General Practice in Aged Care Incentive

About the incentive 

The General Practice in Aged Care Incentive promotes continuous, quality care. Developed in response to the: 

• Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety 
• Strengthening Medicare Taskforce. 

From 1 July 2024, eligible general practitioners (GPs) and practices registered with both MyMedicare and General Practice in Aged Care Incentive will be able to receive incentive payments. These incentive payments are for providing regular visits and care planning to older people living in aged care. 

Why it is important 

The General Practice in Aged Care Incentive will make it easier for older people living in residential aged care homes to receive regular visits and care planning services from their responsible GP and practice. This supports improved continuity of care and aims to reduce avoidable hospitalisations.  

Incentive payments 

GPs and practices will receive an incentive payment quarterly if they: 

• are registered with MyMedicare, and 
• meet the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive eligibility and servicing requirements.  

Eligible GPs and practices will receive incentive payments for providing services to each of their registered patients in a residential aged care home rather than at their practice.  

Patients must be registered with MyMedicare and identified by the responsible GP and practice to participate in the incentive.  

Payments are:  

• $300 per patient, per year, paid to the responsible GP, and 
• $130 per patient, per year, paid to the practice. 

The payments will be quarterly, in addition to existing Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) and Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) rebates for services delivered. 

Rural loadings will apply to the responsible GP and practice incentive payments for Modified Monash Model (MMM) regions MMM 3 to MMM 7.  

Payment eligibility 

To receive incentive payments in any quarterly assessment period, GPs and practices must meet eligibility and servicing requirements. 

Incentive payments will be: 

• assessed 
• calculated 
• paid according to processes outlined in the Program Guidelines and Services Australia processes.  

Participation eligibility 

GPs and practices will be able to participate in the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive from 1 July 2024.  

Practice eligibility    

Practices must be registered in MyMedicare (with banking details included) and the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive 

GP eligibility    

GPs must be:  

• an eligible primary care provider as outlined in the Program Guidelines 
• linked to their eligible practice    
• declared as the responsible GP of eligible services to the registered patient, including coordinating services provided by the care team or practice.  

Patient eligibility  

Patients can be registered by their GP or general practice for the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive from 1 July 2024.  

Patients must: 

• permanently live in a residential aged care home, not including respite care  
• register with MyMedicare and link to an eligible practice and responsible GP 
• have the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive indicator selected on their MyMedicare profile by their practice.  

GPs or practices must: 

• link GPs and their MyMedicare patients to their practice  
• select the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive indicator on their patients’ MyMedicare profiles 
• link patients to responsible providers in their practice.  

Servicing requirements  

Responsible GPs and practices are required to meet the servicing requirements to be eligible for incentive payments, including delivering: 

• Two eligible care planning services over a 12-month period   
• Two eligible regular visits per quarter, each in a separate calendar month, delivering at least 8 regular services in a 12-month period.  

Eligible services include a range of MBS and DVA items as outlined in the Program Guidelines.  

Quarterly visits 

Services delivered are under the responsibility and direction of the responsible GP. 

To be eligible for payment, GPs and practices will be required to meet:  

• all servicing requirements outlined in the Program Guidelines 
• individual servicing requirements for each assessment quarter. 

At least one of the regular visits must be provided by the GP. 

A second visit can be delivered by the GP or another member of the patient’s care team. This includes: 

• an alternate provider within the same practice 
• GP registrar 
• nurse practitioner 
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioner or health worker.   

Modified Monash Model areas MMM 4 to MMM 7 

Practices will be able to provide 4 regular visits per 12-month period of eligible telehealth MBS items if registered patients are unable to attend a face-to-face service. 

Resources

GPs and practices

Aged care residents, their families and carers

Residential aged care providers

Primary care peak bodies

Aged care experts and peak bodies

Find out more

• Visit the MyMedicare website to find out more and register with MyMedicare. 
• Visit Services Australia to find out more about registering for MyMedicare and the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive.