Submissions

Priorities in preventive health

smorrison — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:15:13 +1100

Federal Budget Submission 2012-13: Priorities in preventive health

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health

smorrison — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:28:38 +1100

Federal Budget Submission 2012-13: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health

Aged care

smorrison — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:11:13 +1100

Federal Budget Submission 2012-13: Aged care

Climate change

smorrison — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:11:04 +1100

Federal Budget Submission 2012-13: Climate change and health

e-health

smorrison — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:51:34 +1100

Federal Budget Submission 2012-13: e-health

Federal Budget Submission 2012-13: Health – the best investment that governments can make

smorrison — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:09:07 +1100

The AMA Budget Submission identifies areas where additional investment in health care and health infrastructure is needed and should be considered in the forthcoming Federal Budget.

The AMA does not suggest that the answer to every question is to spend more. We have identified areas where the Government can spend more effectively.

GP infrastructure

smorrison — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:33:59 +1100

Federal Budget Submission 2012-13: GP infrastructure

Health and medical research

smorrison — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:53:28 +1100

Federal Budget Submission 2012-13: Health and medical research

Health financing

smorrison — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:38:54 +1100

Federal Budget Submission 2012-13: Health financing

Medical workforce and training

smorrison — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:08:42 +1100

Federal Budget Submission 2012-13: Medical workforce and training

Mental health

smorrison — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:20:42 +1100

Federal Budget Submission 2012-13: Mental health

Tackling chronic disease management

smorrison — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:39:34 +1100

Federal Budget Submission 2012-13: Tackling chronic disease management

Submission: Granting registration as a medical practitioner on completion of intern training

nbrowne — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:31:54 +1100

The AMA has made a submission to the Medical Board of Australia's second round consultation on the proposed registration standard for granting registration as a medical practitioner on completion of intern training. In it we have again emphasised that a term in emergency medical care should ideally be completed in an emergency department and recommended that there must be a mechanism for an intern to apply to the MBA to have exceptional circumstances considered on a case-by-case basis. Read the full submission here.

Submission: Regionally Tailored Primary Health Care Initiatives through Medicare Locals Fund

brobinson — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:23:46 +1100

The AMA submission to government on Regionally Tailored Primary Health Care Initiatives through Medicare Locals Fund comments on the role of Medicare Locals, the creation of the Medicare Locals National Body and the utilisation of funds set aside for Medicare Locals. The AMA highlights the need for Medicare Locals to support GPs in caring for patients, for clarity and transparency in how funds are allocated, and stresses that any savings from the consolidation of funding arrangements must be directed towards supporting services for patients.

Submission: Guidelines for continued dispensing of eligible prescribed medicines by pharmacists

mzygmunt — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:09:29 +1100

The AMA wrote to the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia on 15 November 2011 opposing the continued dispensing proposal under the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement. Continued dispensing will represent a significant change in the professional role of pharmacists and their role within the health care team. The draft guidelines circulated by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia heighten the AMA's concerns that continued dispensing will undermine the collaboration between pharmacists and medical practitioners.

Submission: Inquiry into the Factors Affecting the Supply of Health Services and Medical Professionals in Rural Areas

vbonney — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:36:44 +1100

The AMA has identified the medical workforce shortage as a major health issue with the overall distribution of doctors being skewed heavily towards major cities such that regional, rural and remote areas shoulder a disproportionate workforce shortage burden. There is a strong preference amongst much of the current medical workforce to live and work in major cities. So much so that attracting young professionals to rural locations is extremely difficult. The AMA believes the factors affecting the supply of medical workforce in rural areas should be viewed in the context of generalism; remuneration and incentives; hospital infrastructure; compensation and family support; costs of establishing a practice and access to community; high on-call demands and the need for rosters and locum services;and recruitment of international medical graduates (IMG) doctors.The submission makes a series of recommendations addressing these issues as well as the effect of the introduction of Medicare Locals, anomalies with the ASGC scheme and the need to extend MBS telehealth items.

Submission: Draft RACGP Vocational Training Standards

scross — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:57:43 +1100

Did you know that the RACGP Vocational Training Standards are changing? The new draft standards involve significant change and a move to an outcomes based approach. Supervisors and doctors-in-training have expressed concern about some elements of the draft standards. Find out what the changes to the Vocational Training Standards could mean for you by reading our submission.

