3.2 General practice in Australia
General practice is the centre of primary health care in Australia
and is the most frequent point of entry into the health system,
with around 80% of the population reported to visit a GP in any
one year. General practice focuses on the health and wellbeing
of individuals within communities, and reflects a diverse
workforce operating in practice arrangements that range from
solo, to small and large practices, and in various community
settings ranging from small remote and rural communities
to densely populated urban communities. The clinical role
of the general practice workforce spans the full spectrum of
care from primary, through to secondary and tertiary care.
Multidisciplinary clinical teams work with general practitioners,
as the clinical leader, enhance a collegiate approach to care
and service provision.
The depth and breadth of the types of general practices includes:
• solo practices often supported with administration staff who have the responsibility for providing all levels of
practice support (eg, reception
• duties, management
duties and triage)
• multi-GP practices with identified administration support,
practice nurse support and possibly allied health support
• multi-faceted business oriented corporate practices where all staff (including GPs) are the employees of a business
entity that may not
• have any relationship to the practice
apart from owning the business.
General practice is an important and cost-effective health care
setting in which quality services are delivered to the population.
As a commercial enterprise, a balance is required between the
delivery of quality care and financial viability.
Australia has a universal insurance scheme known as Medicare.
General practices have the option of:
• bulk-billing patients for the service provided and claiming the Medicare payment directly from Medicare Australia
• charging the patient a fee for the service before the patient
makes a Medicare claim. This fee may be greater than
the amount claimable
• from Medicare so the patient may
be required to pay the difference between the fee and the
Medicare rebate, often called the ‘gap’.
Australian General Practice Network
The Australian General Practice Network (AGPN) is the
national body for the General Practice Network. AGPN works
to implement major national primary health care initiatives; to
contribute to managing change in general practice; is involved
in research partnerships; contributes to inform and influence
national policy; and develops and delivers national scale
programs in the general practice setting. AGPN also works to
engage its network members and state based organisations,
which cover diverse population demographics in urban, rural
and remote settings, to understand their communities’ needs
and to find local solutions to national issues.
For more information about AGPN visit this link: http://www.adgp.com.au/site/index.cfm?display=8
The General Practice Network
The General Practice Network spans 118 regionally based divisions of general practice across Australia as well as eight
state based organisations and the AGPN. The network is
focused on supporting high quality, evidenced based primacy
health care and integrating health services. The network
engages the local community and enhances communication
between government and general practice.
Members of the network are an integral component of the Australian Government’s general practice strategy. They play a
major part in implementing policy, supporting general practice
and managing health programs at a local level. Member
organisations have been responsible for progressing many
of the current developments in Australian general practice.
Approximately 95 per cent of GPs are members of a local division of general practice.
State Based Organisations
The dual roles of state based organisations (SBOs) are to build the capacity of their state and territory divisions of
general practices to achieve outcomes, and to link with state
governments and other agencies in order to achieve health
integration at the state level. These roles include identifying and
promoting best practice and knowledge sharing at the local,
state and territory level; and supporting individual branches in
performance and quality improvements.
For more information about SBOs in each state/territory visit this
link: http://www.adgp.com.au/site/index.cfm?display=301
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