The development of general practice standards in Australia

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has spent 4 years developing a set of entry standards which define the minimum features of general practices expected for the mid-1990s. The project design followed a slow, iterative process, with several opportunities for wide consultation with professional, consumer and Government groups. The draft standards were piloted in 25 volunteer practices, modified and then field-tested in 200 randomly selected practices representing urban and rural practices. Results of this field testing showed that the standards had content validity and that reliable measures were possible using triangulation from several data sources. The current version of the standards has been distributed widely for voluntary application in Australian general practices from early 1997.     

What needs to change to increase chlamydia screening in general practice in Australia? The views of general practitioners

Background  

Australia is considering implementing a chlamydia screening program in general practice. The views of general practitioners (GPs) are necessary to inform the design of the program. This paper aimed to investigate Australian GPs' views on how chlamydia screening could work in the Australian context.     

Current status of hormone therapy in general practice in Australia

The BEACH program is a continuous national study of general practice activity in Australia. The subject of this analysis was all problems for which a hormone therapy years (HT) medication was prescribed or supplied at HT encounters with women aged 40 and over between March 2002 and April 2004. This provides a backdrop against which the theme articles in this issue of Australian Family Physician can be further considered.     

Medicare reform: the inner game

On the surface, providers and the GOP Congress are in synch on Medicare reform. But serious controversy lies just beneath, especially over who could be on the receiving end of a proposed voucher system.     

A bumpy road to Medicare payment reform

The publication of proposed rules for the Medicare physician fee schedule has triggered intense controversy, especially over the level of the conversion factor. Under the Health Care Financing Administration's interpretation of the provision requiring "budget neutrality," fee levels would be at least 16 percent lower than they would have been under the current payment method. That reduction stems from projections of physician behavior in response to changes in fees and the interaction of an asymmetric transition with the budget neutrality requirement. Other interpretations would better reflect the intent of Congress and would make better policy. The relative value scale still is far from final, but the version just published shows a greater shift in payment toward evaluation and management services than the initial phase of the study by Hsiao and colleagues.     

Medicare reform: what it means to the future of dietetics

A considerable amount of work will be required to fully implement these provisions. New guides for practice and evidence-based practices will have to be developed and implemented. However, the demand for the services of ADA members should significantly increase as this bill and the regulations go into effect.Expansion of the MNT benefits within Medicare was the result of many years of hard work by ADA members in educating Congress about the benefits of dietitian services. Enactment of these benefits is a milestone that should not pass unnoticed. Increasingly, dietitian services are being seen as an essential element of any comprehensive health plan. This has long been the goal of the ADA and its members. In reaching that goal, the ADA and its members have reason to celebrate before getting down to the tremendous work that will be required to successfully meet the challenges of implementing the new benefits.