College presses for direct MHR payments

As a key contributor to the MHR, general practice should be supported through an appropriate financial incentive scheme, RACGP says

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As the advertising blitz to encourage the take-up of the My Health Record gets under way, the RACGP is pressing for GPs to be paid directly for their key role in adding patient data.

In a revised position statement, released ahead of the July 16 start of the MHR opt-out phase, the college reiterates its disdain for the current eHealth Practice Incentive Payment, which pays benefits to practices rather than doctors.

The so-called ePIP is paid to practices that meet targets for uploading shared health summaries to the electronic record system.

The RACGP says GPs should be paid directly for generating the summaries, listing medications, medical history, allergies, adverse reactions, and immunisations.

“This information might be particularly helpful to healthcare providers outside of the patient’s usual general practice who are seeing the patient for urgent or unscheduled care,” it says.

This week, the Australian Digital Health Agency sent out nearly 20,000 “toolkits” to GP clinics, pharmacies, post offices and hospitals to help inform patients about the My Health Record.

“We are at a crucial point in the progression of digital healthcare in Australia, and so it is essential we are committed to empowering those responsible for enabling it through the front-line services they deliver,” ADHA chief Tim Kelsey said.

While doctors are not obliged to promote the MHR, it is more than likely they will be asked to explain it.

“It is not mandatory for GPs to raise My Health Record with each of their patients, but patients frequently ask questions about various aspects of healthcare, including My Health Record,” Dr Nathan Pinskier, chair of the RACGP’s expert committee on e-health and practice services, said.

“If a patient asks about My Health Record, their GP will take the time to explain it.”

As more consumers join up, general practice teams can expect more questions from patients about the record, he said.

“GPs and their teams will also have questions about system functionality, safety, medico-legal responsibilities, and impacts on clinical workflow.”

The RACGP was delivering a national education program to support general practice in the use of the system and to help them understand how the expansion to an opt-out model was likely to affect their practice and patients, Dr Pinskier said.

In the update from the 2016 statement, the RACGP urges the government to ensure all health professionals have adequate training in the use of secure electronic systems.

It also notes that GPs will carry the burden of making sure practice policies and processes meet technological and regulatory requirements for the electronic record.

While all this effort might appear to have no initial direct benefit to the general practice, which already has the clinical information in its system, it will have benefit to other parts of the health system, the college argues.

As a key contributor to the electronic health record system, general practice should be supported through an appropriate financial incentive scheme, it says.

“Incentives should be service-based, paid to the individual healthcare provider responsible for upload, and support the upload of accurate, high-quality data.”

The federal government has budgeted $374.2 million to expand the scheme to all Australians.

Everyone will have an electronic health record created for them unless they opt out during a three-month period starting from July 16 and running to October 15.