A Geraldton doctor says the increasing cost of doing business and competition from online set-ups could lead to fewer GPs in regional areas.
Last week a 1.6 per cent increase in the Medicare rebate for a standard consultation came into effect, representing a 65-cent increase on a 20-minute appointment.
Midwest Division of General Practice deputy chair, Richard Taylor, says some local clinics were already struggling to stay afloat.
"There's an average increase every year of 5 per cent with our suppliers, the cost of our PPE, and all the costs we are absorbing as a result of COVID precautions, so the 1.6 per cent increase isn't going to make a difference to any of those increasing costs," Dr Taylor said.
"The rising costs, the very, very small increase in the Medicare rebate, and the online and telehealth service is really threatening the viability of general practices.
"The reality is most bulk-billing practices will collapse as they struggle to cover these costs, the rental, and the staff costs, all of these things.
"Universal bulk billing is just not sustainable anymore, and if we don't recognise that and we don't support our general practices then general practice will start to close down."
Impact of online health
Dr Taylor said there had been a big growth in advertising of online consultations and script services, which might not be the best option for quality care.
"In addition to checking whether you've got a cold, are they checking your preventative health? Are they checking your blood pressure? Are they talking to you about family planning?" he said.
Dr Taylor said it might impact future access to doctors locally.
"Yes, it's convenient but I don't think you are doing yourself a favour by taking shortcuts and going through that convenience route," he said.
"It will have a big impact on GPs because if people do pivot more towards the online convenience and providing the service for free, then they're not going to the general practice in the community."
Rising costs
Dr Taylor said GPs had been dealing with the same inflationary pressures as other businesses and needed to find a way to cover those costs that were not being met by Medicare.
The health service he worked for employed about 70 people in a range of roles.
"We are actually a small business and employer and we need to be able to pay our staff, our nurses, and our receptionists," he said.
Dr Taylor said the only way to cover rising costs as a bulk billing practice would be shorter consultations, but that affected quality of care.
"The more patients you see as a doctor, the more income you are able to generate. The downfall of this is that it will impact patient care," he said.
"Unless the doctor sees more patients, the only way for a doctor to make ends meet and keep a practice running is to charge a gap for service."
Less attractive for young doctors
Dr Taylor said the 65c per consultation increase in the Medicare rebate would discourage future doctors from going into general practice.
"We will find that junior doctors will look at general practice and think 'Actually, maybe I should be thinking about going down another speciality route'," he said.
