title: Professional misconduct: the case of the Medical Board of Australia v Tausif (occupational discipline).
abstract: In 2014, the Australian Capital Territory Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal (ACAT) made a finding of professional misconduct against a Canberra general practitioner working in two bulk-billing medical practices established by a corporate medical practice service company, Primary Health Care Limited (Medical Board of Australia v Tausif (Occupational Discipline) [2015] ACAT 4). This column analyses that case, particularly in relation to the ACAT finding that the practitioner's professional misconduct was substantially contributed to by an unsafe system of care, specifically, the failure of Primary Health Care to provide supervision and mentoring for clinicians working at its medical centres. The case highlights the professional pressures carried by general practitioners who practise medicine within the framework of corporate bulk-billing business models. The column also examines the related issue of general practitioner co-payments in Australia and their impact on business models built around doctors purportedly characterised as independent contractors, bulk-billing large numbers of patients each day for short consultations.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Colton
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D057970:Inappropriate Prescribing / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D028743:Professional Misconduct / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*