Tag Archives: Medicare
So what does the Productivity Commisioner Report say ?
We woke this morning to the headlines screaming out: “Aussies making ‘avoidable’ hospital visits due to poor GP access” It makes for seemingly depressing reading in regards to how poorly GPs are looking after their patients: GPs are hard … Continue reading
Smoke & mirrors.The Politics of Medicine
Canberrans woke up this morning to the sounds & sights of the Media lamenting the fact that “Canberrans are the most likely to be slugged fees for Medicare services” A dramatic description followed describing how the latest AIHW report had … Continue reading
An exercise in wasting precious health resources
In case anyone wondered where those millions being spent on the ACT Government Nurse-led Walk-in Clinics are going. Source: ACT Health They are being used to treat colds. Yes you read right – 1/3 of all patient seen are there … Continue reading
The GP Clinic owned and funded by the ACT Health Department
Sounds bizarre doesn’t it ? But let’s think about it. Currently we have two Nurse-Led walk in clinics that ACT Government funds with plans for another 11 million Dollars clinic in the near future and another two down the track. … Continue reading
Is this votebuying or healthcare ?
The ACT Government seems hellbent on using primary healthcare as a vehicle to appease voters. With no regards for evidence or good economic governance Fulfilling their election promises they have now announced the building of a $13.5 million new seven … Continue reading
When bulkbilling is NOT bulkbilling
It is an amazing sight to see the ongoing Free advertising that the Canberra Times provide to a Specific GP group within Canberra. This has been consistent every single time that the National Health Cooperative has a new venture. Meanwhile … Continue reading
Thawing the Medicare freeze – one tiny icecube at a time
May is budget month and as usual health and specifically Medicare featured very strongly. In particular much was made of the treasurer undertaking to roll back the freezing of Medicare rebates that has been stuck at the same level for … Continue reading
The Sick System -Survival or Greed ?
A recent excellent article in The Australian (See text below) highlighted the longstanding issues in our health system that are gnawing away at it like termites and will lead to the system imploding if we do not act. The article identifies … Continue reading
I thought this stuff was supposed to make my life easier?
A recent US article pointed to a link between e-health and physician burnout Dr Nathan Pinskier, chair of the RACGP Expert Committee on eHealth and Practice Systems, said he didn’t believe the demands of e-health were directly linked to doctor burnout, … Continue reading
Deskilling – can we avoid it ?
My wife and I were trained in South Africa. Out of sheer necessity we were able to give anaesthetics, do Caeserian Sections and take out appendixes when we finished our Intern years. Over there there is no one else to … Continue reading
