Aged Care Access Initiative
The aim of the Aged Care Access Initiative (ACAI) is to improve access to primary care (GP and allied health services) for residents of aged care facilities.
ACAI supports improving access to GP and allied health services for residents of aged care facilities through two components:
- Component 1
An incentive payment through the Practice Incentives Program (PIP) to encourage GPs to provide more services to RACFs.
Incentive payments are available to GPs in accredited practices, once they have provided a predetermined number of Medicare claimable services to residents in Commonwealth Funded RACFs. There are two payment levels:
Tier 1 :$1,500 when 60 services have been claimed
Tier 2 :$3,500 when 140 services have been claimed
Maximum claimable in one financial year is $5,000
- Component 2
A payment for clinical care provided by specified Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) to low care residents provided that these services are not currently covered by Medicare or other government funding arrangements.
Residents should not incur an out of pocket expense in relation to the allied health service provided.
The specified AHP services are:
· Speech pathology
· Physiotherapy
· Counselling
· Podiatry
The Northern Sydney General Practice Network (NSGPN) is now directly contacting Allied Health Professionals (AHP) to deliver these services, either individual or group, to residents in the following low care RACFs
- Dougherty Apartments
- The Garrison
- Georgian House
- Glengarry
- James Milson Hostel
- Kamilaroi Retirement Centre
- Onslow House
- St Columba's Retirement Centre
- Willoughby Retirement Community Association Hostel
- BUPA Willoughby
- Caroline Chisholm Village
- Willowood Hostel
- Alexander Campbell House
- Archbold House Hostel
- St David's Village
- Lansdowne Gardens
- RACF's Directory
If you treat patients in any of the above low care RACFs and believe that the patient would benefit from these services, contact either the Director of Nursing at the RACF or Ann Schiller at NSGPN for a list of providers.
MBS Item 712 Comprehensive medical assessment of a permanent resident of a residential aged care facility (RACF) will be replaced by new time-based health assessment items 701, 703, 705 and 707 from 1 May 2010. However, as these items are not specific to residents of RACFs, the use of these new items will not count towards the qualifying service levels (QSLs) for the ACAI.
From 1 May 2010, GPs must use one of the following existing MBS items for services in RACFs to count towards the QSLs for the ACAI: 20, 35, 43, 51, 92, 93, 95, 96, 731, 734, 736, 738, 775, 778, 779, 903, 5010, 5028, 5049, 5067, 5260, 5263, 5265, 5267.
For further information contact:
(02) 9411 3533
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Last Updated (Wednesday, 27 April 2011 14:00)