Government set to strip privacy protection from patient records

The Government has revealed more details of its expanded Medicare audit program with the release of exposure draft legislation that proposes to allow Medicare the right to access all information recorded by doctors on individual patients records.

The legislation reverses current legal protections for patient privacy, ensuring no part of the patient record is protected. The patient record will be completely exposed, extracts obtained, copied, retained and potentially submitted in court for all to see.

AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, described the legislation as “deeply disturbing” and said it is remarkable that a Government should take such a step as to violate a patient’s personal medical record. She said that doctors take their oath of patient confidentiality extremely seriously, but the legislation forces doctors to break this oath or face a hefty fine.

Doctors fear the legislation will prevent patients from discussing intimate health concerns once the patient understands that privacy is no longer guaranteed. The safety and confidential security that patients should feel when they are telling a doctor their problems is essential to ensure the patient gets the best and the right care for their needs.

The AMA supports appropriate use of the Medicare rebate for patients, and appropriate audits for the system. The AMA is concerned that under the proposed new legislation doctors will be assumed to be guilty, and face a hefty fine, if they refuse to hand over information. Patients must have privacy and protection for their medical records. Read more

GPs call for health stimulus

The AMA and other general practice groups have urged the Prime Minister to invest in Australia’s primary health care system as a key component of the next economic stimulus package. In a letter to Mr Rudd, United General Practice Australia (UGPA) said there was no better infrastructure investment than health, and supporting general practice would ensure the best possible health care was delivered where it was most needed.

UGPA has called for funds to be allocated to a national general practice infrastructure program offering two different types of one-off grants:

• infrastructure support grants of up to $30,000 per practice which can be used to fund an existing office, office equipment and IT infrastructure for an additional staff member, and
• capital works/refurbishment grants of up to $500,000 per practice which can be used to fund infrastructure development needed to construct an additional office(s) in the practice or to rent larger premises.

These monies are additional to measures outlined in the AMA’s 2009/10 budget submission, which calls for around $2.6 billion to be injected into general practice over four years.

AMA provides input to review of rural health programs

The Department of Health and Ageing is reviewing its rural health programs and the remoteness classification systems that it uses to determine eligibility for funding. The AMA has written to the department to provide its views on how rural health care delivery can be improved. The AMA has highlighted that the major shortfall in current rural health programs is the overall lack of funding.

The AMA also calls for the Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Areas (RRMA) classification system that is used by the department to target many of its rural workforce programs to be retained and enhanced. Read more

New Veterans’ MATES website

The Veterans’ Medicines Advisory and Therapeutic Education Services, better known as Veterans’ MATES, provides condition-specific medical information to veterans and health professionals. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs has set up a dedicated website for the program. The new web address is www.veteransmates.net.au.