This review examines the incentive payments made to GPs and general practices by Medicare, seeking to ensure that funding systems are effective and support patient-centred and multidisciplinary care. The independent review recommends a new general practice payment architecture to support multidisciplinary care, including increased Commonwealth investment.

Overall, the review finds that while general practice incentives played a role in supporting healthcare delivery, ongoing refinement was deemed necessary to address emerging challenges and ensure alignment with broader policy goals. The review emphasised the importance of a nuanced approach to incentive design and implementation and recommends a new general practice payment architecture to support multidisciplinary care.

Recommendations

• The Australian Government should introduce a new opt-in, simplified general practice payment architecture that better supports community and patient needs and encourages high-quality, accessible and multidisciplinary care.
• In the short term, the Australian Government should retain the incentive to doctors working in rural and remote areas, and refine these to increase their effectiveness in promoting continuity of care.
• The Australian Government should invest in enabling reforms such as accreditation and a performance framework to support the new general practice blended 7 payments architecture within the context of a cohesive vision for primary care by 2032.
• While maintaining the principle that general practices can charge fees for medical services that take into account the practice’s own costs and economic imperatives, the Australian Government should establish an independent primary care pricing authority to provide advice on the design and pricing of Commonwealth payments to general practices and primary care providers.
• The Australian Government should facilitate an effective transition to the new payment model to achieve the future vision for general practice