voluntary patient enrolment and voluntary patient registration, and more is on the way with a series of webinars being rushed out next week.
All we’ve been told so far is that general practices can start the sign-up process by ensuring everyone is registered properly on PRODA and HPOS, with at least one GP signed up to an organisational register for MyMedicare. What exactly they are signing up for has so far been unclear and it seems that DoHAC is not in a big hurry to see this initiative gain momentum too quickly.
For some strange reason the department is touting that just $19.7 million over four years had been allocated to the scheme in the May budget, despite $39.8m also being allocated to Services Australia to set the system up. There was also $50m in the 2021 budget to get it going in the first place, and the 2023 budget also included $98.9m for the frequent flier program, which will see the PHNs and state health districts/networks identifying people frequently attending EDs. There’s also a substantial $112m over four years on offer for the new GP in Aged Care Incentive (GPACI), to be introduced next year.
DoHAC says the GPACI will be supported by MyMedicare, and in an Australian Association of Practice Management (AAPM) webinar last week, Sydney GP and Strengthening Medicare Taskforce member Wally Jammal said there would be a concerted effort to register all aged care residents with the program.
There are also the extended telehealth by phone item numbers, which will only be available to registered patients, and by the end of 2024, MBS chronic disease items will be restructured so patients will need to register with one practice to keep receiving extra benefits.
It’s good to see that this new system is being rolled out slowly and is targeting only those who need it, with the MBS and patient choice remaining the bedrock of the system. It just seems a bit convoluted, and with GPs currently obsessed with the payroll tax debacle, the worry is that VPE will die before it starts. You also get the feeling that GPs will struggle to explain the benefits to their patients and might not even bother if the rewards aren’t there.
New Zealand, like many other countries with advance healthcare systems, has had patient registration for years so perhaps they could give us some advice on how to get patients informed, interested and actively participating. However, NZ also runs a system based on capitation, which Australian doctors tend to regard with horror. Any advice from our Kiwi chums is most welcome.
You get the feeling that DoHAC realises it needs to get some info out there quick smart as October 1 looms. It announced in a hurry on Thursday that it will hold a webinar on August 22 with the AAPM, Dr Wally and some primary care bigwigs, taking the place of a previously scheduled webinar. You get the feeling that general practices will need a lot more information or they are not going to sign up to this thing. Remind you of something?
That brings us to our poll question for this week:
Will MyMedicare be worth the effort for general practices?
Vote here and leave your comments below.
Last week we asked: Was Babylon always more about hype than hope? Our readers overwhelmingly said yes: 87.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent.
We also asked, if you said yes, why did venture capitalists fall for it? If no, can the company be salvaged? Here’s what you said. (Swear words have been redacted.)
My Medicare will register only accredited general practices.
Like many or most GPs, I am a self-employed GP paying service fees to a service company, which provides serviced offices at Oakden Medical Centre.
I conduct a solo general practice at that location.
Recent events have brought to light that the service company to which I pay service fees is not a general practice, but despite this, it has been accredited by AGPAL.
How much will any of the four accreditation agencies charge to accredit my solo general practice that I conduct at Oakden Medical Centre?
This has shown not to work and increased number of Deaths of the chronically ill patients, that now the UK has removed as it did not work, And Gp’s got flat rate of income per patient per year – Its once again a move by Government to control GP’s Income ! and reduce GP’s income.
Is that Health Care Homes dig in there?
This is another DOH white elephant.
Estimated costs to sign patients up for GP $16M based on the Office of Impact Analysis paper.
Any funding for us doing there work? No. We are too busy manning your medicare offices. NEXT!
https://oia.pmc.gov.au/published-impact-analyses-and-reports/primary-health-care-reform-voluntary-patient-registration
I kind of know the answer to the first question that follows but cannot for the life of me answer the second. Question one – What is the best structure and the best payment method to deliver the primary health service we need to deliver on the quintuple aim. Question two – why do we still have the funding system that we have, and why do we currently need to jump through hoops with a double twist to keep ourselves in business? Ask Wally at the Webinar on the 22nd – I reckon he will give you the same answer.
Will MyMedicare be worth the effort for general practices? Readers were evenly split: 47 per cent voted yes, 53 per cent voted no.
Here’s what you said:
– More admin and wastage than its worth
– Improved coordination of care
– Visibility of usual GP in my health record summary
– Another example of unnecessary complexity and failure to address root cause issues, while diverting funding from holistic care to single issue problems.
– No. Take PRODA out. Fund GPs for signing up patients.
– Probably should just scrap the idea and forward the money to increased patient rebates.
– Multidisciplinary, patient centred care will be a huge benefit.
– More clear information
– Practices shouldn’t be in charge of explaining changes in Medicare and pt care to Australia’s population. More and more is dumpt on GPs to be the administration office for the DoH. Specialists never ever having to go through this at all. And pts with chronic diseases visiting them more often than their GP with huge out of pocket costs and no benefit enhancements to get their costs down or regulated.
– Has to be indexed properly to full inflation
– Will struggle to sign patients who will not see the benefit.
– The “death” of bulk billing stands to be a net negative for general practice as the more vulnerable avoid visiting their GP until the problems are larger and more difficult to manage, hopefully the triple bulk bulling incentive resets the landscape a little. A move to encouraging people to have a strong relationship with one practice/GP is likewise an important cultural shift (hopefully)
– focused patient care for people that need it
– Indemnification from the Government that it won’t affect Payroll Tax