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Privatising the Medicare payment system: What are the risks?

In this podcast recorded live on ABC overnights Margaret Faux discusses the federal government’s plans to privatise Medicare in the context of the 2016 Federal Election….

Is after hours care keeping patients out of emergency departments?

Medicare expenditure on after hours GP services has risen dramatically in the past year. But does it really keep patients out of Emergency Departments. Margaret Faux chatted with Ellen Leadbeater on 2SER FM’s Think Health about the rise in after hours care. Listen to the full tra…

Privatisation of Medicare is risky business

We have come to expect that our politicians will dismiss each other’s policies as scaremongering when it’s expedient to do so. But we demand more of our journalists, whose job it is to provide balance and perspective. Last night the ABC let us down in this regard when it comes …

If bulk billing stops patients will pay full fees upfront

Margaret Faux’s recent Croakey post, republished on the Medical Republic, explaining the devastating impact an end to bulk billing will have on patients. Read the full article on medicalrepublic.com.au…

Newsletter, June 2016

Welcome to our winter newsletter. We recently launched an exciting new service at the AMA National Conference, where we were the platinum sponsor. It represents further innovation and a response to demands for flexibility and tailored solutions. You can now have the Synapse medic…

Margaret Faux presenting at the AMA National Conference in Canberra on 27 May 2016

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Medicare rebate freeze will hit patients harder than they realise

In this recent Croakey article, Margaret Faux explains the real impact of the freeze on patients and how use of the term ‘co-payment’ is misleading and often poorly understood.

Read the story in full on Croakey.org…

AMA Conference 2016

We are pleased to be this years Platinum Sponsor at the AMA National Conference for 2016.

This year, organisers have confirmed a conference that looks better than ever. They have lined up exciting speakers, interactive sessions, master class CPD sessions all within a famil…

Newsletter, April 2016

The year has definitely kicked off with a bang for Synapse! We have a new website which will be launched later this week, and we have news on app developments, the rapid growth of Appointmaid and more. We have also opened a brand new large scale delivery centre to man…

Tap and gone: Outsourcing Medicare (ABC Interview)

Will outsourcing Medicare payments lead to privatisation? Phillip Adams of ABC’s Late Night Live asks just this of Margaret Faux – as US outsourcing firm, Accenture, rumours to be interested in tendering for Medicare’s payment systems.

‘Healthy is the new wealthy’ is one of …

Outsourcing Medicare: Will a ‘tap and go’ approach lead to Medicare being tapped and gone?

In this recent Croakey article, Margaret Faux challenges the Government’s position and argues that the proposal to outsource Medicare payments could lead to long-term and irreversible changes to the fundamental nature of Medicare.

Read the story in full on Croakey.org

&nb…

Outsourcing Medicare payments to private sector “beggars belief”: expert

Our very own Margaret Faux answers some questions for journalist Kate McDonald of PULSE+IT, as the story breaks that the Australian government is looking at privatising or outsourcing Medicare claiming and payments.

The idea of outsourcing the notoriously complex Medicare paym…

Does Medicare Need Modernising?

Medicare is one of those things that’s distinctly Australian but does it need to adapt to the times? Margaret Faux is a lawyer, registered nurse and founder of Synapse Medical Services.

Her PhD is entitled “Claiming and compliance under the Medicare Benefits Schedule: A critic…

Sussan Ley under fire over pathology comments

Health Minister Sussan Ley’s office has come under fire for her recent comments, saying patients should be “suspicious” of pathologists’ estimates of how much they would have to pay for pap smears and blood tests to recover planned federal cuts. Our very own Margaret Faux dispute…

Pap smears and political amnesia

The pap smear debacle exposes an amnesia at the heart of government, where reforms are born in a vacuum and informed debate takes a back seat, writes Margaret Faux.

Ready the story in full on Croakey.org

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Synapse Christmas arrangements

The Synapse office will remain open over the Christmas period with the exception of the public holidays.

There may be some minor delays in completing your files as we will be operating with skeleton staff.

