Larter is a leading primary health sector consulting firm. We aim to support, educate and motivate general practice teams to help build a high performing primary health sector to improve the viability and quality of health service delivery and ultimately improve health outcomes for the community.
We bring particular expertise in helping practices to appropriately use Medicare, improve business systems, respond to health care reform including the NDIS and My Aged Care, and build the capacity of their workforce and teams.
Our general practice support services are designed to be practical and relevant to the day-to-day work of practices. Read more in our General Practice Support flyer.
Examples of our practice support services are described below.
-
Medicare training
Medicare training
Medicare can be a headache and there isn’t a lot of time to learn about item numbers and Medicare compliance in a fast-paced general practice. Larter has developed Medicare Bites, which are 30-60 minute in-practice training sessions that can be delivered over lunch, after work or as part of a team meeting. Medicare Bites are built on what practices need: clear information, opportunities to ask questions relevant to everyday practice, and an engaging delivery style.
Practices can choose topics to suit them. Options include:
- Medicare for chronic disease management and allied health
- Medicare for telehealth
- Medicare for mental health care and other mental health funded initiatives
- Medicare for health assessments and health checks
- What’s new in the Medicare Benefits Schedule?
- Medicare and the roles of nurses
- Medicare compliance tips
-
Practice team training
Practice team training
Larter has also developed engaging education modules on request, which can be delivered in any practice. They are:
- Managing Infection Risk in the Primary Care Setting
- Triage for Non-Clinical Staff in General Practice
- Customer Service Skills for Administrative Staff in General Practice
-
General practice revenue finder
General practice revenue finder
General practices are under revenue pressure. Medicare rebates are frozen while practice costs increase each year. Furthermore, MBS items and government incentive schemes are constantly changing. It is important for practices to ensure they understand what they are entitled to claim, before considering increasing fees which can render the practice less competitive and can make it harder for some patients to access health services.
Larter can audit a practice’s revenue sources and recommend how the practice can increase its revenue. We look at:
- Mix of MBS items being claimed by GPs, including ‘high revenue’ items, benchmarked against other Australian and Victorian GP claim averages
- Whether the practice is claiming sufficient procedural items as well as consultation items
- Claims for government programs such as the Practice Incentive Program (PIP) and Practice Nurse Incentive Program (PNIP)
- Patient fees policy and rate of bulk billing benchmarked against practices serving similar demographics
-
Mock Medicare compliance audit
Mock Medicare compliance audit
Each year, Medicare audits hundreds of practices with little warning. Some practices are concerned about practitioners’ compliance against Medicare requirements for groups of MBS items such as chronic disease management, allied health, procedural or health assessment items.
Larter can help practices understand MBS requirements and ensure they are prepared if ever audited. We have developed a refined, systematic method to audit de-identified patient notes and associated paperwork to determine whether a practice is meeting Medicare’s requirements in relation to specific items. We offer a short report with recommendations at the conclusion of the audit.
-
General practice business improvement service
General practice business improvement service
We can help ensure your finances are in order so that you have the freedom to enjoy your business and clinical practice. Larter partners with SBM Stavros chartered accountants to provide business improvement services to non-corporate owned general practices in Victoria, with a particular specialty in rural general practice.
We meet with the practice principals to determine need in the first instance followed by analysis and reporting. Our services include:
- Financial benchmarking – we have comprehensive data from 65 general practices against which to benchmark a practice’s financial performance
- Operational assessments – we assess operational performance and refine business plans, policies and procedures and business efficiencies
- Strategic and business planning
- Tax advice and compliance – we can assist with corporate structure, salary packaging and fringe benefit taxes, funding property, plant and equipment, handling government grants, employment taxation and other issues
- Superannuation – we offer self-managed superannuation fund services such as Trust Deed establishment and ongoing administration, maintenance and compliance
- Family business succession planning
-
Audit of infection risk management
Audit of infection risk management
General practice settings require infection prevention and control processes to prevent the transmission of disease and ensure the health and safety of patients, staff and the community. It is also an accreditation requirement.
We can help ensure your practice is meeting accreditation standards and best practice through our infection control and risk management audit. We tailor an audit process for your practice and can include:
- Reviewing current practice policies and procedures against national standards and guidelines
- A physical (walk-around) assessment of infection control processes using a risk analysis framework that identifies risks and offers recommendations for improvement
- A formal report and follow-up training to highlight audit findings and embed best practice for infection control