GP practices should have to send data to a new health pricing authority and join MyMedicare to access the practice incentive payments, a Federal Government consultation paper suggests.

The Review of General Practice Incentives says both the Practice Incentives Program (PIP) and Workforce Incentive Program payments, worth over $500 million a year to general practice, should be replaced by a “new payment architecture”. 

Drafted by a ten-member expert panel, including former health department secretary Professor Stephen Duckett, the consultation paper does not mention any dollar figures. 

But it wants GP practices to be given a “baseline” incentive that scales funding based on the severity of patients’ health needs and the practice location, alongside a quality improvement payment, an after-hours payment and a teaching payment.