The paper, called ‘Better outcomes for people living with chronic and complex health conditions through primary health care’, aims to keep sufferers out of hospital for longer after Chronic Disease Management Medicare items had grown by almost 17 per cent in 2013-14.

Information gathered will be considered for new Medicare reform options to improve effective and appropriate patient-centred primary care.

Options in the discussion paper include: enrolling people to a single provider who would co-ordinate the multi-disciplinary care the patient received, rather than the patient co-ordinating their care; set chronic disease payments for a defined package of care, rather than individual services; and international methods of best practice. 

The Primary Health Care Advisory Group will hold public consultations across Australia over the next month to finalise its recommendations to government and will seek feedback through an online survey, open from Thursday, August 6 to Thursday, September 3.

Targeted consultations with groups such as the Australian Medical Association, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Indigenous, rural and allied health groups, private health insurance and nursing sectors and consumers will also be held.

To access the discussion paper and supporting documents, fill out the consultation survey and to find a consultation near you go to the Department of Health’s website.