AMA Work on Private Patient Gap Payments Well Advanced
AMA President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, said today the Government's survey on private patient gap payments is a welcome addition to the work already undertaken by the AMA to ensure that patients are fully informed about all aspects of the care they receive in the private health sector.
Dr Haikerwal said all the issues raised in the survey were discussed at the private health summit convened by the AMA in Canberra on 17 March this year. The meeting was attended by the Health Minister, Tony Abbott, and representatives from the private health funds, the private hospitals, and doctors' groups.
"The dialogue on this important issue between the Government, the health funds, private hospitals and the AMA has already commenced and it will continue," Dr Haikerwal said.
"But we should make sure everybody is aware of the significant progress that has already been made to assist patients when they access health care in the private system.
"We should not forget that nearly 80 per cent of private inpatient medical services are provided at no out of pocket cost to the patient - up from 10 per cent seven years ago.
"The areas identified by the Government survey are the same areas that we have identified for the Government before - anaesthesia, pathology, radiology, and assistant surgeons.
"We have explained that problems in these specialty areas are for very practical reasons, and they can be rectified with Government-funded targeted education programs, not compulsion.
"It is not always clear in advance whether a patient will require pathology and radiology, and it is usually not possible or appropriate in a clinical situation for the anaesthetist to discuss financial issues with a patient.
"The key to minimising patient gaps is for the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) rebates and health fund rebates to reflect the real cost of providing a particular medical service.
"Anaesthesia is a prime example of where the MBS rebate does not take into account the true cost of providing the service.
"The AMA has recommended to Government that patients should be encouraged to have pre-operative consultations for all the specialties involved well in advance of their treatment or operation.
"Not only would this work to a better clinical outcome, it would provide a process for informed financial consent.
"The AMA has had policies supporting informed financial consent since 1994," Dr Haikerwal said.