The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing engaged HMA to provide technical services to assist in the development of ABF for the ATAPS. Specifically the project was to explore ABF options for the Tier 1 component of ATAPS. The project included the following activities:
- an environmental analysis including preliminary consultation and review of data and reports held by the department
- gap analysis and focused data collection of a sample of fund holders by to address gaps, conducted by phone and email
- data analysis exploring historical cost structures and variations between fund holders to inform development of ABF options
- preparation of individual summary (data analysis) reports at the Division of General Practice level, which was aggregated and distributed to Medicare Locals
- stakeholder consultation, including eight Medicare Locals case study visits
- development of a consultation paper, including draft options for discussion, which was presented to the department and the Australian Medicare Local Alliance for comment
- assisted the department in its national consultation by:
- participating in the presentation of the consultation paper across the country and recording feedback
- collating feedback received from the call for written submissions on the consultation paper (accessible from the department’s webpage)
- analysed feedback and synthesised findings from preceding stages of the project into a final report including:
- an implementation plan, and
- identification of strategies to maximise efficiencies under ABF.
The project commenced in November 2012 and was completed in April 2013.
