Medicare Locals bound by red tape
MEDICARE Local staff spent more than 40,000 hours in a single year preparing reports to justify to the Department of Health and Ageing how they were spending its money, research reveals.
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red tape
The following articles have the tag red tape
Uniform e-software urgent as practices ‘bamboozled’
THE AMA has repeated its call for a single personally controlled electronic health record (PCEHR) software product, amid concerns practices are being “bamboozled” with information from vendors ahead of the last deadline to qualify for incentive payments.
Maintain after-hours payments or service will drop: GPs
GP GROUPS have called for current payment levels for after-hours services to be maintained until the end of the year to ensure existing service levels are maintained, after the takeover of after-hours administration by Medicare Locals.
Nitschke plan for Swiss euthanasia trips
EUTHANASIA campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke’s Exit International group says it will soon appoint an ‘agent’ to help Australians planning to end their life to travel to Switzerland where they can do it legally.
Coalition in govt would review ML spending
A COALITION government would do a broad review of Medicare Locals, including how they spent Commonwealth dollars and how they determined areas of service deficiency, shadow health minister Peter Dutton said last week.
Concern pharma bill may harm research
A GREENS-backed bill seeking to prevent certain pharmaceutical company payments to doctors by making them civil offences could weed out some wrongdoing but also unfairly hurt practices and hinder legitimate research, doctors and academics have warned.
GPs want more progress on addiction, dementia
BLOOD pressure, diabetes and cholesterol have all been nominated by MO’s GP readership as areas in which they and their colleagues have had the greatest impact on patient outcomes during MO’s 25 years of publication.
Hospital sorry for billing dead patient
THE CEO of a hospital that sent a woman a bill for her husband’s hospital treatment 521 days after his death – despite the bill having already been paid – personally called her last night to apologise for the error.
AMA to scrutinise red tape burden on family doctors
GPs have been given a chance to describe how the administrative burden of government paperwork is affecting their practice, with the AMA claiming family doctors are spending up to nine hours a week dealing with red tape. AMA president Dr Steve Hambleton said the association had launched an online survey to find out exactly how administrative tasks were impacting on individual GPs, practices and patients. “Research shows that family doctors are required to spend up to nine hours a week on government red tape,” he said. “Filling ...
Cutting red tape burden still tops GP priority list
FORGET natural disasters, sweeping healthcare reform and getting the Medicare Locals right – the number one demand from GPs in 2011 remains reducing the burden of red tape on the profession. In what is shaping up to be a watershed year for general practice, Medical Observer’s national GP survey revealed that 56% of 151 respondents believe the Government’s single biggest health priority should be cutting GP red tape. Conducted by Cegedim Strategic Data, the poll revealed red tape ranked above the high-priority concerns of rebuilding flood-damaged health infrastructure (22%) and delivery of Medicare Locals (17%). ...
Cutting red tape burden still tops GP priority list
IN what is shaping up to be a watershed year for general practice, Medical Observer’s national GP survey revealed that 56% of 151 respondents believe the Government’s single biggest health priority should be cutting GP red tape. Conducted by Cegedim Strategic Data, the poll revealed red tape ranked above the high-priority concerns of rebuilding flood-damaged health infrastructure (22%) and delivery of Medicare Locals (17%). Dr Brian Morton, chair of the AMA’s Council of General Practice, said red tape was not only a burden for GPs, it was an insult. “The red tape goes to a degree ...
Red tape adding to ACT workforce crisis
FEDERAL bureaucracy has hampered ACT Government and health authority efforts to ease the territory’s workforce crisis, the ACT Division of General Practice (ACTDGP) has claimed. ACTDGP chair Dr Rashmi Sharma has called on the Federal Government to declare the entire ACT as a district of workforce shortage (DWS), to ease the red tape burden on general practices attempting to lure IMGs to their area. The calls come after more than 12 months of ACT Government efforts to reverse the territory’s GP workforce crisis. The crisis was the subject of an ACT GP Taskforce’s final report, which was ...
High cost of paperwork reduces benefit of EPCs
RED tape is “strangling” GP capacity to provide better patient care, according to a new report, with the compliance burden of enhanced primary care items alone now costing the health system $156 million a year. Released last week by independent think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs, the report calls for immediate reform of health regulations to free up GPs to provide much-needed services. “Despite the efforts of Australia’s healthcare business in providing world-class care, the burden of regulation is slowly strangling its capacity to deliver the services expected from it,” the report says. Organisation of ...
