President’s Update - Greetings from California
In his latest President’s Update, Associate Professor Peter Subramaniam shares key developments from AMA SA’s Access to Care Round Table. He also outlines AMA SA’s latest steps in payroll tax advocacy and offers insights from his visit to California, where healthcare innovation is front and centre.
Greetings from California
I am writing this update from the Berkeley Haas School of Business near San Francisco where I am spending the week. It has been productive spending time here with colleagues from Royal Melbourne Hospital, Austin Health, and Barwon Heads Health, as well as Australian colleagues from other industry segments (including the renewable energy sector).
We've been visiting key players in Silicon Valley's innovation ecosystem – including Meta, Johnson & Johnson’s life sciences incubator JLABS, global design and engineering firm Method in Santa Clara, and CITRIS (Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society) – to observe, learn, and contribute to strategic innovation capabilities in our respective workplaces.
The application of innovation in the healthcare sector is clearly the smartest investment in solution creation for our present and future challenges. While the rapidly advancing adoption of AI offers a lot in the strategic innovation space, it still requires purposeful and strategic planning. This must be driven by those who understand the endpoint of the innovation journey – improved patient care. The doctors of the AMA SA are best placed to provide input into this purposeful innovation journey.
AMA SA Round Table
I’m pleased to inform you that the recommendations developed through AMA SA’s Access to Care Round Table have now been formally submitted to SA Health and the Health Minister, Chris Picton. These practical, implementable, patient-focused proposals are designed to enhance care in the community and reduce avoidable emergency department presentations. They include:
- Establishing an SA Health 12-month Action Plan to provide a roadmap for the delivery of effective, patient-focused care
- Providing GP clinics with physical and digital resources, including links to SA Health nurses and other health practitioners, to enable them to open after-hours, access timely advice from other specialists, and streamline accurate discharge communication
- Reviewing outpatient services, including creating a statewide e-referral ‘front door’ for outpatient care
- Improving aged-care coordination and communication, including capitalising on Advance Care Directives to prevent unwanted transfers to hospital
The recommendations reflect the collective insight, experience, and dedication of the diverse stakeholders who participated in the Round Table on 9 May. We have asked the Minister to convene a meeting with senior health officials and AMA SA at the earliest opportunity to discuss the proposals and to prioritise and collaborate on a clear and achievable set of actions.
We extend our sincere gratitude to all round table participants, including Minister Picton, senior SA Health personnel, and leaders from SA Ambulance Service, SA Salaried Medical Officers Association, Ageing Australia, Rural Doctors Association of SA, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the Mental Health Coalition of SA, Lived Experience Australia, and the South Australian Council of Social Service.
Special thanks also to Immediate Past President and Committee of General Practice Chair Dr John Williams, former CGP Chair Dr Bridget Sawyer, and AMA SA Councillor and Round Table MC Dr Emily Kirkpatrick for helping review and refine the recommendations in the weeks after the round table.
We look forward to updating you on further developments in the near future. In the meantime, please read the recommendations on the AMA SA website and let us know what you think via AMA SA’s member feedback portal.
Payroll Tax
We continue to address the unintended consequences of the application of the payroll tax on GP specialist and non-GP specialist practices. Last week, I wrote to the Treasurer requesting information on the revenue raised from this tax. It is the view of AMA SA that the financial impost of the payroll tax has a direct and adverse impact on the cost of running GP practices and, as a flow-on, the cost of GP visits.
We look forward to a data-driven discussion with the state government to review this decision, which we believe is (another) barrier to accessing GP care for a significant segment of patients. Yesterday morning, I spoke with ABC Radio Adelaide following feedback from patients to the media about the impact of the payroll tax. As I told ABC Mornings host Rory McLaren, AMA SA’s position is not about doctors ‘dodging’ a tax but about ensuring patient access to care.
You can read the transcript and take a quick listen here
African Heart Health
I am grateful to AMA SA Councillor Dr Jayanthi Jayakaran, who represented AMA SA at the Second Annual African Australian Heart Health Initiative (AAHHI) Medical Symposium on Saturday. Jayanthi will report to Council and to the membership in more detail at a future time, but AMA SA is pleased to support the initiative and to work on aligned issues with the AAHHI.
AMA SA New Councillor induction
The Council, under the leadership of Dr Karen Koh, is the central policy formulation engine of AMA SA. This week, new Councillors met with the team at AMA SA HQ to receive their induction and to begin the process of service to members by providing much-valued input to Council and raising issues from their craft groups to the AMA SA advocacy agenda. Vice President Dr Louis Papilion and I look forward to working with Karen and the Councillors to further the mission of AMA SA.