After-hours home visits fall 40%
The GP deputising industry says it is facing a triple threat: rebate reductions, the pandemic and a recruitment crisis
GP deputising services are struggling to survive following a triple hit from rebate cuts, a recruitment crisis and plunging demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Medicare figures show claims for after-hours home visits fell 40% last year, with doctors billing fewer than a third of the number of items they did in 2017.
Dr Nathan Pinskier says last year’s drop-off may have been partly offset by the introduction of telehealth last March but stresses there were no items for after-hours phone or video consults.
The medical director of IPN’s deputising arm DoctorDoctor, he says the problems are now piling up to the point where some services will need to cut back their offerings.
