Primary Care and Digital Health Support - September 2025

During August 2025, Country SA PHN Manager - Primary Care and Digital Support Julie Di Rito and Primary Care Support Officer Jane Cooper provided face-to-face visits to health-focused organisations, including general practices, throughout the Eyre Peninsula, discussing primary care and digital support topics, and giving updates on current Country SA PHN activities.

Information was provided on changes to Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items that replace the current GP Management Plans (GPMP) and Team Care Arrangements (TCA) with a single GP Chronic Condition Management Plan (GPCCMP).

They also discussed:

• The upcoming changes related to the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program
• The new Practice Health Profiles available to general practices. These profiles will support Quality Improvement (QI) activities by analysing practice data to enhance Accreditation.
• Accreditation support with the introduction of the RACGP 6^th Standards
• Lulu immunisation books

Note for General Practices: Webinar recordings are available to support general practice regarding the upcoming MBS related changes. These can be accessed on the Primary Care Portal.

If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact Country SA PHN’s Primary Care & Digital Support team on [email protected].

Forty health professionals attended a bowel and cervical screening education event in Port Lincoln, where visiting Gastroenterologist Dr Paul Spizzo provided an update of current guidelines, the rising trend of bowel cancer in younger people and the importance of screening.

Presentations were also provided by Dr Rebecca Starkie who discussed the new cervical screening guidelines and John Lee, who provided information how general practices can register for the National Cancer Screening Register (NCSR).  

A video roleplay from Dr Adelaide Boylan was also provided, demonstrating how GPs can have the conversations with their patients about the self-screening tools available.

The event was offered as a hybrid event to improve its accessibility.

Attendees included General Practitioners, Registrars, Practice Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Physiotherapists and Pharmacists.  This event was funded by Preventive Health SA, commissioned by Country SA PHN and delivered by SAPMEA.

Capacity building for health workers across regional and rural SA in sexual and reproductive health is essential to improving access and addressing gaps in service delivery.

SHINE SA supported by Country SA PHN is proud to announce the launch of the Country SA Sexual and Reproductive Health Training Project in an effort to build workforce capacity and improve access to quality and inclusive training opportunities for primary health care workers. 

This project follows a 2024 report from SHINE SA, commissioned by Country SA PHN and produced by Professor Katina D’Onise AM, ‘Improving Regional Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health.’ The report examines the availability of sexual and reproductive health services across Country SA, identifies barriers to access faced by the community, and offers recommendations for future improvements.

This project aims to address gaps in service delivery with SHINE SA offering full scholarships for primary health care workers working in General Practices and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations across regional and rural South Australia to attend SHINE SA’s sexual and reproductive health training.

Scholarships will cover full course fees, travel and accommodation for participants travelling from regional and rural South Australia. These opportunities will build workforce knowledge and skills across a wide range of topics particularly contraception, pregnancy choices, LGBTIQA+ inclusion, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), blood borne viruses (BBVs) and more.

To find out more about SHINE SA’s courses you can visit the SHINE SA website.

SHINE SA is also seeking expressions of interest for regional in person training roadshows to be delivered in the first half of 2026. If you are interested, please contact SHINE SA’s Project Manager [email protected].

Funded by Preventive Health SA, commissioned by Country SA PHN and delivered by SAPMEA, a Barossa Valley Bowel Cancer and Cervical Self-collection education event will be held on Thursday 23 October 2025 for local health workers. The event will be delivered in hybrid format.

Learn more and register today.

Between January and June 2025, Gender Connect Country SA conducted a scoping project to understand the current state of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) inclusive practice across regional and rural South Australia. Through interviews with 12 service providers representing health, community, and social services, this project explored strengths, challenges, and opportunities for inclusive care.

The findings reveal that while some providers are committed to inclusive practice, significant barriers remain, including geographic isolation, workforce limitations, inconsistent internal policies, and a lack of inclusive general practitioners (GPs). A reliance on individual staff champions and the absence of lived experience in service delivery further compound challenges.