Submission: Rural and Remote Health Workforce Innovation and Reform Strategy

brobinson — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:24:44 +1100

This submission responds to the HWA draft background paper - Rural and Remote Health Workforce Innovation and Reform Strategy released in July 2011 as part of the consultation process.

The AMA believes it is important that the Government gets it right to ensure that the health workforce in rural and remote areas is sustainable and that people in rural communities can access affordable, appropriate health care services when needed.

Submission: Exposure Draft of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Bill 2011

mzygmunt — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:25:25 +1100

The AMA submission on the exposure draft of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Bill 2011 highlights that the safety objects of the legislation will be undermined by the opt-in design of the system and the ability of patients to to effectively remove clinical documents from their PCEHR. The submission also makes several suggestions to improve the transparency of the governance arrangements for the PCEHR and to clarify the operation of the civil penalty provisions.

Submission: Productivity Commission on the impacts of the implementation of national registration and accreditation for the health workforce

mzygmunt — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:05:27 +1100

The AMA submission to the Productivity Commission outlined how the promised administrative efficiencies and economies of scale of the national scheme have not been realised for the medical profession. The scheme:

has increased compliance costs for the medical profession;
has introduced administrative red tape;
lacks clarity on the handling of notifications;
has introduced mandatory reporting requirements that must be thoroughly evaluated before its impact is properly understood; and
requires greater transparency and accountability of AHPRA administration for each registered health profession.

Submission: Registration standards for Chinese medicine practitioners

mzygmunt — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:11:15 +1100

The AMA submission to the Chinese Medicine Board:

asked for registration standards for Chinese medicine practitioners to be at least equal to those for pharmacists, osteopaths and chiropractors;
opposed registration of practitioners who do not meet English language proficiency requirements; and
opposed grandfathering of practitioners who do not hold recognised qualifications.

Submission: Proposed Registration Standard – Granting registration as a medical practitioner on completion of intern training

nbrowne — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:03:44 +1000

The AMA has made a submission to the Medical Board of Australia on its Proposed Registration Standard – Granting registration as a medical practitioner on completion of intern training. The Board's proposed standard includes the option for health services to provide interns with exposure to emergency medicine (EM) in a general practice context. Of utmost concern to the AMA is the absence of clear criteria about what would constitute appropriate exposure to EM under this type of arrangement. As a result, the AMA has offered to be part of the team that will prepare guidelines to better define the Board’s requirements. In the mean time, the AMA maintains that all interns should have access to a term in an Emergency Department.

Supplementary Submission: Commonwealth Funding and Administration of Mental Health Services

vbonney — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:29:17 +1000

Following a request by Committee members the AMA made a supplementary submission to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry into the funding and administration of mental health services, which is examining 2011/12 Budget cuts to Medicare rebates for GP mental health services under the Better Access Program.

Submission: Independent Hospital Pricing Authority

smorrison — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:33:40 +1000

The AMA's submission to the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee on the National Health Reform Amendment (Independent Hospital Pricing Authority) Bill 2011 highlights the importance of the Pricing Authority, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, and the National Health Performance Authority collaborating on their roles and responsibilities, for example, on data collection requirements.

It also points out that the Pricing Authority should consider the standards set by the Performance Authority when calculating the national 'efficient' price, that is, it must take into account the performance that must be achieved. In addition, the National Health Reform Agreement allows states to pay hospitals less than the determined efficient price, therefore, we recommend that the actual payments made to hospitals are reported to Parliament so that it is clear when poor performance is linked to insufficient funding.

Overall the Bill before Parliament responds to the AMA's lobbying last year to ensure the Pricing Authority considers the range of variables affecting the actual costs of providing health care services when calculating the national efficient price. However we recommend that the Authority is explicitly required to ensure hospitals can fulfil their teaching and research obligations.

Submission: National Performance and Accountability Framework

mzygmunt — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:43:13 +1000

The AMA submission to the Department of Health and Ageing on the draft Performance and Accountability Framework which will be used by the National Health Performance Authority urges the Government to undertake a proper consultation process on the performance indicators proposed in the Framework beyond the State and Territory governments.