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Elective Surgery Meeting with ACC

The College met with ACC last week to discuss ACC's internal review on decision-making for elective surgery.

Before the meeting, ACC sent the College and other stakeholders a questionnaire which we made available in ePulse and on our website and we would like to thank our members who took the time to respond.

There were a number of issues raised by our members which we brought up at the meeting. One of the main concerns was that decisions currently being made by ACC are inconsistent and that there are no clear messages for GPs about when a patient is likely to be covered for elective surgery or not, which is causing conflict with patients.

GPs are finding that more patients are being declined for elective surgery and the reason given is often that the health issue is caused by pre-existing or degenerative conditions and therefore not covered.  Some members feel that the clinical evidence behind ACC decision-making processes is not clear.

Other issues we raised at the meeting included GPs often having to deal with a different case manager each time, having to spend more time providing clinical records which are increasingly being requested by ACC, as well as some GPs feeling as though advice from orthopaedic surgeons is being given more weight than their own.  It is important that GPs can trust that the ACC system is functioning and cohesive.

ACC is looking to release their interim report in mid-March.

If you would like a copy of the ACC questionnaire, please contact us.  ACC has indicated that it would be happy to receive further feedback.