Dodgy doctors face axe

HOME-CALL doctors are set to be banned from charging a $130 call-out fee as a major report exposes how they have wasted taxpayer dollars and put patient care at risk.

A damning independent taskforce into the industry has found it is wide open to abuse, there is financial incentive for exploitation, it “does not represent value for money for the taxpayer” and is a “pricing failure”.

And in a separate investigation, Health Minister Greg Hunt has confirmed the Health Department is now considering stripping the biggest of the companies, the National Home Doctor Service, of its license to claim Medicare items for up to three years.

“The Medicare Integrity Division is undertaking an independent review. If misconduct is found, the Professional Services Review has the option to impose a partial or full disqualification from claiming Medicare items,” Mr Hunt’s spokesman said.

The investigation was launched after it was revealed private equity-backed companies were raking in tens of millions of dollars by using junior and unqualified GPs to treat housebound sick Australians.

The final and yet-to-be-released report by the Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce, obtained by the Bulletin, has found the companies are providing “lowvalue care” in a “substantial waste of Medicare funding”.

The taskforce has recommended the companies be stripped of their business model that has seen them use junior doctors to rake in $130 for every house-call visit at night – even for something as simple as filling out a script.