New Palliative Care scholarships for Tasmanian healthcare workers

The Dept of Health and Aged Care releases quarterly Medicare statistics in an accessible infographic format - the Jul-Sep YTD 2023 period saw slight decreases in Medicare and Bulk Billed Services compared to last year, with the National Bulk Billing Rate decreased from 78.1% to 74.5%. Despite this, total benefits paid increased, while the Average (out-of-hospital) Patient Contribution was less than last year at $72.64, compared to $72.87 in 2022.

This article, from the Sydney Morning Herald, looks at the nationwide shortage of pathologists and how this might be delaying pathology test results for patients. Workforce supply and workload could be improved by increasing the Medicare rebate for pathology services, by increasing funded Pathology training programs, and by adopting new technologies.

This article from NewsGP refers to a new ABS analysis of patient experiences, which reveals that the number of people who are delaying or avoiding seeing a GP due to cost, has doubled since last year. The article discusses price perceptions, cost-of-living pressures, practice viability in disadvantaged areas, fragmented care and the widening gap between health outcomes and access to services.

This media release from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) welcomes the Department of Health's support in adapting digital assignment of benefit forms for GPs undertaking bulk-billed telehealth consultations. This change will allow for better integration into general practice software and enable forms to be uploaded and pre-populated with patients’ details.