Three simple steps to Financial Budgeting and Reporting By Stuart Chan from Cutcher & Neale.

There is a common misconception regarding the number of Indigenous patients in the Sydney metropolitan area and that Indigenous health is an issue for remote communities. The fact is that a high proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Australians live in major metropolitan areas but many GP’s often say, “I don’t have any Indigenous patients”. The most common reality however is that in these areas there is more likely to be an under-serviced Indigenous population due to limited access to general practice services.

Since arriving at CSGPN only a few short months ago, there has been a lot to learn and a lot of information to go through. Now that I have been able to find my feet, I’ve had the opportunity to read all the comments and feedback we have received about Practice Support and Accreditation at CSGPN. What we have been hearing is that you would like us to provide increased support to practice managers and improve the content on the webpage. So I have given the people what they want!

The rumour mill has been running hot over the past few months as Medicare announced late last year that there would be a scaling down of PIP payments to practices as part of its overhaul of the Australian health care system. In May 2010, the PIP news update featured details of changes to the program.

Communication can be defined as the exchange of thoughts, opinions or information by speech, writing or signs. In the general practice environment, communication is an integral tool in the management of patients, staff and day-to-day functioning of the business.

There were several key drivers in the development of the new edition standards including: the evolution of practice teams (where nurses are becoming more involved in the delivery of care and sharing the responsibility of quality and safety systems); a desire to incorporate key components of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (developed by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care); and to support a national accreditation scheme.