Closing the Gap Program

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 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience a burden of disease two-and-a-half times that of other Australians. A large part of the burden of disease is due to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and chronic kidney disease. This can be reduced by earlier identification, and management of risk factors and the disease itself.

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 In December 2007, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to a partnership between all levels of government to work with Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander communities to close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage. 

 The aim of the Closing the Gap - Improving Indigenous Access to Mainstream Primary Care Program is to contribute to closing the gap in life expectancy by improving access to culturally sensitive primary care services for Indigenous Australians.

The objectives of the Program are to:
• increase access to mainstream primary care services by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
• improve the capacity of general practice to deliver culturally sensitive primary care services;
• increase the uptake of Indigenous specific Medical Benefits Schedule (MBS) items including Indigenous health checks and follow up items;
• support mainstream primary care services to encourage Indigenous Australians to self-identify;
• increase awareness and understanding of Closing the Gap measures relevant to mainstream primary care; and
• foster collaboration and support between the mainstream primary care and the Indigenous health sectors.
As part of the Government's "Closing the Gap" Project, a new PIP Inigenous Health Incentive, available from 1 May will support general practices and Indigenous health services to provide better health care to Indigenous Australians, including best practice management of chronic disease. picture_ab_man_and_child.jpg

  PIP Indigenous Health Incentive and PBS  Co-payment- Financial Incentives

Sign-on registration: A one-off payment of $1000 to practices who join the incentive and agree to undertake certain activities to improve the provision of care to Indigenous patients with a chronic disease. Cultural safety/awareness training, follow-up systems and identification of Indigenous patients will be a component of the sign-on payment. 
 Patient registration: Payments of $250 for each Indigenous patient aged over 15 years registered with the practice for chronic disease management.
• Outcomes payment: There are two tiers of payements to practices for each registered for whom a target level of care is provided by the practice.
Tier 1: Payments of $100 per eligible patient per year to have a care plan in place and at least one review (ie 721 and 732 in place), OR two reviews in place (where a care plan is not necessary that year)
• Tier 2: Payments of $150 per patient per year to provide the majority of chronic disease care ie a minimum of 5 services per year. Tier 2 payments are additional to Tier 1 payments.
Outcomes payments will be automatically calculated by Medicare Australia. The firstoutcomes payments will be made to eligable practices in August 2010.
indigenous-motherwithinfantmorningtonisland-18994-200.jpgPIP Indigenous Health Incentive Requirements

• To join this new incentive, practices will need to be participating in the PIP and meet the following specific sign-on requirements:

• Agree to seek consent to register their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients who have, or are at risk of, chronic disease with Medicare Australia in order to access support through the Indigenous Health Incentive and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Co-payment Measure

• Establish and use a mechanism to ensure their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients aged 15 years and over with a chronic disease are followed up (e.g. through use of a recall and reminder system, or staff actively seeking out their patients) to ensure they return for ongoing care

• Agree that at least two staff members (one of whom must be a General Practitioner) will undertake appropriate cultural awareness training within 12 months of joining the incentive, and

• From 1 July 2010, agree to annotate PBS prescriptions for eligible Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients for the purposes of the PBS Co-payment Measure. The PBS Co-payment Measure promotes greater access to PBS medicines by reducing or waiving the co-payments for medicines for eligible Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients.  

PIP Indigenous Health Incentive Guidelines

PBS Co-payment Factsheet

For any more information and general enquiries you can contact Brendon Fitzgerald Indigenous Health Project Officer on (02) 42207600 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  

See also resources section of General Practice web page

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Update on cultural awareness and cultural safety from RACGP

 

racgp_cultural_awareness_media_statement media release 22/7/10

update_on_cultural_awareness_and_cultural_safety_from_racgp_17.8.10

 
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