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Designing payments for GPs to improve the quality of diabetes care

Anthony Scott and Mark F Harris
Med J Aust 2012; 196 (1): . || doi: 10.5694/mja11.11013
Published online: 16 January 2012

Three features are essential in designing the flexible funding payments and pay-for-performance elements

Performance pay for doctors has been introduced in many countries, including the United Kingdom through the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) and the United States through the patient-centred medical home model.1 The effectiveness of these models remains in question, although there is emerging evidence that these schemes can reduce hospital admissions.2-4 In Australia, the Coordinated Care for Diabetes Pilot (CCDP) begins in 2012.5 The key elements of the pilot (Box) are voluntary patient enrolment, a flexible payment for each diabetes patient to cover allied health services (among other things) and a pay-for-performance element. General practitioners will continue to be able to charge fee-for-service payments and claim diabetes-related payments from the Practice Incentives Program (PIP), but will no longer be able to claim the Chronic Disease Management Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items for GP management plans or team care arrangements.5


  • 1 Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC.
  • 2 Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW.


Correspondence: a.scott@unimelb.edu.au

Acknowledgements: 

Anthony Scott is funded by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship. Mark Harris acknowledges funding from a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Principal Research Fellowship. We thank Ralph Audem, Stephen Campbell, Stephen Colaguiri, Chris Del Mar, Colin Frick, Jane Hall, Marion Haas, Anushka Patel, David Peiris, Gawaine Powell Davies, Peter Sivey, Christine Walker, Doris Young and Nick Zwar for discussions.

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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