AMA calls for chronic disease care reform funding

The association welcomed the Federal Government’s Health Care Home model, which aims to simplify a chronically ill patient’s care by allowing th to nominate one GP practice to coordinate all their medical, allied health and out-of-hospital services. Funding is to be provided based on clinical need.AMA president Dr Michael Gannon said the initiative could greatly improve outcomes for patients with complex and chronic illnesses, describing it as potentially one of the biggest reforms we have seen to Medicare in decades , but warned it would be doomed to failure without greater investment.While $21 million has been allocated for a trial of the syst, Dr Gannon cautioned that, with GPs already under substantial financial pressure, the government would have to make a far more significant commitment for the trial to be a success. At a time when medical practices are already struggling with the effects of the Medicare rebate freeze and other funding cuts, the government ses to expect that GPs will be able to deliver enhanced care for patients with no extra support, he said. This approach simply does not add up, and will potentially doom the model to failure. GP engagent is vital if these reforms are to be implented. As the chair of the government’s Primary Health Care Advisory Committee, Dr Steve Hambleton, recently pointed out, if the funding model is not right, GPs will not engage with the concept. We want the Health Care Home model to work, but the government needs to back it with appropriate funding. Dr Gannon said that as the population aged, more people were living with complex and chronic illnesses, placing increasing dands on the health syst. A properly funded Health Care Home model has the potential to both improve the care [such patients] receive and save scarce health funds, he stated.It was said that at the Council of Australian Governments meeting in April, the Commonwealth failed to win state and territory agreent to redirect around $70 million a year from public hospital funding to support the Health Care Home trial, and the Federal Budget failed to deliver equivalent funding in its place.Dr Gannon said this suggested the trial was now seriously underfunded. There is widespread support for the Health Care Home concept, he commented. General practice is the least expensive part of the health syst and we know that with the right support, GPs can do more to keep patients out of hospital and avoid unnecessary costs. However, international evidence shows that this requires investment, and the government is clearly failing on this score. Dr Gannon noted that he had raised the issue of greater investment in general practice – including additional funding for the Health Care Home trial – with the Prime Minister at a recent meeting.Labor also recently announced it would commit $100 million over two years to support its own trial of a health care home.Commenting on this, Dr Gannon said, While there is not yet enough detail of what is included in Labor’s policy, there is no doubt that this is the type of initial investment that the Coalition needs to consider.