MyMedicare promises better health care. But only 1 in 10 patients registered

Mymedicare is a program that encourages patients to register in regular GP practice to improve their health. But few patients signed up.

Since its launch in October 2023, only about 10% of patients have registered.

Allocated budget of the Albanian government for 2023–24 $ 19.7 million in four years To implement myimedicare. So if we are to get a value for money from the program, we need to find out why patients do not register and deal with any barriers.

Other countries have similar programs because we present Recent research. Here’s what we can learn from them to augment the download of MyMedicare in Australia.

What is myimedicare?

Myimedicare is a voluntary patient registration program. Patients nominate GP or GP practice as a preferred supplier and see over time the same family doctor or healthcare team, a concept known as “care continuity”.

Care continuity is related Earlier detection of health problems, better management of chronic (long -term) diseases, fewer hospital visits that can be avoided and improved patient satisfaction.

Patients registered on myimedicare have longer Consultation. People who live in a residential elderly care have more regular visits to a family doctor. From July this year, GP internships can provide patients with greater support for their own Chronic diseases.

There are also benefits GP clinics This record for myimedicare. They receive encouragement to offer some patients longer teeth consultations. The internships also perceive encouragement In order to manage the health of registered patients with care at age.

These incentives support practice investments in improved services and resources. From July it may include better Chronic disease management and improved team care (for example, a better connector between GPS and related healthcare employees as part of someone’s health team).

How many patients have registered?

From the release of MyMedicare in 2023 to March 19 this year, over 2.6 million patients have registered in Myimedicare, in accordance with the statistics of the Health Department and Agerade.

This is about 10% Australia population. This raises concerns about how aware patients from the program are, how they are involved with him, and possible registration barriers.

Family doctor internship Encouraged To register these patients in Myimedicare as a priority. Perhaps other patients have not yet registered.

GP practices were faster to register. Since the statistics of the Health Department presented in the conversation, they show that 6469 practices registered in Myimedicare until March 19 this year.

This is about 80% GP practices in Australia.

Who will probably register?

We do not know which groups of patients register in Myimedicare. The Health Department said that patients from the conversation can provide details of their sex, location (such as metropolitan, regional, rural and distant areas), language origin and disability during registration. But this is voluntary, and these data is only available for collecting from March 2024.

But here What we have learned When we looked at patient recruitment programs in other countries:

• Men are less likely to sign up than women, and recent immigrants have much lower registration indicators compared to long -term residents. Emphasize potential barriers in access to some populations

• Patients in suburban, rural or compact urban areas have a higher registration rate, while patients in vast metropolitan centers and lower socio -economic groups register less

• Patients with mental illnesses or substance disorders have lower registration indicators, indicating challenges in engaging sensitive populations.

How do other countries do?

We I looked too How other countries establish their programs to see what we can learn.

Up-to-date Zealand: High revenues through financial incentives

New Zealand He successfully implemented a voluntary patient’s registration system, offering encouragement for saved patients. They include lower co -paid consultations and cheaper prescriptions.

This approach encourages people to register in general practice, not with a specific general doctor. About 95% of the population was registered until January 2025.

Quebec, Canada: adapted registration programs, but low download

Quebec has Several voluntary registration programs for different patients’ groups. These include those for family medicine, sensitive patients and a general program.

However, the registration indicator remains low, at 14.7-32.2%, depending on the program.

British Colombia, Canada: Motivation driven registration

British columbia It offers three voluntary registration programs – one for chronic diseases, the other for elaborate care and general program.

They utilize “financing capitalization” in which GPS receives payments based on the number of patients they look after.

Participation indicators differ significantly among three programs, with 45.5-79% of the population registered.

Differences in registration indicators in these systems emphasize the importance of programs design and implementation.

What can Australia learn?

If MyMedicare is to improve access and continuity of care, targeted strategies will be necessary as the range of immigrants and a group with lower income and better support for people with mental health problems.

Australia could also check how countries with higher patient registration indicators designed their systems. This may include consideration whether more financial incentives for patients are justified to sign up, which was successful in Up-to-date Zealand.