AMA enlists patient support to stand up for GPs
THE AMA has come out fighting on general practice issues, launching a campaign in the lead-up to the federal election amid concerns over the profession’s future under planned sweeping health reforms. As part of the campaign, Family Medicine is running out of time, the association has called on all parties to develop policies which “support and preserve” the vital role of GPs. And, in a rare move, it is now seeking to enlist the support of patients. A patient petition demanding that the Government cut red tape, ensure patients have the right to choose their ...
Doctors snubbing WorkCover patients
GPs fed up with the “overwhelming” paperwork required by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and WorkCover are refusing to deal with accident claims, AMA Victoria says. According to AMA Victoria CEO Jane Stephens, some GPs are no longer cooperating with the TAC or WorkCover for patients who might be covered under the scheme. “GPs are frustrated with the bureaucracy, red-tape and drawn-out processes they encounter when dealing with WorkCover and TAC. GPs are not remunerated for phone calls or for filling out lengthy forms and find the processes much more convoluted than Medicare,” Ms Stephens said. ...
GP shortage threatens to sink practice and super clinic plan
THE future of a rural NSW GP super clinic due to open next year is in serious doubt with its operator unable to recruit enough GPs to maintain stretched existing services. The Narrandera Medical Centre in the Riverina region last year won a $1 million super clinic contract, which would involve expansion of the practice. However, practice executive director Liz Romeo has written to Health Minister Nicola Roxon warning that without additional GPs to staff the clinic, existing medical services in the town may fold, and a super clinic will not be viable. The warning follows ...
Portrait of a bush crisis
Dr Joseph Romeo has money to build a super clinic but no-one to staff it. Andrew Bracey paints a picture of a town fighting for its medical survival.
GPs ticked off at govt inaction on red tape
THE Federal Government has given itself an official tick of approval for its attempts to cut red tape, despite its ongoing failure to release a streamlined MBS promised nearly a year ago. In its annual report released last week, the Health Department claimed it had met its performance indicator on simplifying the MBS, however frustrated GPs are still waiting to see the end results. The news comes just days after the department released its annual update of the MBS, which contained none of the promised changes to Level C and D item descriptors, nor the consolidation of ...
More GPs are seeking help for stress, RACGP says
THE number of stressed GPs turning to help and counselling support services has risen in a year plagued by natural disasters and the global financial crisis. According to RACGP president Dr Chris Mitchell, anecdotal evidence suggested the number of doctors accessing the college’s GP Support Program had increased noticeably in recent months. “It has been a bugger of a year – there are clearly the financial issues that have been impacting general practice, but also some major disasters, including floods and fires,” Dr Mitchell said. “Those issues make it very hard for us.” The service, ...
Stress snapshot
How are GPs coping? Helen Signy finds out. WINTER 2009: surgeries are flooded with patients thinking they have swine flu, the global financial crisis is making practice management more challenging, and the Government’s plans for primary care are leaving GPs feeling uncertain and undervalued. If you’re feeling more stressed than ever, you’re not alone. The MO Stress Test , an exclusive Medical Observer survey of nearly 500 GPs conducted by Julie Dang & Associates, found more than 50% reported worrying stress levels, with 4% saying their stress was unmanageable. And things ...
Pressure rising and GPs feel the pain
THE mental and emotional wellbeing of Australia’s GPs is under siege, according to an exclusive Medical Observer survey, with nearly 60% of doctors reporting “troubling” to “unmanageable” levels of stress. In a disturbing assessment of GP health, the MO Stress Test revealed that the cumulative effect of government bureaucracy and health reform angst, combined with the demanding nature of general practice, was significantly affecting the stress levels of 85% of doctors. The survey of nearly 500 GPs – conducted by Julie Dang & Associates – found 73% of GPs reported their stress was ...
Government’s glowing report card for health unjustified: GPs
THE Federal Government has given itself a “gratuitous” tick of approval for its management of health in a recently released mid-term progress report, doctor groups say. Among the list of top 50 achievements during the first 18 months in office, the Government listed the introduction of controversial health reform measures, including the signing of contracts for 15 of its promised 31 GP super clinics and the granting of PBS and MBS rights to nurse practitioners. Dr Brian Morton, deputy chair of the AMA council of general practice, said many of the Government’s health achievements lacked an evidence ...
