general practice

Outpatient clinics: a policy renovator’s opportunity

Editor: Jennifer DoggettAuthor: Stephen Ducketton: May 18, 2020In: health reform, hospitals, out of pocket costs, primary health care, rural and remote health, telehealth

Outpatient care falls between multiple cracks in our health system: hospital/GP, public/private and federal/state. Perhaps for these reasons, this sector has been neglected by governments a... Read more

The challenge of implementing integrated health care

Editor: Dr Ruth ArmstrongAuthor: Walter Kmeton: March 10, 2019In: health reform, primary health care, public health

Introduction by Croakey’s Dr Ruth Armstrong: When I worked as a GP in the 1990’s, I used to dream of a scenario whereby I and my patients would have seamless access to a range of... Read more

MBS Review for reforms in primary care: who will ensure these proposals are properly considered?

Editor: Mark RaggAuthor: Lesley Russellon: January 23, 2019In: Federal Election 2019, general practice, health financing and costs, health reform, primary health care, public health

Hidden in a pack of draft reports from the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) Review Taskforce that were released by the Morrison Government without fanfare just before Christmas are a series... Read more

We need a primary health care national minimum data set

Editor: Mark RaggAuthor: Rebecca Haddock and Nigel Hardingon: January 22, 2019In: general practice, primary health care, Primary Health Networks, public health

Australia has no national minimum data set for primary health care. This means that no comprehensive, ongoing data set exists in this country that can show how and why people use and access... Read more

Primary care essential to Advance Australia Fair

Editor: Amy CoopesAuthor: Dr Bastian Seidelon: March 20, 2017In: Croakey longreads, Healthcare and health reform, primary health care

Politics is bad medicine when it comes to taxpayer health and Medicare ought to be ringfenced from partisan brinksmanship by an Independent Medicare Authority, Royal Australian College of Ge... Read more

Why medical groups are calling for a delay to the implementation of Health Care Homes

Editor: Melissa SweetAuthor: Edwin Kruyson: December 07, 2016In: chronic diseases, general practice, Health Care Homes, health reform, primary health care

Medical groups have been raising concerns about the Federal Government’s plans for Health Care Homes (HCH), ahead of a looming 15 December grant deadline for organisations wishing to partici... Read more

Joining the dots: how universal healthcare is being undermined

Editor: Melissa SweetAuthor: Tim Woodruffon: December 05, 2016In: co-payments, general practice, health reform, Healthcare and health reform, primary health care, private health insurance

In the previous article at Croakey, Associate Professor Peter Sainsbury argued the case to end public subsidies of the private health insurance industry. In the article below, Doctors Reform... Read more

GPs working harder as chronic illness grips middle-aged

Editor: Amy CoopesAuthor: Amy Coopeson: September 01, 2016In: general practice, primary health care

Despite the Medicare indexation freeze Australia’s General Practitioners are working harder than ever, with the population ageing and chronic conditions on the rise, particularly among... Read more

Bulk billing numbers have been subject to political spin for too long

Editor: Dr Ruth ArmstrongAuthor: Dr Bastian Seidelon: June 14, 2016In: general practice, health financing and costs, primary health care

If you’ve been following the debate about the Medicare rebate freeze, you may well have come to the conclusion that GPs are the victims of their own conscientiousness and ingenuity: by worki... Read more

The Health Wrap: Indigenous incarceration disgrace, let’s talk about smoking, Budget fairness test, all things Evidence

Editor: Kellie Bisseton: June 09, 2015In: #JustJustice, alcohol, asylum seeker and refugee health, evidence-based issues, Federal Budget 2015-16, health and medical research, health workforce, human rights, illicit drugs, Indigenous health, Medicare Locals, obesity, pharmaceutical industry, pharmacy, public health, The Health Wrap, tobacco control

By Kellie Bisset The disgrace of Indigenous incarceration rates Following the successful crowdfunding of Croakey’s #JustJustice campaign, it’s timely to reflect on the rel... Read more