Now that patients can register in MyMedicare and select their preferred GP, health professionals who haven’t already done so are encouraged to register their general practice in MyMedicare to access the benefits.

When a general practice and their patients are both registered, additional government funding is available to the practice to support them to provide the care their patients need.

MyMedicare practices can access more information about regular patients, making it easier to tailor services to fit the patient’s needs. Registered practices can also access the new longer telehealth items linked to MyMedicare, including:

• longer MBS-funded telephone calls (Levels C and D) with their usual general practice 
• triple bulk billing incentive for longer MBS telehealth consultations (Levels C, D and E) for children under 16, pensioners, and concession card holders.

The Australian Government has introduced MyMedicare as part of an ongoing commitment to strengthening Medicare for all Australians.

Where can I find more information?

For more information on registering your practice, visit the Services Australia Health Professional Education website.

A communication kit has been developed with a range of resources to support health professionals in having conversations with patients, including FAQs, factsheets, a brochure and posters.

Download the communication kit here.

Find out more at health.gov.au/mymedicare 

Subscribe here for more updates on MyMedicare.

NQPHN Senior Primary Care Engagement Officer Debra Davis, NQPHN Indigenous Health Project Officer Melinda Green, and Precedence Health Program Manager Emma Walker met with various practices and discussed the benefits of INCA, answered questions, and demonstrated how Inca could complement their current systems.

Some of the key discussions during the visits are outlined below.

• A practice that has been using Inca for 12 months said they find it saves time and is user-friendly.
• A practice recently came on board with using Inca and are looking forward to a much more streamlined approach with care planning.
• Practices liked the simplicity of the Inca tool for care planning.
• Allied health databases can be uploaded into Inca accounts for Team Care Arrangements.
• The Inca platform could be used to return notes from other services, through to the General Practitioner.
• Comparisons between the My GPMP Tool and Inca were discussed, and although they have some similarities, the cost difference was explained, with Inca now being provided to practices cost free with NQPHN funding.
• A practice had recently started using CUBIKO, which led to discussion on how that would complement the Inca platform, with MBS billing claimed for clients able to be seen anywhere with CUBIKO, but only in the software when using Inca. 
• A few concerns were raised by a practice who has been using Inca for 12-months, however with Emma from Precedence Health on had to rectify these immediately, these uncertainties were eased.
• Key benefits of Inca that were highlighted by nurses in one practice included that there was no longer the need to print the care plans and the faster reply of TCA returns.
• A key struggle that could be foreseen, was simply with introducing a new platform and needing to get to know it. Our team organised a time where Emma could meet virtually with the reception team at the practice to give them some one-on-one time to understand and walk through the platform.

Our team found the Inca visits to be highly valuable and enjoyed demonstrating the benefits of the Inca platform in person with the practices they were able to visit. They were also able to distribute flyers for upcoming events, as well as information about newly released Spirometry Training.

The team would like to thank the practices they were able to meet with during this visit, including Collinsville Family Practice, Girudala Community Cooperative Society, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (ATSICHS), Sydney Street Medical Centre, Caneland Medical Centre, Pioneer Medical, Mt Pleasant Medical and Dental, and Podiatry Mackay.

For more information, please visit the NQPHN Inca Integrated Care Platform webpage.

To arrange a practice visit or to discuss the Inca platform, please contact the NQPHN Primary Care Engagement Team at email pce@nqphn.com.au

Pier Portella is committed to working with vulnerable young people to help them live better lives.

As a provisional psychologist at Better Together Community Support, an Atherton and Tablelands-based health and wellbeing service, Pier’s mission is to support young people in the community to overcome the challenges and issues they’re facing.

Those issues can include anxiety, problematic use of substances, addictions, and other complex situations.

And he’s been doing amazing work with one young person in particular.

Recently, Pier worked with a 16-year-old who had turned to video gaming to cope with the impacts of a difficult home life.

The teenager was referred to Better Together for mental health concerns (anxiety), related video game addiction, and being at-risk of alcohol use.

Pier said the teenager had been through traumatic times and wanted assistance and support to improve his situation.

“The teen identified goals to improve his relationship with his mum, improve his social skills, and reduce his anxiety,” said Pier.

“However, there was conflict within the family for his unwillingness to stop video gaming.”

Pier said Better Together provided the teen with ongoing emotional support to address his anxiety, psychosocial education regarding the risk of alcohol use, education related to healthy family relationships, coping strategies to reduce video gaming, and engaging in pro-social activities.

Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) funds Better Together’s Youth Alcohol and Other Drugs Case Management and Complex Care Coordination (YAODCC) program, a free service that provides case management support for young people aged 12-25 who misuse substances and have complex needs.  

“The young person told his YAODCC program case manager his fear surrounding his mother's alcohol use because she was aggressive towards him when drinking, and also of the threat of physical abuse by his mother's partner,” said Pier.

“These disclosures allowed YAODCC to liaise with Better Together’s Intensive Family Support (IFS) program to work with the mother on parenting and substance use, and allowed YAODCC to create a safety plan with the family to ensure there was no further contact between the teen and the mother's partner.”

It was the amazing work of Pier and Better Together that allowed the teen to start overcoming his family issues and other challenges.

“This opportunity allowed YAODCC to re-enforce the learnings that a patient, gentle approach to engagement is beneficial to relationship development, and allows safe space for young people to explore their concerns,” said Pier.

Pier said the situation was difficult in the beginning, however the adolescent had progressed very well.

“At the moment, the teen is in a stable and safe environment, which allows him to grow and develop,” said Pier.

“This marks a huge shift from the situation he was in when we first started working together. 

“His reaction has been positive, and he has also shown a high level of engagement, even through the most difficult moments. 

“This has led to a positive outcome, with the primary carer (his mother) also receiving relevant support too, and with increased safety for the young person by ceasing contact with the mother's partner.”