GPs frustrated over govt inaction on MBS reform
THE Federal Government has missed its 1 July deadline to introduce a simplified MBS intended to ease the burden of red tape on GPs. Promised in the lead-up to the 2007 federal election and announced in December last year, the simplified schedule was to clarify Level C and D item descriptors, and streamline item numbers for health checks and chronic disease management. However, a spokesperson for Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon last week confirmed GPs would have to wait for the changes, which were still being considered by the Government. The delay has drawn fire from ...
Details scant as July MBS changes loom
MEDICAL groups are anxious that without adequate time to prepare, GPs could fall foul of new claiming requirements to be unveiled in less than a month under the Federal Government’s new streamlined MBS. The simplified MBS was promised in December last year by Health Minister Nicola Roxon, who claimed it would significantly reduce red tape for GPs. It is scheduled to take effect from 1 July, but the expected changes to health checks, chronic disease management items and Level C and D item descriptors remain under wraps. A spokesperson for Ms Roxon said the package of ...
New MBS review reignites reform push
THE Federal Government’s move to sink a further $9.3 million into reviewing MBS items has drawn fire from experts and prompted renewed calls for the release of the long-awaited MBS red-tape review. Under the new Budget measure, the funding will be used to establish a framework to evaluate all MBS services “to ensure clinical relevance and appropriate pricing”. New MBS items will be reviewed after three years. Professor Nick Zwar, from the department of general practice at the University of NSW, welcomed any sign of MBS reform, but questioned the need for yet another review process. ...
GP group flags plans to euthanase authority system by Christmas
TELEPHONE approval for authority-required drugs could be axed entirely by the end of the year if the AMA is successful in its latest lobbying efforts. Two hundred drugs were removed from the authority-required list as part of a Federal Health Department streamlining process that began in 2007, and a recent 12-month study revealed there had been no significant changes to GPs’ prescribing behaviour as a result. AMA therapeutics committee chair Associate Professor John Gullotta said the association was now negotiating with the Government. “[We] will keep pushing. We hope by the end of the year we ...
Government accused of using red tape to save dollars
THE AMA has launched a scathing attack on the government, accusing it of using red tape to limit health expenditure. In a recent submission to the Productivity Commission review of social and economic infrastructure service regulations, the AMA claimed that, while cutting red tape would free up doctors to see more patients, it would ultimately cost more, and go against the Government’s cost neutrality principles. “[The] Commonwealth Government uses red tape as a blunt rationing mechanism to discourage medical practitioners from providing more services and in some cases actively limiting the number of services [they] can provide ...
A call to arms in the war against red tape
AUSTRALIAN GPs are drowning in bureaucratic red tape, resulting in countless hours of extra unpaid paperwork and hundreds of patients missing out on care every day. Doctors around the country are constantly looking for ways to improve administration processes and increase efficiencies to free up time to spend with their patients – but, despite these efforts, the various layers of government continue to dump form after form on GPs. Six years ago, the Productivity Commission deemed the cost of regulatory burden on general practice to be more than $13,000 per GP, per year. Since then we have seen some acknowledgement of the problem, but very ...
Fears ramped-up audits will raise practice costs
THE latest attempts by Medicare Australia to reassure GPs over next year’s audit crusade have failed to quell fears, and have increased concerns the audits will result in increased practice costs and more red tape. From January, Medicare will conduct an additional 2000 audits a year and to facilitate this the government is expected to amend legislation compelling GPs to hand over patient records to substantiate their MBS billing. When the audits were first announced, doctors were concerned they would be asked to hand over entire patient files, however with the release of a new information sheet ...
GPs question draft performance markers
GP waiting times and immunisation rates could come under increased scrutiny with the introduction of state-based health performance indicators planned by the federal government. The draft list of 40 health service delivery indicators, developed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, has been established to underpin the next round of Australian Health Care Agreements. However, outgoing RACGP president Dr Vasantha Preetham has criticised some of the proposed indicators – in particular the clinical relevance and evidence for child developmental health checks. “The RACGP has searched the literature and has not been able to confirm that ...