In a keynote address to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) last week, Health Minister Mark Butler announced a $300 annual incentive per resident for GP visits to aged care homes as an additional benefit for general practices that sign up to the Government's new MyMedicare system.
The incentive will be paid quarterly to the GP, and a further $130 per patient per year, paid to the practice.
Practices in rural areas will receive additional loadings, with payments increasing in line with remoteness of the community, the Minister said.
"These funding packages sit on top of the existing fee-for-service, they don’t replace it – all existing Medicare rebates will continue to be paid as well," he said.
Registrations for MyMedicare, the Government's new voluntary patient registration system that aims to 'formalise' the relationship between patients, their general practice, and GPs, opened on 1 October. Nearly 370,000 patients have registered so far, as well as 5,000 general practices.
