EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
HEALTH INSURANCE ACT 1973
AMENDMENT DECLARATION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE ACTIVITIES UNDER SECTION 124X OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE ACT 1973 ─ QAA 1/2014
Part VC of the Health Insurance Act 1973 (the Act) creates a scheme (known as the Commonwealth Qualified Privilege Scheme) to encourage efficient quality assurance activities. Those activities help to ensure the quality of health services that are funded by the Government, through Medicare benefits, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Public Hospitals and/or Health Program Grants. The scheme encourages participation in such activities by protecting certain information from disclosure, and also by providing some protection from civil liability to certain persons engaged in those activities in good faith, in respect of those activities.
In order for Part VC of the Act to apply to an activity, the Minister or his delegate must make a declaration pursuant to section 124X of the Act that the activity described in the declaration is a quality assurance activity to which Part VC applies. Regulations 23C to 23G of the Health Insurance Regulations 1975 (the Regulations) set out the public interest criteria that must be met by quality assurance activities in order to be declared under section 124X of the Act.
The purpose of the Amendment Declaration of Quality Assurance Activities under section 124X of the Health Insurance Act 1973─ QAA 1/2014 (the Amendment Declaration) is to amend five current declarations of quality assurance activities to take account of changes to six different declared activities.
The changes relate to:
- in respect of three of the activities, the organisation engaging in the relevant activity;
- the title of two of the activities; and
- the description of two of the activities, in that further detail about the collection, storage and use of data has been added in each case.
Before the Minister or his delegate can make a Declaration, certain requirements must be met;
- firstly, the Minister or his delegate must be satisfied that the persons engaged in the activity are authorised to do so as described in section 124X(3)(a) of the Act – all persons engaged in the six quality assurance activities being amended in this instrument are authorised to do so under the Act.
- secondly, section 124X(3)(b) of the Act provides that the Minister or his delegate must be satisfied that it is in the public interest to have Part VC of the Act apply to the activity, having regard to the criteria prescribed in Regulations 23C to 23G. The quality assurance activities described in the principal instruments and in this amendment instrument meet the relevant criteria prescribed by the Regulations relating to public interest.
Details regarding the amendments to the five Declarations are set out in the Attachment.
Consultation
Consultations regarding the applications for amendment to the declarations were undertaken in December 2013. This included obtaining advice on whether the proposed amendments to be made to the activities would impact on the criteria for declaration of a quality assurance activity under the Act.
Those consulted included members of the Qualified Privilege Advisory Group, which includes: an external clinician; a legal expert; a quality manager working in the field of health care quality assurance; and a consumer representative.
The Amendment Declaration will not result in any direct or substantial indirect effect on business.
This Amendment Declaration commences the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.
This Amendment Declaration is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
ATTACHMENT
AMENDMENT DECLARATION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE ACTIVITIES UNDER SECTION 124X OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE ACT 1973 ─ QAA 1/2014
Section 1 - Name of Declaration
This Instrument is the Amendment Declaration of Quality Assurance Activities under section 124X of the Health Insurance Act 1973─ QAA 1/2014.
Section 2 - Commencement
This Declaration commences the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.
Section 3 - Authority
This Declaration is made under the Health Insurance Act 1973.
Section 4 - Schedule
The Schedule provides that each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to the Amendment Declaration is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items of the Schedule concerned.
Declaration of Quality Assurance Activity under section 124X – QAA No. 1/2010
Item 1 The activity described at item 1 of the Schedule to QAA No. 1/2010 is a clinical audit which collects medical information about early breast cancer treatment, compares the performance of surgeons to quality thresholds and produces reports and papers that provide an evidence base for potential changes in treatment to improve patient outcomes.
The amendment at item 1 of this Declaration makes a change to the name of the body engaging in the activity. The activity will now be conducted by the Breast Surgeons of Australia and New Zealand Inc (BreastSurgANZ) in place of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. All persons engaged in this activity are authorised to do so under section 124X(3)(a) of the Act.
Item 2 The amendment at item 2 of this Declaration makes a change to the title of the activity. The title of the activity has changed to ‘BreastSurgANZ Quality Audit.’
Declaration of Quality Assurance Activity under section 124X – QAA No. 2/2010
Item 3 The activity described at item 1 of the Schedule to QAA No. 2/2010 relates to the development and implementation of an accreditation process to ensure that the health services delivered to people in Australian Immigration Detention Centres meet the Standards for health services in immigration detention centres developed by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
The amendment at item 3 of this Declaration makes a change to the body conducting the activity. Quality Innovation Performance Limited will now conduct the activity in place of Quality In Practice Pty Ltd. All persons engaged in this activity are authorised to do so under section 124X(3)(a) of the Act.
Item 4 The activity described at item 2 of the Schedule to QAA No. 2/2010 relates to the accreditation of diagnostic imaging practices against the Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation Scheme with the aim of ensuring the delivery of safe, high quality services to patients.
The amendment at item 4 of this Declaration makes a change to the body conducting the activity. Quality Innovation Performance Limited will now conduct the activity in place of Quality In Practice Pty Ltd. All persons engaged in this activity are authorised to do so under section 124X(3)(a) of the Act.
Declaration of Quality Assurance Activity under section 124X of the Health Insurance Act 1973 ─ QAA 1/2012
Item 5 The activity described at item 2 of Schedule 1 to QAA 1/2012 relates to the ANZCA CPD Program which includes a self-directed quality assurance activity component that focuses on self-directed and practice-based learning activities. Specialists are afforded the opportunity to study, analyse and audit selected aspects of their clinical performance with the aim of improving the outcomes of their patients through ongoing review of their practice.
The amendment at item 5 of this Declaration changes the title of the declared activity to reflect the reformatting of the CPD Program framework. The quality assurance activities will now be located in two separate parts of the program – Practice Evaluation and Emergency Responses.
Declaration of Quality Assurance Activity under section 124X of the Health Insurance Act 1973 ─ QAA 2/2012
Item 6 The activity described at item 1 of Schedule 1 to QAA 2/2012 is an online incident reporting database utilised by radiology professionals to record adverse events that occur during their practice. The results are fed back to the radiology profession via the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists and utilised to implement quality improvement in radiology practices.
The amendment at item 6 of this Declaration changes the activity description to reflect altered data collection methods. The previously used Advanced Incident Management System (AIMS) has been replaced with a website incident reporting portal.
Declaration of Quality Assurance Activity under section 124X of the Health Insurance Act 1973 ─ QAA 3/2012
Item 7 The activity described at item 1 of Schedule 1 to QAA 3/2012 is an online incident reporting database utilised by emergency medicine physicians to record adverse events that occur during their practice. The results are fed back to the emergency medicine profession via the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine and utilised to implement quality improvements in emergency medicine practice.
The amendment at item 7 of this Declaration changes the activity description to reflect altered data collection methods. The previously used Advanced Incident Management System (AIMS) has been replaced with a website incident reporting portal.