Improving access to primary care in rural and remote areas – s19(2) exemptions initiative

To improve access to primary care in rural and remote areas, the Government will allow Medicare benefits to be claimed in respect of bulk-billed, non-admitted, non-referred professional services provided in emergency departments and outpatient clinics at some small rural hospitals.

Improving access to primary care in rural and remote areas – s19(2) exemptions initiative fact sheet (PDF 46 KB)

How will this initiative work?

Many patients in small rural and remote towns have limited access to primary health care services.

In response to a lack of private practices, many rural and remote public hospitals have employed medical officers to make traditional GP services available.

The Australian Government is taking action through its National Health and Hospitals Network.

To improve access to primary care in rural and remote areas, the Government will allow Medicare benefits to be claimed in respect of bulk-billed, non-admitted, non-referred professional services provided in emergency departments and outpatient clinics at some small rural hospitals.

This will include nursing and allied health services.

How will this initiative work?

To be eligible, a locality must:

have a population of less than 7,000 people
not be in a major city
be in an area of workforce shortage.

The initiative assists state and territory governments improve access to primary health care services and supports workforce retention in rural and remote communities experiencing
workforce shortages by ensuring:

a net gain in primary health services
increased support for primary health care services at the exempted site or its outreach services, in return for the funds derived
implementation of measures by states/territories to retain all public hospitals and health services operating in exempted areas
security of primary care health providers in rural and remote areas.

The Government will continue to support the 16 exempted sites in:

Queensland (12)
Western Australia (2) and
the Northern Territory (2).

A program evaluation was conducted for the initiative, and found that in communities where the COAG s19(2) exemption initiative had been implemented:

more than 29,000 services had been billed to the MBS, at a cost of $2.2 million (up to 30 June 2009)
patients had greater access to primary care services in these communities and
benefits had been gained through increased access to bulk billed services, shorter waiting times, greater continuity of care, increased access to clinics which better manage chronic conditions and to workforce retention.