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AMA rejects plan to link PIP incentive payments to the MyHealth record

In a submission to the Department of Health, the AMA has rejected a Government plan to link eHealth incentive payments under the Practice Incentive Program (PIP) to the adoption of the MyHealth Record (MyHR).

AMA President, Professor Brian Owler, said this week that the Government proposal was poorly thought out and premature.

“Until now, the PIP e-health incentive has focused on building the capacity of practices to embrace various e-Health technologies to enhance the efficiency of patient care. The MyHealth Record is not at a stage where it can be adopted by practices, so it should not be linked to the PIP scheme,” Professor Owler said.

The AMA’s submission to a recent DoH discussion paper recommends that the Government’s primary focus should be on making the necessary improvements to the MyHR, not using existing funding arrangements to try and force GPs to use a system that is cumbersome. The AMA also recommends that, once the system is fit for purpose,  the Government consider an MBS item number and Service Incentive Payment be introduced to promote the use of the MyHR.

Revised eligibility requirements for the e-Health Incentive are due to be announced in November 2015, and to commence from 1 February 2016.

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