The AMA this week launched a new plan calling on the major political parties to commit to creating a "Modern Medicare", to address the urgent need for reform and investment in Australia's general practices.
AMA President Dr Omar Khorshid said it was time the Government and Opposition recognised the pressure Australia's GPs were under to keep healthcare affordable and accessible, with Medicare funding arrangements now out of date and made worse by inadequate indexation of the Medicare rebate and a previous Medicare freeze.
"The health care needs of patients have become much more complex as the population has aged yet Medicare is stuck in the 1980s. We need serious reform to put general practice on a more sustainable footing, capable of delivering the type of care that many patients now need," Dr Khorshid said.
Modern Medicare would make general practice sustainable and is focused around three key themes: "more care," "more time" and "more health" with each theme comprising specific, costed policies to:
- Introduce the medical home model to bolster coordinated patient centred care, encouraging patients to register with a 'medical home/clinic' to have continuity of care and allied health care under one roof.
- Increase the time available to patients to spend with their GP to address complex healthcare concerns.
- Encourage the provision of more GP services into after-hours.
- Expand the number of nurse and allied health services available in general practices/medical homes.
- Bolster the GP care provided to aged care residents.
- Create a wound consumables scheme, saving patients time and money.
- Evolve our GP training program to make general practice more appealing to the next generation of doctors.
The AMA's detailed and costed plan, posters for practices, and a range of video resources highlighting the benefits of modernising Medicare for patients are available on the website, and the campaign will run right up to election day.