This report outlines five recommended action areas to support affirming practices for TGD and LGBTIQA+ people:

• Implement a ‘No Wrong Door’ systems approach to inclusive service delivery
• Address internal organisational barriers
• Prioritise workforce development
• Integrate lived experience
• Strengthen community networks and visibility

Editor's note: This Gender Connect Country SA report was funded by Country SA PHN, and the above contains excerpts from this report.

The CDM Plus webinars supporting general practice staff on the MBS billing changes are now complete.

Accessing Webinar Materials:
To view the video recordings 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]

To secure funding for future webinars Country SA PHN requires evaluation of the webinar series.  Please provide feedback via the Webinar Series Feedback Survey.

Country SA PHN is excited to offer one free Corporate Membership to each general practice that attends our CDM plus webinar series. Contact us on [email protected] to find out more. Visit the CDM Plus website for Membership details.

Practice Health Profiles can be accessed in the Country SA PHN Primary Care Portal (PCP) providing practices the opportunity to review their practice data and develop Quality Improvement (QI) activities. 

To register for the portal please send a request to [email protected].

Bulk billing incentive payments changes from 1 November 2025 will expand the eligibility of bulk billing incentives to all Australians with a Medicare card.

Currently, general practitioners (GPs) only receive Medicare bulk billing incentives if they bulk bill children under 16 years old and Commonwealth concession card holders.

On 15 August 2025, Mark Butler, Minister for Health, Disability and Ageing announced that from 1 November 2025, practices and GPs registering for the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program (BBPIP) will equally share in the additional incentive payment of 12.5% of MBS billings for eligible services.

The even BBPIP payment split recognises the roles played by both practices and providers in delivering bulk billed services to patients.

Practices that join the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program must bulk bill every eligible service for every patient, to receive the incentive payment. The Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program payment will be in addition to MBS benefits paid (including  bulk billing incentives).

Further details and instructions on how to register in BBPIP will be provided later this year, and registration for BBPIP will be available from 1 November 2025.

Accredited practices can prepare in advance, by registering for MyMedicare now. Instructions on how to register for MyMedicare are available on the Services Australia Health Professional Education Resources website.

A resource answering frequently asked questions about BBPIP is available for practices, providers, practice managers and health professionals, including eligibility, benefits and how the program operates.

For practice support please contact [email protected].

As noted on a new Australian Digital Health Agency fact sheet, “My Health Record is a safe and secure place to keep your key health information. Your record is available to you, your healthcare providers and representatives at any time. This includes in an emergency.”

Read the full My Health Record fact sheet.

If you need assistance with registering for My Health Record, contact [email protected].

As described by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, the Workforce Incentive Program (WIP) Practice Stream “provides financial incentives to help general practices with the cost of engaging nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, and/or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and practitioners.”

For more information about the WIP Practice Stream, click on the below resources:

• WIP Practice Stream: an overview
• WIP Practice Stream: program statistics 
• WIP Practice Stream: how it works
• WIP Practice Stream: guidelines

Should you need assistance please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Primary Care and Digital Support Team at [email protected].

Electronic prescribing

As described by the Australian Digital Health Agency, “Electronic prescribing is an alternative to paper prescriptions, providing patients with convenient access to their medicines, and improving safety by reducing the risk of transcription errors.

“Electronic prescriptions are not mandatory and patients will have a choice to receive either an electronic or a paper prescription (but not both).”

Learn more about how electronic prescribing works.

Active Script Lists

The Australian Digital Health Agency website describes an Active Script List (ASL) as “a token management solution that contains a consolidated list of a patient’s active prescriptions.

“Patients will need to register for an Active Script List by visiting a pharmacy or prescriber that is enabled to offer this service”.

For more information, visit the Australian Digital Health Agency website. For support, please contact [email protected].