Australian Medical Association

The AMA has developed a Privacy Resource handbook to help doctors comply with the Privacy Act 1988.

The Resource handbook is based on the Privacy Act 1988 in force as at 1 July 2010.

The AMA intends to update this Resource Book if the proposed changes become law.

Doctors, particularly General Practitioners, provide preventative care to their patients on a regular basis. Doctors also coordinate the preventative care that patients need from other health care professionals, and promote health and prevention in the broader community. The AMA position statement "Doctors and Preventative Care 2010" describe these important aspects of a doctor's role.

The AMA's Position Statement on Doctors' Relationships with Industry 2010 provides guidance for doctors on maintaining ethical relationships with the pharmaceutical industry, medical device and technology industry, and health care product and service suppliers in general ('industry'). While collaboration between doctors and industry contributes beneficially to the quality of health care that Australians receive, doctors have a responsibility to ensure that their relationships with industry are consistent with their duties to their patients and towards society at large.

The AMA's Position Statement on Medical Professionalism 2010 serves to identify the major values of the profession and highlight the profession's commitment, and indeed responsibility, to put patients first, regardless of the challenges posed by a dynamic health care and broader social environment.

AMA Submission to the Community Affairs Legislation Committee on the Healthcare Identifiers Bill 2010 and Healthcare Identifiers (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2010

The AMA considers healthcare identifiers are an essential building block towards the implementation of electronic health records, and we are therefore a strong supporter of their introduction. Healthcare identifiers will facilitate the secure access to, and appropriate sharing of, electronic patient information by healthcare providers.

We support the passage of the Healthcare Identifiers Bill 2010 and the Healthcare Identifiers (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2010.

Establishment of the Healthcare Identifier Service was agreed to by the Council of Australian Governments in 2006 as part of the national approach towards accelerating work on electronic health records to improve the safety of patients and improve efficiency for healthcare providers.

In July 2009, the Department of Health and Ageing released a discussion paper on legislative proposals to support the establishment and implementation of unique identifiers for healthcare purposes and the privacy of health information.

The AMA submission on the discussion paper is supported by the AMA Position Statement on Unique Healthcare Identifiers in 2008.

AMA response to nurse practitioner and midwife legislation that the Government announced in the 2009/10 Federal Budget.

In the 2009/10 Federal Budget, the Government announced that it would move to allow some nurse practitioners and midwives to provide services funded under the Commonwealth Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and to prescribe medications that are subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).  It also announced that the Commonwealth would subsidise indemnity insurance for midwives, although it decided not to extend this cover to home births.

The Government recently introduced three Bills into the Parliament to implement its Budget announcements. These are the Health Legislation Amendment (Midwives and Nurse Practitioners) Bill 2009, the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Commonwealth Contribution) Scheme Bill 2009 and the Midwife Professional Indemnity (Run-off Cover Support Payment) Bill 2009.

These Bills have been referred to a Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee Inquiry and the AMA has provided a detailed submission to this Inquiry. The AMA submission highlights that, if implemented carefully, the legislation may help address unmet community health needs - provided it is done in a coordinated way and medical practitioners are still involved in the overall care of the patient. The AMA has warned the Committee that if the legislation is not implemented carefully, it will fragment care, increase the risks of inadvertent patient outcomes, cause duplication and increase costs.

The AMA submission outlines detailed recommendations designed to ensure that the ultimate arrangements work in practice and patient safety is safeguarded.

The Federal Parliament's Senate Community Affairs Committee is conducting an Inquiry into the Health Workforce Australia Bill 2009 (the "Bill"). The Commonwealth agreed to establish a new health workforce agency at the November 2008 Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting and this Bill seeks to implement that commitment.

The AMA has provided a submission to the Senate Inquiry.

The Australian Medical Council (AMC) is developing a national code of professional conduct for doctors entitled Good Medical Practice: A Code of Conduct for Doctors in Australia (previously entitled Good Medical Practice: A Draft Code of Professional Conduct). The Code is intended to supersede existing State and Territory medical board professional conduct codes. The AMC intends to recommend that it be adopted by the new national medical board. The AMC's Final Consultation Draft of April 2009 reflects the feedback they received in response to the previous public consultation draft of August 2008.

The AMA's submission is attached.

Whilst the AMA considers the Final Consultation Draft to be a major improvement on the earlier version, the AMA has highlighted a few sections that require further amendment, including the sections on conscientious objection and on conflicts of interest. The AMA has also emphasised the need for the release of the Code to be accompanied by relevant public and profession based education campaigns and to be subject to a regular 3-5 year review cycle.

Because the type of work involved in preparing medico-legal, third party or other reports, eg for employers or insurance companies, varies so much and is influenced by a range of factors, such as the State or Territory in which the work is undertaken, the AMA does not recommend a level or range of fees for these services. Individual practitioners set their fees for this type of work based on the time and extent of the work involved.

The AMA Joint Submission highlights concerns that the proposed arrangements will impose additional requirements on registrants to provide information, including workforce data, to the relevant board as a condition of registration, and extend existing arrangements for information sharing about registered medical practitioners between various government agencies.

AMA Joint Submission on Good Medical Practice: A Draft Code of Professional Conduct (August 2008)

AMA Position Statement: Ethical Considerations for Medical Practitioners in Public Health Emergencies in Australia - 2008

AMA Position Statement: Unique Healthcare Identifiers - 2008

AMA Position Statement on Direct-to-Consumer Advertising - 2007

AMA comments on the Review of Australian Privacy Law, Discussion Paper 72

The AMA welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Access Card Consumer and Privacy Taskforce's second discussion paper on Voluntary Medical and Emergency Information.

The AMA Code of Ethics articulates and promotes a body of ethical principles to guide doctors' conduct in their relationships with patients, colleagues and society. This Code has grown out of other similar ethical codes stretching back into history including the Hippocratic Oath.

Position Statement: The AMA adopted the World Medical Association's Declaration of Geneva.

Position Statement: The AMA adopted the World Medical Association's Declaration of Tokyo.

Biennial Review of the Provider Number Legislation 2005

AMA Position Statement: Personal Safety and Privacy for Doctors - 2005

Information Sheet

Information for members who currently work for DVA on a contract basis or are contemplating doing so through the current tendering process.

1.3 Add: "DVA will provide sufficient time and resources to permit the handover to occur".

1.5 At what point does survival end, or is it in perpetuity?

2.2 This can be used to effectively terminate the contract without reason, without notice, circumventing Part B (3) where the contractor simply cannot provide an alternative. For example, if the person removed has a specialized skill set, it may not be possible to replace them.

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) engages a number of doctors as contract medical advisers. They work in DVA offices and interact with DVA staff and processes on a daily basis, but they are engaged as contractors, not employees. DVA has reviewed its arrangements for health advisers (includes medical, dental and allied health professionals) and has gone to tender for new contracts.

Part B (3): This type of clause, whilst providing maximum flexibility for both parties, provides minimal contractual security. It would be preferable to have defined reasons for cancellation. This improves security and removes the potential for unfair conduct and retributive behaviour.

Part B (4): Compensation should be incorporated if the contract is cancelled outside the terms contained in a revised Part B (3) or clause 22.

Parts J-M contain no information and obviously need fleshing out.

The AMA has lodged a submisison to the Senate's Inquiry into the Privacy Act 1988.

AMA Submission to the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner's Review of MBS and PBS Privacy Guidelines (February 2005)

The Federal Government commissioned a Review of Competitive Neutrality in the Medical Insurence Market. This Review was headed by Mr Graham Rogers whose Report was delivered to Government in March 2005 and subsequently publicly released.