Medicare funded house call doctor services under threat

If your child has ever fallen sick after-hours, you will understand the importance of a house call doctor. House call doctors provide bulk-billed medical care in situations that do not require an Emergency response, but cannot wait until normal clinic hours. However, their service is currently under major threat, with the government moving to cut Medicare funding for house call doctors.

The Turnbull Government is taking a scalpel to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), that currently allows patients to be bulk-billed when they need a house call doctor. Without Medicare funding, millions of families throughout Australia may be left at risk, without access to urgent after-hours care. Families who want to see Medicare left untouched are being urged to support house call doctors.

“We are calling on parents to join our campaign to protect home visits, and keep the Government’s hands off Medicare,” says the Deputy Clinical Director at House Call Doctor, Dr Ryan Harvey. “Without input from Australian families, the Government will scrap this essential Medicare service and leave you without after-hours care when your family needs it most.”

Who would want Medicare funding for house call doctors cut?

Most people who request a house call doctor are in-fact parents seeking urgent care for their children. Families rely on house call doctors when unexpected medical situations arise on weeknights, weekends or during public holidays. Without house call doctors families would be forced into crowded Emergency waiting rooms.

“A recent Galaxy poll found that 74% of people would view reductions to our funding as a broken promise from the Turnbull government, which pledged not to cut Medicare,” says Dr Harvey. “Moreover, 79% of people surveyed see house call doctors as a very important part of the Medicare system.”

Rather than reflecting the views of average Australian families, the campaign to cut funding for house call doctors has been led by a large GP lobby group (the RACGP). This lobby group wrongly claims that junior doctors are being sent on house calls, and overcharge Medicare for non-urgent home visits.

Are house call doctors qualified to help my family after-hours?

“The notion that house call doctors are under-qualified is simply not true,” says Dr Harvey. “All after-hours doctors meet stringent eligibility requirements that are set by the Government, and on average house call doctors have over 12 years experience. Many have decades of experience.”

By law, house call doctors must be fully registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). As a minimum, each house call doctor has at least 3 years of training in hospitals, before they can conduct home visits. Many house call doctors are also hospital registrars and accredited General Practitioners, so they are fully capable of caring for families after-hours.

“House call doctors cannot replace regular GPs, nor is that our intention,” says Dr Harvey. “Instead, we respond to thousands of urgent calls from parents who understandably become concerned when their children develop unusual symptoms overnight.”

House call doctors often treat urgent symptoms including acute cold and flus, fever and gastro, rashes and infections, asthma and allergies, or minor traumas like cuts and abrasions. They are fully equipped with sutures to provide stitches or wound care, and can even prescribe the first-course of medication where required.

How do house call doctors save Medicare money?

“Rather than over-charging Medicare, house call doctors in fact save the Australian healthcare system millions,” says Dr Harvey. “We keep families out of Emergency Departments that are already overcrowded and under-resourced.”

The average patient self-presenting at Emergency costs taxpayers at least $368, or $1350 if they request an Ambulance. In contrast, a visit from a house call doctor costs taxpayers between $94 and $128 only. Over a four-year period, after-hours services therefore save taxpayers at least
$724 million.

“The role of a house call doctor is to work in tandem with regular GPs,” says Dr Harvey. “As we cannot provide ongoing patient follow-up, house call doctors send the medical notes from our after-hours consultations directly to each patient’s regular GP to ensure continued care.”

How can families tell the government to protect house call doctors?

Parents who use house call doctors are being urged to join the Protect Home Visits campaign, to highlight the importance of after-hours services to the Government. Without public support, house call doctors would be unable to provide bulk-billed consultations, which could leave families high and dry in urgent medical situations after-hours.

“We currently have over 38 000 signatures from people who want this essential Medicare service protected,” says Dr Harvey. “House call doctors now need support from the families, parents and other patients that we care for after-hours.”

To join Protect Home Visits and sign the petition, please visit: https://protecthomevisits.com.au/