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Decade of M edicare: The contribution of private practice dietitians to chronic disease management and diabetes group services
Author(s) -
Cant Robyn,
Ball Lauren
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
nutrition and dietetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.479
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1747-0080
pISSN - 1446-6368
DOI - 10.1111/1747-0080.12175
Subject(s) - medicine , workforce , diabetes mellitus , family medicine , per capita , private practice , gerontology , nursing , environmental health , population , endocrinology , economics , economic growth
Aim To review changes in utilisation of dietetics services through the M edicare C hronic D isease M anagement program over the last decade and describe patient uptake in 2013. Methods Dietetics service data were extracted from published Medicare statistics for the periods (i) J anuary 2004 to D ecember 2013 and (ii) J anuary to D ecember 2013. Data comprised individual dietetics services by state and patient demography, and group services data for provider professions regarding type 2 diabetes: dietitians, diabetes educators and exercise physiologists. t ‐test was used to investigate the association of dietetics' individual service utilisation and workforce statistics. Results Individual dietetics C hronic D isease M anagement consultations in private practice have increased annually since 2004. Dietetics has remained the third largest provider. In 2013, a total of 302 910 individual consultations were conducted; 7% of allied health consultations. Likewise, individual services for I ndigenous A ustralians increased since 2008. Utilisation of group services for type 2 diabetes comprised <2% of dietetics services. Dietitians provided more group services than diabetes educators but considerably fewer than exercise physiologists. Middle‐aged and older patients were common, with highest uptake by those aged 55–74 years. Overall, total and per capita utilisation rates were considerably higher in NSW , V ictoria and Q ueensland compared to less populous states, although this disparity has reduced since 2010. Conclusions As 10 years has elapsed since the program's inception, further evaluation of the policy is needed to examine large variations in dietetics' C hronic D isease Management uptake by state and territory in both individual and group services.