Accreditation

In the early 1990s it was proposed by government and professional organisations that an independent and voluntary system of practice accreditation be established to promote quality care in General Practices.

Developed in 1999 with the primary goal of providing General Practices in Australia with a choice of accreditation provider, GPA ACCREDITATION plus was introduced. Accreditation through GPA ACCREDITATION plus is a modular program of quality assurance, audit and risk management.

General Practices are assessed for accreditation against the RACGP Standards for General Practices. Since 1 January 2006, all Practices registering for accreditation have been assessed against the 3rd Edition Standards.

GPA ACCREDITATION plus has significant benefits over other accreditation programs. These include:

• A modular program, including audited feedback; that provides a guide for Practices as it prepares for accreditation
• Each Practice is assigned its own Quality Accreditation Manager to provide support and answer questions about the standards and the process of accreditation
• GPA is the only accreditation program itself accredited by JAS-ANZ – Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand to rigorous standards established by the profession (Procedure 16)

Accreditation is the entry point for the Australian Government Practice Incentive Program (PIP). Payments made to practices through the program are in addition to other income earned by the General Practitioners and the practice, such as patient payments and Medicare rebates. Further details on the PIP are available at the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing website.

At GPA our focus is on supporting your practice.

More details on the process of accreditation through GPA is available or contact GPA.