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Doctors back reform, want more
Expand and accelerate Health Care Homes reforms,
rethink doctor remuneration, peak bodies implore.
I
t’s been hailed as a turning point for the
health system but doctors have said it’s
being stymied by a lack of money from
the federal government.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull unveiled
Health Care Homes (HCH) earlier this year
to keep Australians with chronic disease out
of hospital, labelling it one of the biggest
reforms in the history of the health system.
The government is spending $21 million on
a trial of the program next year, involving
65,000 patients at 200 medical practices.
But a group including the Royal
Australian College of General Practitioners
and the Consumers Health Forum said the
government has provided no details about
how the program will be implemented, and
have called on it to be expanded.
Under HCH, people with chronic
diseases such as diabetes would enrol
with one GP who would become a
one-stop shop, creating tailored care
packages for patients and co-ordinating
all of their care.
In a report handed to the health minister,
Sussan Ley, the group also called for a
rethink of how doctors are paid, to create
better outcomes for chronically ill patients.
“The current fee-for-service system
encourages high patient volumes but not
high-quality care or teamwork with other
health professionals,” the report’s authors
stated. “We need to develop new ways of
remunerating health practitioners, on the
basis of the quality and effectiveness of
their care.”
RACGP president Dr Frank Jones
estimated the average practice would need
an additional $100,000 a year to properly
implement HCH.
“I am very conscious HCH has the
potential to revolutionise the way we care
for those with a chronic illness, which
is exactly why we are taking a careful
approach to get it absolutely right but as
smartly as possible,” Ley said. ■
With AAP.
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