ACCC proposes to grant authorisation to dentists for fee setting in shared practices

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is proposing to grant authorisation* to enable dentists and dental specialists in shared practices to agree on the fees they charge their patients, ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.

The Australian Dental Association has sought authorisation as dentists and specialists operating as separate legal entities may be at risk of engaging in price fixing and exclusionary conduct if they agree on the fees they will charge for treatments within the shared practice.

The ACCC considers that allowing dentists and specialists to charge a common fee in circumstances where they operate as a team, share patient records and facilities, and have a common trading name is likely to result in a public benefit. 

These types of practices are more likely to have common administrative and operational costs which can result in efficiency savings.  Patients can also benefit from consistent and predictable pricing among dentists operating within a shared practice which can assist with the quality and continuity of care. 

Dentists/specialists practising through separate legal entities, or within a legal partnership with at least one corporate partner, are considered competitors for the purposes of the Trade Practices Act.

The ACCC has previously granted authorisation for similar arrangements by general practitioners.

The authorisation does not apply to the setting of fees between practices that are not co-located.

The ACCC's draft determination will be available from the ACCC website.

The ACCC is seeking submissions from interested parties in relation to its draft determination and is particularly interested to receive further information on the likely competition effects in regional areas.

Submissions can be made to: The General Manager, Adjudication Branch, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, GPO Box 3131 Canberra ACT 2602 or lodged by email to adjudication@accc.gov.au.

For media inquiries to the ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, please call Ms Lin Enright, ACCC Media, on (02) 6243 1108 or 0414 613 520.  For general inquiries, please call the Infocentre: 1300 302 502.

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Background

*Authorisation provides protection from court action for conduct or arrangements that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974.  Authorisation is granted where the ACCC is satisfied that the benefit to the public from the conduct outweighs any public detriment. A party to whom authorisation had been granted may also apply to the ACCC for a minor variation of that authorisation.