Electrocardiograms are a common tool used by GPs to spot heart problems, and every medical student is trained to interpret one. Yet the government plans to remove Medicare funding for GPs to do this.
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Articles on General practice
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From the benefits of telehealth to the importance of integrating public and private systems, the COVID-19 pandemic offers several valuable lessons for Australia's health system.
Reports suggest people have been visiting their GPs for a certificate clearing them of COVID-19, at the request of their employer or school. But doctors can't conclusively clear a person of the virus.
Starting this week, all Australians with a Medicare card are eligible for telehealth consultations, where you talk to your GP by video or phone. But there's still some things you'll need to go in for.
The convenience of digital consultations can be compelling. But these services aren't without risk – especially when people don't interact directly with a health-care professional.
Antibiotics aren't a one-size-fits-all treatment – the one you had last time might not work on the infection you have at the moment. So how do doctors determine which one is likely to work?
Navigating the mosaic of mental health services available is hard. A GP can help.
Every child develops at a different pace so it can be difficult to know what's normal.
Prominent GP and former MP Kerryn Phelps has weighed into the doctor-pharmacist turf war, saying pharmacists shouldn't prescribe because of their financial interests. But the evidence says otherwise.
One in four Australians is overweight or obese by the time they reach adolescence, but it's difficult to predict who is at risk. These three questions can help.
New modelling shows skipping the need for a doctors' prescription and going straight to a pharmacist for the pill could save the health system A$96 million a year and improve women's health outcomes.
It is not always easy to identify who needs palliative care.
The threshold for diagnosing common conditions such as high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease and gestational diabetes have all lowered in recent years. But for whose benefit?
GP at Hand is winning plaudits, but what are the long-term costs of this video consultation service?
Farmers experience drought-related stress. Improving their mental health enhances adaptive capacity and resilience. Drought support must address relationships between drought and mental health.
Over the past 16 years, GPs have got much better at diagnosing and treating people with atrial fibrillation. And it's saving lives.
GPs have been advised to limit prescriptions for certain medical conditions. It could save the NHS a fortune.
Unlike condoms, which need to be used every time with sex, or the pill, which must be taken every day, LARC doesn’t require any action after placement in the body and is immediately reversible.
Digital records are all well and good, but they still don't match the versatility of paper.
A study that shows GPs are prescribing about five million too many antibiotic scripts a year means we have to take a radical new approach to reducing use of these drugs.
Top contributors
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Stephen Duckett is a Friend of The Conversation.Director, Health Program, Grattan Institute
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Brett Montgomery is a Friend of The Conversation.
Senior Lecturer in General Practice, University of Western Australia
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Reader in Health Economics, Centre for Health Economics, University of York
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Health Fellow, Grattan Institute
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Professor of Public Health, Bond University
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Professor, The University of Melbourne
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Senior Research Fellow in Health Economics, Curtin University
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Research Fellow, Family Medicine Research Centre, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney
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Senior Research Analyst, Family Medicine Research Centre, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney
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Associate professor, Director of the Family Medicine Research Centre, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney
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Associate Professor of General Practice, University of Sydney
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Emeritus Professor, Menzies Centre for Health Policy, University of Sydney
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Director of UWA Centre for Software Practice, University of Western Australia
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Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, The University of Melbourne
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Adjunct Associate Professor, Menzies Centre for Health Policy, University of Sydney
