Primary Care and Digital Health Support - October 2025

The Welcoming Environments Small Grants Activity 24-25 was offered to Country SA PHN service providers to commission local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander artists to design and implement an art installation at the respective sites. The desired outcome of this grant was to create a welcoming and inclusive environment and display cultural pride in the region.

A knock-on effect outcome was that the respective clinics’ participation in the process of this project increased their awareness and understanding of Aboriginal culture in their regions which nurtures improved cultural competency for the country SA primary health workforce and will guide best practice moving forward.

Mannum Medical, Summit Health Centre, Mt Barker Medical, Central Clinic Port Pirie, and Murray Bridge Day & Night Surgery were successful in their grant applications and went on to commission outstanding projects that celebrate and promote region-specific storytelling. An unveiling of the artwork at Summit Health Centre in Mount Barker is shown in the images below.

The Primary Care and Digital Support team is currently visiting general practices in person to discuss a range of key topics, including digital health support, primary care initiatives, and updates on current Country SA PHN activities.

A major focus of these visits has been around the recent changes to the GP Management Plans (GPMP) and Team Care Arrangements (TCA) replaced by a single GP Chronic Condition Management Plan (GPCCMP), upcoming changes to the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program, Go share by healthily, New Practice Health Profiles available in primary care portal – designed to support Quality Improvement (QI) by using practice-level data to assist with Accreditation preparation, and Lulu immunisation books.

For any questions or further information on these topics, please contact the Country SA PHN Primary Care & Digital Support team at [email protected].

We extend our warm congratulations to the team at Goolwa Medical Centre on the opening of their new Skin Hub clinic.

This fantastic initiative is already making a meaningful impact by providing local access to skin checks, helping patients avoid the need to travel to Victor Harbor for these important services.

Well done to the Goolwa Medical Centre team for identifying a community need and delivering a solution that improves access to care and supports early detection of skin conditions.

1. Register your practice for MyMedicare*
2. MyMedicare practices should setup and maintain their Organisation Register including:
   1. Ensure your Organisation Site Record details are correct (see Organisation Register - Health Professional Education Resources).
   2. Make sure providers are linked from the date the Organisation Site Record was created or the day they commenced working from the practice (this includes GPs, Registrars, Nurse Practitioners, Practice Nurses, Aboriginal Health Workers and Practitioners).
   3. Link your patients to their preferred GP in the Organisation Site Record.
   4. Keep your Organisation Register up to date when providers change at your practice (when a provider leaves or a new provider starts at your practice).
   5. Keep your accreditation up to date - check your accreditation record and ensure your accreditation details are added correctly (see page 8 - ORGREGM06 - Amend your Organisation Site Record through HPOS).
3. Switch on your HPOS notifications by email, and understand HPOS notifications
4. Communicate with your patients about MyMedicare registration*.
   1. If you are the patient’s usual practice they wish to attend for ongoing care (such as GP Chronic Conditions Management care), encourage patients to register for MyMedicare with your practice.
   2. If a patient prefers to visit another general practice for ongoing care, do not register them for MyMedicare at your practice. Encourage them to register for MyMedicare and attend their preferred practice- particularly for care that is ongoing care (such as GP Chronic Conditions Management Items).
5. If you are receiving a MyMedicare-related error code when processing claims, check that the patient is registered for MyMedicare with your practice. Remember, if you have more than one practice location, the patient needs to be registered at the location that the claim is being made.

*MyMedicare Registration is voluntary for both patients and practices. Patients can self-register using the MyGov app. Practices must always gain informed consent from patients for MyMedicare registration.

MBS Items and Incentives linked with a MyMedicare conditional rule^ include:

• The General Practice in Aged Care Incentive
• GP Chronic Conditions Management Plans
• Telephone Level C and D MBS items
• Triple Bulk Billing Incentives for video and telephone consultations that are longer than 20 minutes (Levels C, D and E) for eligible MyMedicare patients registered with the practice.

^It is important to remember that not all claim rejections are related to MyMedicare. Co-claiming restrictions may apply. There are also long-standing MBS rules that apply to GP chronic condition management items that may result in a claim being rejected.

