Dear Sussan,

I am glad common sense prevailed today and you called a halt to the changes that were to take effect on Monday. I see this as a reprieve, but not a victory. You have made it very clear you are intent on making changes.

I am disappointed you place the emphasis on consulting with the medical profession. I assume the public, the patients, the ones who pay the insurance premium are just lumped in under the category “others”. I’m not an “other”, Sussan, I am one of the many for whom Medicare actually exists. Medicare doesn’t exist for the medical profession, Medicare exists for the patients.

As First Dog on the Moon so beautifully reminded us all, Medicare is forty years old. I have absolutely no difficulty in accepting that a forty year old system may need updating. Imagine if we were all still driving T-model Fords. There are no doubt efficiencies that could be implemented, perhaps the item numbers may need a complete revamp, an alternative could be found for sick leave certificates and prescription repeats. The possibilities are endless, I agree.

The stakeholders you need to engage with are the patients, the customers of Medicare. Good change management is crucial. Consultation involves listening and understanding, not simply meeting with interested parties for appearances then ignoring their input to the discussion and acting in a unilateral or dictatorial fashion.

Certainly doctors need to be involved in the discussions, for it is the medical profession that administers much of the system. Doctors determine the item numbers, for example, and much of the data capture is now done directly at medical clinics. Any changes certainly need the agreement of the medical profession to function smoothly.

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