Liberal MP Angus Taylor says the Turnbull government should create a ‘My Doctor’-style website that lets patients rate GPs and the services they provide.
In an opinion piece for Fairfax Media, the Liberal rising star, Rhodes Scholar and former McKinsey & Co management consultant says the federation white paper on federal-state relations must deal with the “dysfunction across federal and state governments in health” if it is to “deliver anything useful”.
So if you really want reform then don’t give the power to the politicians, give the power to the customer
And in what would amount to a radical shake-up of the way Australians pay for healthcare, Mr Taylor says Australia should follow international trends and shift to a “blended” payment system that would see doctors paid for outcomes, rather than activity.
In April, Health Minister Sussan Ley launched a wide-ranging review of Medicare. The review will examine each of the 5500 medical services funded by the system. A separate review underway into care and funding models is also underway.
Private health insurers have welcomed that review, but the Australian Medical Association has accused the minister of using it to cut health funding. Earlier this week, Ms Ley also announced a review of the private health insurance schemes.
Mr Taylor’s call for reform goes much further and will likely anger the doctor’s lobby, arguing that health costs are increasing at near double digit rates for government and that ” as a purchaser of services this is simply not sustainable for the federal government”.
” Perhaps the most important thing of all to drive health reforms is shifting power to customers. The fact of the matter is politicians have one incentive above all and that’s to win the next election. So if you really want reform then don’t give the power to the politicians, give the power to the customer. That means transparent information,” he said.
” One of the best innovations of the last government was the My School website, because for the first time ever we could compare the performance of schools. We could do the same in health. While we have a rudimentary hospitals comparison website, why don’t we see that with doctors?”
” The UK National Health Service is leading the world in this area, with NHS Choices. This website and app doesn’t just provide details about health services available across the UK, it provides detailed survey results on each service, and allows users to rate the services themselves and to see other people’s ratings.”
The combination of data, survey outputs and customer ratings would shift power to patients, he said.
“Empowering patients, paying for outcomes, harnessing our private sector innovators and integrated health services: Now that would be serious reform.”