Practice Incentives Program (PIP)
- What's new in PIP
- Forms and guidelines
- Entry and eligibility
- Change practice details
- Payments and calculations
- Quarterly news update
- Statistics
What is the Practice Incentives Program (PIP)?
The Practice Incentives Program (PIP) aims to encourage continuing improvements in general practice through financial incentives to support quality care, and improve access and health outcomes for patients. To be eligible to participate in the PIP, a practice must be accredited or registered for accreditation, against the Royal Australia College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards for general practices. Practices must achieve full accreditation within 12 months of joining the PIP and maintain full accreditation thereafter.
Administered by Medicare Australia on behalf of the Department of Health and Ageing
(DoHA), PIP is a part of a blended payment approach for general practice. Payments made through the program are in addition to other income earned by general practitioners (GPs) and the practice, such as patient payments and Medicare rebates.
PIP payments are mainly dependent on practice size, in terms of patients seen.The basis for the PIP payment formula was developed in consultation with the General Practice Financing Group (GPFG). The GPFG is a negotiating body comprising the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Australian Medical Association, Rural Doctors Association of Australia, Australian Divisions of General Practice, and the Australian Government. More information is provided in the Formula page.
Currently PIP is made up of 13 incentives and practices can apply for as many of the following incentives as they are eligible for.
Quality Prescribing Incentive (QPI)
The PIP Quality Prescribing Incentive (QPI) aims to encourage practices to keep up to date with information on the quality use of medicines. The PIP QPI rewards participation by practices in a range of activities recognised or provided by the National Prescribing Service (NPS).
The NPS aims to assist GPs to achieve more effective, quality prescribing through a range of education, support and prescribing information. The NPS is a professional organisation, run independently of the Australian Government with broad GP representation and leadership.
More information on the Quality Prescribing Incentive guidelines
Diabetes Incentive
The PIP Diabetes Incentive aims to encourage GPs to provide earlier diagnosis and effective management of people with established diabetes mellitus.
More information on the Diabetes Incentive guidelines
Cervical Screening Incentive
The PIP Cervical Screening Incentive aims to encourage GPs to screen under-screened women (i.e. women who have not had a cervical smear in the last four years) for cervical cancer and to increase overall screening rates.
More information on the Cervical Screening Incentive guidelines
Asthma Incentive
The PIP Asthma Incentive aims to encourage GPs to better manage the clinical care of people with moderate to severe asthma.
Generally, patients must meet the following criteria to be assessed as having moderate to severe asthma:
- symptoms on most days OR
- use of preventative medication OR
- bronchodilator use at least three times per week OR
- hospital attendance or admission following an acute exacerbation of asthma.
More information on the Asthma Incentive guidelines
Indigenous Health Incentive
The PIP Indigenous Health Incentive aims to support general practices and Indigenous health services to provide better health care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, including best practice management of chronic disease.
This incentive is a key part of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap: Tackling Indigenous Chronic Disease.
More information on the Indigenous Health Incentive guidelines
eHealth Incentive
The PIP eHealth Incentive aims to encourage practices to keep up to date with the latest developments in eHealth.
This incentive has been developed in consultation with the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA), and aligns with the directions set out in the Australian Government’s National eHealth Strategy.
As technology continues to emerge, practices will be able to securely exchange information such as discharge summaries, pathology reports and specialist reports electronically, send electronic referrals and pathology orders and participate in electronic prescribing. Patient information sent and received electronically will also be able to be added directly into a patient’s electronic health record.
The PIP eHealth Incentive will encourage the adoption of new eHealth technology as it becomes available, to assist practices to improve administration processes and the quality of care provided to patients.
More information on the eHealth Incentive guidelines
After Hours Incentive
The PIP After Hours Incentive aims to encourage general practices to ensure their patients have access to quality after hours care.
The payments are intended to help resource a quality after hours service and compensate practices that make themselves available for longer hours, in recognition of the additional pressures this entails. This includes practices that have no choice but to provide all of their after hours cover themselves (such as rural practices).
For the purposes of the PIP, after hours refers to:
- any time outside 8.00am to 6.00pm weekdays
- any time outside 8.00am to 12 noon on Saturday
- all day on Sunday and public holidays.
More information on the After Hours Incentive guidelines
Teaching Incentive
The PIP Teaching Incentive aims to encourage general practices to provide teaching sessions to undergraduate and graduate medical students preparing for entry into the Australian Medical profession, to make sure the practitioners of tomorrow are appropriately trained and have actual experience of general practice.
Practice GPs are expected to engage in (more or less) normal consultations when the student is present. Payments are intended to compensate practices for the reduced number of consultations due to the presence of the student.
More information on the Teaching Incentive guidelines
Rural Loading
Practices participating in the PIP with a main practice location situated outside capital cities and other major metropolitan centres are automatically paid a rural loading. The rural loading recognises the difficulties of providing care, often with little professional support, in rural and remote areas. The PIP rural loading is higher for practices in more remote areas, in recognition of the added difficulties of providing medical care.
More information on the Rural Loading guidelines
Procedural GP Payment
The Procedural GP Payment aims to encourage GPs in rural and remote areas to maintain local access to surgical, anaesthetic and obstetric services.
More information on the Procedural GP Payment guidelines
GP Aged Care Access Incentive
The PIP General Practitioner Aged Care Access Incentive (ACAI) aims to encourage GPs to provide increased and continuing services in residential aged care facilities (RACFs).
More information on the GP Aged Care Access Incentive guidelines
Glossary
- AGPAL
- Australian General Practice Accreditation Ltd
- DVA
- Department of Veterans' Affairs
- DVI
- Domestic Violence Incentive
- FTE GP
- Full Time Equivalent General Practitioner
- GPA PLUS
- General Practice Accreditation Plus
- GPFG
- General Practice Financing Group
- GPSRG
- General Practice Strategy Review Group
- GPII
- General Practice Immunisation Incentives
- MBS
- Medicare Benefits Schedule
- NPS
- National Prescribing Service
- PIP
- Practice Incentives Program
- PNAHW
- Practice Nurse / Allied Health Worker/Aboriginal Health Worker
- QAS
- Quality Assurance Services
- QPI
- Quality Prescribing Initiative
- QSL
- Qualifying Service Levels
- RACFs
- Residential Aged Care Facilities
- RACGP
- Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
- RCTI
- Recipient Created Tax Invoice
- RRMA
- Rural, Remote & Metropolitan Area
- SWPE
- Standardised Whole Patient Equivalent
- WPE
- Whole Patient Equivalent
Last updated: 25 January, 2012