Australian Doctor Australian Doctor 15th December 2017

AUSTRALIA’S LEADING INDEPENDENT MEDICAL PUBLICATION I www.australiandoctor.com.au
HOW MUCH?
Managing weight
gain in pregnancy
Therapy Update,
page 24
Ho, ho, ho,
how is Santa
still healthy?
STAFF WRITERS
IT’S widely considered the
second biggest medical
mystery of Christmas: why is
Santa Claus still in optimum
health despite being a
100-year-old night-shift worker
addicted to mince pies and
late-night drinking?
The Santa Claus case
study has stumped medical
researchers for generations,
perplexed that his extreme
lifestyle has not resulted in more
than one cancelled Christmas
as a result of ill health.
Thirteen years ago, Australian
Doctor revealed that doctors
were warning him to change
his ways.
“Santa’s in big trouble,” said
Professor Phil Harris at the
time. The head of cardiology
at Sydney’s Royal Prince
Alfred Hospital identified a
range of serious health risks
— from metabolic syndrome
to zoonotic diseases from
exposure to semi-domesticated
reindeer.
“If he doesn’t start restricting
himself to low-fat pies and steer
clear of the sherry, he’s likely to
be dead in six years,” Professor
Harris predicted, with his
colleagues suggesting Santa
would be better off switching to
Rudolph’s carrots.
But Santa has defied the
gloom-ridden prognosis, with
the latest reports from Lapland
saying he’s looking forward to
this year’s global sleigh run.
And it’s research over the
past decade that’s offering
15 DECEMBER 2017
THE JOY OF LIFE
Dr Jon Fogarty on how
kindness holds general
practice together
Editorial, page 26
Pathology cash targeted
Govt cracks down on practices charging ‘outlier’ rents
GEIR O’ROURKE
PATHOLOGY cash for collection
centres will be subjected to greater
scrutiny as the Federal Government
prepares to target GP practices for
allegedly charging inflated rents.
The Department of Health has
already engaged a data analytics com-
pany to identify “outlier” rents and
plans to send warning letters to those
charging 20% or more above what it
defines as market value.
GP practice owners who fail to
respond to the letters or to reduce their
rents face fines or in extreme cases
jail time for breaching the prohibited
pathology provisions of the Health
Insurance Act.
The fresh enforcement efforts are
‘The devil is going to be
in the detail.’
— Dr Sean Stevens
deputy chair
Australian GP Alliance
being directed by a new dedicated
compliance unit within the depart-
ment’s Provider Benefits Integrity
Division, which has received $19 mil-
lion in funding.
The pathology centre rents, believed
to be worth about $250 million a year,
are currently paid to some 5400 prac-
tices across Australia.
Practice owners have always argued
that the rents charged are a result of
supply and demand, with no pathol-
ogy company forced into the contracts.
No one has ever been prosecuted
under pathology provisions in the
Health Insurance Act.
However, the department’s latest
crackdown is a result of the govern-
ment’s failed attempt to cut pathology
bulk-billing incentives last year.
The crackdown also comes as
the main pathology players look to
reduce their rental payments.
Primary Health Care, which owns
Laverty Pathology, said it wanted
to take a “disciplined” approach to
negotiating pathology rents with GP
clinics.
“In terms of growing our profit-
ability in pathology, an immediate
opportunity for us is in the reduction
of rental costs from our approved
collection centre portfolio that can
be delivered by disciplined rental
negotiations,” Primary’s new CEO
Dr Malcolm Parmenter told share-
holders last month.
Dr Sean Stevens, deputy chair of
the practice owners group Austral-
ian GP Alliance, remains concerned
THE YEAR IN
REVIEW
Take a look back
on another eventful
year in general
practice.
News Review,
page 6
cont’d page 4
Efficacy 1
Established
Safety Profile 1
Choose JANUVIA with confidence
1
Before prescribing please review the PBS and Product Information in the primary advertisement in this publication.
References: 1. JANUVIA Approved Product Information, April 2017. 2. Nauck MA et al. Diabetes Obes Metab 2007;9(2):194–205. 3. Barzilai N et al. Curr Med Res Opin 2011; 7(5):1049–58. 4. Arjona Ferreira JC et al. Am
J Kidney Dis 2013;61(4): 579-587. 5. Chan JCN et al. Diabetes Obes Metab 2008;10:545–555. 6. Arjona Ferreira JC et al. Diabetes Care 2013;36(5): 1067-1073. 7. Green JB et al. N Engl J Med 2015; 373(3): 232–242.
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