To the Editor: We congratulate Wright and Versteeg1 for their timely article outlining Australian and international experience of patient enrolment in general practice. Missing from the debate, however, is any reflection on the Practice Incentives Program – Indigenous Health Incentive (PIP‐IHI), a voluntary general practice enrolment of Indigenous patients intended to improve chronic illness care. Here, to offer transferrable lessons for informing the rollout of the Voluntary Patient Enrolment scheme (called MyGP),2 we draw on findings from the Sentinel Sites Evaluation — based on administrative data from the Department of Health and more than 700 interviews with Aboriginal health services and general practice3 — and submissions made to the PIP‐IHI review by key stakeholders in 2019.4,5
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- 1. Wright M, Versteeg R. Introducing general practice enrolment in Australia: the devil is in the detail. Med J Aust 2021; 214: 400–402. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2021/214/9/introducing‐general‐practice‐enrolment‐australia‐devil‐detail
- 2. Department of Health. Primary Health Care Reform [website]. https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/primary‐health‐care‐reform (viewed January 2022).
- 3. Bailie R, Griffin J, Kelaher M, et al; Sentinel Sites Evaluation: final report; 2013. https://www.menzies.edu.au/icms_docs/189996_Sentinel_Sites_Evaluation_Final_Report.pdf (viewed January 2022).
- 4. Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Submission: review of the Practice Incentives Program – Indigenous Health Incentive; 2019. https://www.racgp.org.au/FSDEDEV/media/documents/RACGP/Reports%20and%20submissions/2019/Review‐of‐PIP‐IHI.pdf (viewed June 2021).
- 5. Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council. Submission: review of the Practice Incentives Program ‐ Indigenous Health Incentive, 2019. https://www.qaihc.com.au/media/37445/qaihc‐submission‐pip‐ihi.pdf (viewed June 2021).
- 6. Bailie J, Schierhout G, Laycock A, et al. Determinants of access to chronic illness care: a mixed‐methods evaluation of a national multifaceted chronic disease package for Indigenous Australians. BMJ Open 2015; 5: e008103.
The Sentinel Sites Evaluation was conceived and funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. The successful conduct of the evaluation was made possible through the active support and commitment of key stakeholder organisations, community members, individuals who participated in the evaluation, and the contributions made by the broader evaluation team and the Department staff. The Department of Health provided administrative data related to the Practice Incentives Program – Indigenous Health Incentive, but they were not involved in the analysis, interpretation or reporting.
No relevant disclosures.