A new study has indicated that the current Medicare system has failed Australian patients and doctors, and it recommends a major restructuring of the way general practitioners work and get paid to make health care more effective.
In its latest report, the Grattan Institute pointed out that after four decades since its inception, Australia’s universal healthcare system could no longer keep up with the changes in the community’s health needs.
“GPs’ work has become much more complex as the population has grown older and rates of mental ill-health and chronic disease have climbed. But the way we structure and fund general practice hasn’t kept up,” the institute said….