Practice Incentive Program
The Practice Incentive Program (PIP) encourages continuing improvements in general practice through financial incentives to support quality care and improve access and health outcomes for patients.
To be eligible for participation in the PIP, a practice needs to:
- Meet the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) definition of a general practice.
- Be accredited, or registered for accreditation, against the RACGP Standards for general practices and be fully accredited within 12 months of joining the PIP.
- Maintain practice accreditation.
- Have current public liaibility insurance.
- Make sure that all practice GPs have current professional indemnity cover.
The Practice Incentive Program (PIP) – Indigenous Health Incentive (IHI)
The PIP-IHI aims to support general practices and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) to provide better health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) patients, including best practice management of chronic disease.
The PIP-IHI includes three components:
- Sign on Payment: A one-off payment of $1,000 to practices that join the PIP-IHI and agree to undertake specified activities to improve the provision of care to their ATSI patients with chronic disease.
- Patient Registration Payment: An annual payment to practices of $250 per calendar year, for each ATSI patient registered with a PIP-IHI practice.
- Outcomes Payment: There are two tiers of outcome payments available to the practice each calendar year per registered patient. Outcome payments can only be made to practices that have signed for the PIP-IHI. Practices may be eligible for either or both outcomes payments, even if the patient is currently registered at another practice.
For additional information regarding these payments go to www.medicareaustralia.gov.au >For Health Professionals>Incentives and Allowances>Practice Incentives Program (PIP)>Forms and guidelines>PIP-IHI Guidelines March 2010 and/or see website links below.
For further information on the PIP-IHI: PIP Indigenous Health Incentive – frequently asked questions
Prescription Benefit Scheme (PBS) Co-Payments
The PBS Co-payment aims to help ATSI patient’s access PBS medicines by reducing cost barriers. Co-payment relief is targeted at those with a chronic disease or chronic disease risk factors.
Patients who would normally pay the full PBS Co-payment (currently $33.30) will pay the concessional rate (currently $5.40) and those who would normally pay the concessional rate will now receive their PBS medicines at no cost. However, premiums for a small number of medicines will still need to be paid by the patient.
For PBS Co-payment eligibility, general practices need to:
- Be PIP-IHI registered for the patient to participate.
- Gain the patient’s consent to be registered with Medicare to be eligible for the PBS Co-payment.
- Assist patients to complete patient consent and patient registration forms (templates below).
- Annotate prescriptions of eligible patients with ‘CTG’.
For PBS Co-payment eligibility, patients of any age need to:
- Present with existing chronic disease(s) or chronic disease risk factor(s).
- In the opinion of the doctor, would experience setbacks in ongoing management of chronic disease if prescribed medicines not taken, and are unlikely to adhere to their medication regime without this assistance.
Templates and Resources
Indigenous Health Incentive (PIP-IHI):
- Guidelines: indigenous-health-incentive-guidelines
- Application: indigenous-health-incentive-application
- ATSI Medicare Item Numbers and Payments: ATSI Medicare Item Numbers
Prescription Benefits Scheme Co-Payment Measure:
- Guidelines (last page): PBS Copayment Measure – Indigenous Health Incentive Guidelines
- Patient Consent: indigenous-health-incentive-pbs-copayment-measure-patient-consent
- Patient Registration: PBS Copayment Measure – patient registration form
- Patient Withdrawal of Consent:PBS Copayment Measure – patient withdrawal of consent form
- Patient Information Sheet: PBS Copayment Measure – patient information sheet
- Pharmacy Staff Resource Booklet: PBS Copayment Measure – pharmacy staff resource booklet
Other Resources:
- Cultural Awareness/Safety Training Provider information: CST Provider table
Websites
Medicare Australia: Indigenous Health Incentive Guidelines and Forms
http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/provider/incentives/pip/forms-guides.jsp http://medicareaustralia.gov.au/provider/incentives/pip/index.jsp
