National Health Performance Authority, Healthy Communities: After-hours GP attendances, 2012–13

GP after-hours attendances are Medicare benefit-funded after-hours patient/doctor encounters, such as visits and consultations, for which the patient has not been referred by another doctor. They include urgent and non-urgent non-referred attendances.

Relevant non-referred Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items used in this indicator are:

For urgent attendances after hours, all items in MBS Group A11 (Urgent attendance after hours).

For non-urgent attendances after hours, all items in MBS Groups A22 (General practitioner attendances to which no other item apples) and A23 (other non-referred after hours attendances to which no other item applies).

Rates directly age-standardised to the 2001 Australian population.

Total services (attendances/visits – source MBS claims data).

Total Estimated Resident Population (ERP) as supplied by the ABS.

In undertaking age standardisation of MBS data, the age of each person was determined from the last MBS service of any type, processed by the Department of Human Services in 2012–13. All MBS services for each individual processed in 2012–13, were attributed to the age in question.

For MBS data, Medicare Local and SA3 were determined having regard to the enrolment postcode for each person from the last MBS service of any type, processed by the Department of Human Services in 2012–13. All MBS services for each individual processed in 2012–13, were attributed to the postcode in question.

MBS postcode level data were allocated to Medicare Local and SA3 regions using concordance files provided by ABS.

Numerator based on Medicare (MBS) data provided by Department of Health for the financial year of processing, 2012–13.

Denominator data – Estimated Resident Population at 30 June 2012 provided by ABS.

Presented per person.

Before MBS data are published by NHPA all confidential data cells are suppressed.

The current definition of confidential data is as follows:

• For number of MBS services:
  • if number of services is less than 6 or
  • if number of services is equal to or greater than 6 but
    • one provider provides more than 85% of services or two providers provide more than 90% of services or
    • one patient receives more than 85% of services or two patients receive more than 90% of services.

• If data on number of services is confidential, corresponding data on other measures such as MBS benefit paid is also regarded as confidential.