1999-2000
Better health care for Australians: new initiatives in primary health care
This Federal Budget includes a major package of initiatives to enhance primary care, particularly for older Australians, people with chronic illnesses, and people who require a range of different services to support them in the community.
Fact sheet 2
Better health care for Australians: new initiatives in primary health care
Few things are more important to older people than maintaining their health, and continuing to live in their own homes for as long as they wish. In this, the International Year of Older Persons, the Federal Government is committed to implementing fundamentally important initiatives in primary health care to assist all Australians, in particular older people.
As foreshadowed by the Prime Minister, this Federal Budget includes a major package of initiatives to enhance primary care, particularly for older Australians, people with chronic illnesses, and people who require a range of different services to support them in the community. These initiatives will have enduring benefit to the nation, as they provide the basis for a substantial advancement in the health care delivered to all Australians.
New Medicare items benefit older Australians
The Government will introduce for the first time a Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) item for annual voluntary health assessments for all people 75 years of age and over. Where possible, these assessments will be undertaken at home and will be designed to ensure early detection and prevention of any health problems. These health assessments will help older Australians to remain in their own homes for longer.
From November this year, the MBS will also provide payments when general practitioners are involved in case conferencing and care planning for people with chronic illness and complex needs.
Care planning improves patient care through better coordination of care services and more efficient use of resources. In the past, Medicare did not provide rebates when general practitioners did this kind of work. This measure in the Budget will encourage team approaches by providing Government subsidies when general practitioners plan care with other providers.
The benefits of case conferencing are well established in Australia, particularly in aged care. This Budget will provide funding through Medicare for general practitioners to be involved in case conferences for the benefit of patients, including work with Aged Care Assessment Teams.
Spending for new MBS items for enhanced primary care will total around $110 million over four years commencing on 1 November 1999.
| 1999-2000 $m | 2000-2001 $m | 2001-2002 $m | 2002-2003 $m | |
| General Practitioner involvement in Coordinated Care Planning | 3.6 | 11.2 | 16.8 | 22.9 |
| Multi-disciplinary Case Conferencing | 0.9 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 4.8 |
| Voluntary Annual Health Assessments for those aged 75 Years and Over | 1.8 | 10.5 | 14.1 | 17.9 |
Helping GPs participate in multidisciplinary care planning
To facilitate the introduction of Care Planning and Case Conferencing, general practitioners will be supported by a range of initiatives. These include education, clinical audit and research projects. The Budget includes $8.1 million over four years for these crucial support activities.
Practice Incentives Program: planning quality care for over 65s
An incentive will be provided, through the Practice Incentives Program, for general practitioners to ensure that their patients aged 65 and over, with chronic and complex needs, have care plans if they need them. This will complement the MBS items for general practitioners involvement in care planning and may involve allied health, nursing and other home care professionals.
This incentive payment will encourage faster uptake of care planning for older Australians.
The payment will be funded from within the existing allocation for the Practice Incentives Program.
Carelink: information on community care at your fingertips
Carelink is a key component of the Prime Minister's commitment to achieve a substantial advance in the quality of health care delivered to older Australians. The measure will provide around $41.2 million over four years to simplify access to community care services through the establishment of single contact points for community care across Australia.
A single phone call will provide information about community care services in your local area. This measure will provide a crucial link between the health and community care sectors, and enable health professionals, general practitioners, other service providers, family carers, and individuals to gain easy access to the whole range of agencies providing support services in a region.
Coordinating health care for older Australians
This Budget will provide the opportunity to build on the lessons learned from the current Coordinated Care Trials. Funding has been provided for additional trials in capital cities and selected regional centres, that will specifically address the needs of older people who are chronically ill or disadvantaged. As with the current trials these new trials need to be developed in collaboration with the States and Territories as well as the medical profession and other service providers. Cooperation in the new trials will also be sought from the non-government and charitable sector. The new trials will complement initiatives in community and primary care being undertaken in many States and Territories.
The Government has committed an additional $33.2 million to new and existing coordinated care trials over the next four years. As well as additional trials for disadvantaged and chronically ill older Australians, these funds will also support the further development of existing Coordinated Care Trials. A small number of trials that test more flexible forms of health insurance to support community-based coordinated care for people with private health insurance will also be funded. This will ensure that private health funds have the opportunity to determine the potential benefits and cost-effectiveness of coordinated care for those with insurance.
The lead in developing new and additional trials will come from service providers interested in testing improved delivery of care. New trials will only proceed where there is clear support and involvement from service providers, including general practitioners.
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Helping people with chronic disease manage their illness
Often there are many things people with chronic illness can do to better manage their own health. This Budget will improve access for people with chronic illnesses to activities such as self-care education programs and peer support, building on existing, successful evidence-based approaches to self-management. A total of $14.4 million over four years has been allocated to these activities in this Budget.
Preventing falls in older people
Injuries caused by falls are a serious concern for older Australians. In 1995 there were 60,000 hospitalisations as a result of falls. Apart from the immediate personal distress and injury, falls can often lead to a longer-term disability and contribute to the high cost of health care. This Budget will contribute $6.6 million over four years to activities that reduce the rate of falls. These will include training health workers and further research into the causes of falls and how to prevent them.
IT initiatives to keep health providers in touch
Effective coordination of care relies on the right information reaching the right health care people at the right time. For example, if a person leaves hospital it is helpful for their general practitioner to know the medication they were given and any special needs they may have once they go home. To this end, health services are increasingly looking to electronic data exchange. This Budget includes $10.1 million over two years to support research and development in this important area. It will encourage information technology investments that improve information exchange to provide better care.
Streamlining of medical billing
Simplified billing is a Government initiative that addresses the problems of multiple bills and unforseen out-of-pocket costs after treatment as a private patient. This problem occurs when several general practitioners involved in a patient's care issue separate accounts, sometimes charging above the Medicare Benefits Schedule fee. Multiple bills and out-of-pocket costs are serious problems that influence consumers' perceptions of the value of private health insurance.
This Budget measure provides funds of $3.1 million over four years to promote the widespread up-take of simplified billing throughout the private health industry. It will develop electronic commerce and encourage private health funds to provide no-gaps and known-gaps products. This measure will also complement the Government's 30 % rebate on private health insurance, while meeting the Prime Minister's commitment to deal with out-of-pocket private health care costs.
Contact: Peter Broadhead, Assistant Secretary,
Acute Co-ordinated Care Branch,
Health Services Division, (02) 6289 8458
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