We wish you all a safe and happy festive season and than…

Newsletter, November 2015

What a year! It’s seems that only a moment ago we sent out the April newsletter and yet here we are, drawing close to the end of 2015. I’m delighted to be able to finally take a breath and update you on the exciting developments at Synapse since we last spoke.

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Challenges to the implementation of capitation payments for chronic illness

In this piece, Margaret Faux argues that the political climate on fee-for-service medicine is shifting, with the Minister for Health and her Government colleagues prepared to explore alternative options, at least for the management of people with chronic illnesses in primary heal…

Think: Health Radio Interview 2ser 107.3 – two stories you have probably heard very little about

2ser 107.3 take a look at the health professional behind your Medicare transaction.

How knowledgable are they about rebates? Could the government save money by investing in Medicare training for doctors? They speak to Margaret Faux, a PhD student in the Faculty of Health at th…

IMPORTANT: Changes at HCF require action by you by 29 June 2015

This bulletin contains important information about changes at HCF that will affect you from 1 July 2015. Please take a moment to read it now.

Best wishes,

 
IMPORTANT: Changes at HCF require action by you by 29 June 2015
Effective 1 July 2015, HCF is introduci…

Newsletter, April 2015

April newsletter

Welcome to our first newsletter for 2015.

It’s already been an exciting year for Synapse, with our new Melbourne office now open for business and a new budget billing service, Synapse Saver, coming on stream next month. We’ve brought in some talented ne…

Tony Abbott’s Medicare “deforms” or How to Trick Senators 1.01

The Federal Government’s co-payments Plan B will add another layer of co-payment complexity to the Medicare system that neither doctors nor patients fully understand. Margaret Faux discusses a whole range of issues that this has raised in her recent article.

Ready the story …

Christmas newsletter, 2014

Welcome to our last newsletter for 2014.

It’s been another bumper year at Synapse with solid growth in all areas. Our in-house purpose-built Appointmaid patient scheduling platform was rolled out and the service continues to attract more and more new clients. We …

Newsletter September 2014

September newsletter

Welcome to our second newsletter for 2014.

It has been a long, cold, and particularly busy winter here at the Synapse Sydney office but spring has finally come to Spring Street, Bondi Junction and much has transpired since we last wrote.

We’ve been…

Outsourcing Medicare: Is it as easy as ? (pi)?

Following on from the range of issues raised by Croakey contributors about the outsourcing of MBS and PBS payments, Margaret Faux discusses the most appropriate role for the private sector in supporting core government functions and the risks involved when private sector interest…

Abbott’s Medicare reforms – today’s crime is tomorrow’s co-payment

In this third article in a series about Medicare, Margaret Faux provides her take on an interesting legal angle of the GP co-payment.

Read the story in full on Crikey.com.au …

2014 the year of the co-payment: lessons from the NHS

What can we learn from the UK’s recent experiments in primary health care about co-payments, economic incentives and the impact of creating barriers to access? Margaret Faux, from the University of Technology, Sydney, outlines some important messages for Governments a…

HIC 2014: Enter the world of e-health innovation

JOIN SYNAPSE AT HIC 2014.

Synapse will be in Melbourne at the HIC 2014 conference from 12-14 August, 2014. Come and visit us in Booth 5! We’d love to see you.

 
SYNAPSE MEDICAL SERVCIES is proud to support …
Australia’s digital health, e-health and health informa…

GP co-payments: Deregulation of the bulk billing market

In this second of a series of posts about Medicare, Margaret Faux looks at how perverse financial incentives, the increased financial pressure applied to pensioners and GPs and the lack of supporting infrastructure make the Federal Government’s $7 GP co-payment proposal a high …

Medicare co-payments – Has Tony Abbott closed Australia for (private health insurance) business?

“In this first of a series of posts about Medicare, Margaret Faux notes that the Abbott Federal Government appears to be trying to gain some traction from former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s introduction of co-payments. But she says, more can be garnered from considering wh…