If you need MyMedicare support, please contact us [email protected]. You can find more information about MyMedicare on the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability an Ageing website.

For further information on GP chronic condition management plans please see:

• MBS Online - Upcoming changes to the MBS Chronic Disease Management Framework
• MBS Online Explanatory Notes including AN.15.3 and AN.0.47

Country SA PHN facilitates local capacity building for Country SA rural and remote workforce through commissioning programs such as the Dementia Support Pharmacist Program. Incepted in May 2024, this program delivers best practice support to patients, pharmacists, carers, families and specialist nurses across the Country SA PHN region.

Dee-Anne Hull and Nicola Sander provide outreach to rural and remote regions and strive to support medication management, symptom management, education for health professionals, families and carers as well as advanced care planning with an emphasis on deprescribing.

The fantastic work undertaken over the 24/25 financial year is highlighted through the below patient quotes.

Country SA PHN thanks the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia for their ongoing dedication to providing high quality care and support to our most vulnerable cohorts across rural and remote SA.

“Mums memory has improved since reducing a medication she has been on since 2017, I have a better understanding of the medications that Mum is on, Mum is having more pain relief from suggestions from Dementia Pharmacist”.

“I feel supported in my role by the pharmacist as I am relatively new to prescribing. The expertise the pharmacist has is invaluable to my role and has improved my own knowledge and prescribing practices.”

“Fantastic service, recommend it highly, particularly for rural and remote which have very limited options.”

Healthcare organisations registered for My Health Record are required to keep their Security and Access Policy up to date. This policy must be reviewed at least every 12 months, and sooner if there are changes to your systems, staff roles or security risks, to ensure it remains accurate and compliant. Regular reviews help protect patient information and meet your ongoing participation obligations.

For more information please visit My Health Record participation obligations. This checklist My Health Record Checklist supports health care organisations to establish a My Health record security and access policy.

Practices are able to identify their patients who did not receive the 2 care planning services over the 12-month period using the forecast tool in HPOS at a practice or responsible provider level (refer to slide 8 on this HPE resource).

The following step-by-step guide outlines how to produce a list of patients that did not meet 12-month service requirements.

For questions or support, please contact us [email protected].

Step 1: Navigate to the ‘search assessments’ tab under the patient eligibility tile

Step 2: Select the relevant assessment forecast and responsible provider

Step 3: View eligible patients against the provider and select view details and 12 month servicing details

SHINE SA is offering Scholarships for Primary Healthcare Workers in Regional & Rural SA to participate in their sexual and reproductive health and relationship wellbeing courses.

Priority for these scholarships will be given to primary healthcare workers who work in regional and rural South Australia and include:

• General practitioners (GPs)
• Registered nurses (RNs) 
• Enrolled nurses (ENs) 
• Nurse Practitioners (NPs)
• Midwives (RMs)
• Aboriginal health practitioners (AHPs) 
• Aboriginal health workers (AHWs)

Complete the Scholarships Form on the SHINE SA website to apply.

Country SA PHN will be delivering face-to-face and online education for GPs, practice nurses and Aboriginal Health Workers supporting bowel cancer screening and Cervical Self collect. The education will be delivered in all regions.

• Barossa Hybrid CPD Event – 23 October 2025
• Murray Bridge Hybrid CPD Event – 2 December 2025
• Adelaide Hills – November 2025 date TBC

This will be followed with videos and information bundles for general practice to send out via SMS to patients for Bowel and Cervical Screening.

To view the video recording and download the slides, simply log in to the Country SA PHN Primary Care Portal. If you haven’t yet registered for portal access, please email us at: [email protected].

Examples: Via the corporate membership; Real-time updates within CDM Plus, including any changes to MBS item numbers.

The IAR Guidance (IAR) and Decision Support Tool (IAR-DST) are designed to establish a national, standardised approach to conducting initial mental health assessments, and support general practitioners and other clinicians to recommend the most appropriate level of care for a person seeking mental health support.

The IAR and the IAR-DST are an Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Aging initiative bringing together information from various sources, including Australian and international evidence and advice from various leading experts. The IAR-DST is not an assessment tool.

View the schedule of IAR workshops to be held across October and November 2025.