The Health Care System In Australia and the Role of General Practice Winthrop Professor Geoff Riley Acting Dean Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences The University of Western Australia Email:
[email protected] Starting points China has the opportunity to develop the best aspects of western health systems. Comparing Health Systems Expenditure and Indicators Country Health % GDP Life Expectancy Infant Mortality (2009)/ rank (2012)/rank (Deaths/1000 live births) Australia 8.5/47 81.9/9 4.5/189 UK 9.3/41 80.1/30 4.56/188 Canada 10.9/22 81.4/12 4.85/181 US 16.2/2 78.5/51 6.0/173 China 4.6/148 74.8/96 15.6/110 The Australian Health System Tertiary Care − All Australians have the right to free treatment at public hospitals − Large city public (teaching) hospitals and Private hospitals − Salaried Specialist doctors and Tertiary services eg Liver transplant, Emergency services, Specialist outpatient clinics etc. Secondary Care − Specialist doctors in Private practice. Mostly urban. Some rural − Some regular rural visiting but only larger rural towns Primary Care Private General Practice / Generalist – Primary Care - Gatekeeping, Access / point of entry to system – Comprehensive service, Generalist, holistic – Local, community, accessible, contextual, coordination of care – Personal consultation-based (WHO model), Continuity of care Funding the Health System Medical Benefits Scheme (MBS – “Medicare”) Universal health care is provided to Australians through Medicare which funds free hospital treatment and subsidised medical treatment – but gap / co-payment of about 30% for all but the very poor in primary and secondary care.