The Hidden Backbone of Specialist O&G

Behind every specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist is a practice manager quietly holding together one of the most complex regulatory environments in Australian healthcare. Without them, many specialist O&G practices simply would not survive.

The stability of private specialist practice is not just a business issue; it is a determinant of whether women can access timely, specialist‑led care across Australia.

This is about the entire ecosystem of specialist obstetrics and gynaecology; fertility, IVF, endometriosis, oncology, urogynaecology, advanced laparoscopic surgery, pelvic pain, colposcopy, menopause care, gynaecological oncology support, regional women’s health services and complex longitudinal care for women across their lifetime. Modern specialist O&G practices are no longer small consulting rooms, they are complex healthcare enterprises operating inside demanding clinical, legal and financial systems.

Every day, practice managers navigate Medicare compliance, accreditation standards, cyber security, privacy law, workforce shortages, payroll, rostering, credentialing, CPD requirements, hospital access, billing integrity, data management, complaints processes and increasing medico‑legal scrutiny. Most patients never see that machinery. But our practice managers do.

They are often the first person a distressed patient speaks to after a miscarriage. The person coordinating urgent theatre changes for complex surgery. The person helping women navigate fertility treatment approvals. The person managing the operational demands of practices carrying thousands of episodes of highly sensitive healthcare every year.

At NASOG, we believe that role matters.

This month, NASOG was proud to welcome practice managers from across Australia to Sydney for the inaugural O&G Practice Managers Conference, delivered in collaboration with the Australian Association of Practice Management (AAPM) and held alongside a NASOG Insight Series event. The two‑day program was purpose‑built to address the operational, compliance, financial and workforce challenges specific to specialist O&G practices.

Across both days, practice managers engaged in sessions ranging from the women’s health landscape, MBS compliance, cyber security, advertising and marketing risks and managing patient expectations.

Feedback from the event was strongly positive, with delegates highlighting the value of being “in a room of peers where everything being discussed was relevant to you”. Networking and peer support were consistently described as a standout, with many noting that practice management in specialist O&G can be a challenging role and that sharing experiences with colleagues facing the same pressures was transformational.

Many also highlighted how powerful it was to have doctors and practice managers in the room together during the joint NASOG Insight Series sessions.

Private specialist practice in Australia is under increasing pressure. Workforce shortages, rising operating costs, insurance pressures, compliance complexity and growing administrative burden are affecting every subspecialty area within O&G. And yet despite this, practice managers continue to hold practices together with extraordinary professionalism.

Too often, they are viewed as “administrative staff”. They are not. They are operational leaders within Australian healthcare, and the success of this inaugural conference has only strengthened the case for ongoing specialist education, digital communities of practice, mentoring and targeted advocacy focused on their role.

If governments and policymakers are serious about preserving access to specialist women’s healthcare, then the sustainability of specialist practice infrastructure must matter too. That infrastructure includes the people who keep those practices functioning every single day, quietly absorbing complexity so that women can receive safe, timely and dignified care.

At NASOG, we exist to support that infrastructure. We advocate for specialist O&G clinicians and for the broader teams that enable high‑quality women’s healthcare to exist. We provide education tailored to specialist practice, create opportunities for genuine dialogue with regulators and funders and work to ensure private specialist practice remains viable for the next generation.

To every practice manager who joined us in Sydney: thank you. Your work protects access, continuity, safety and dignity for women across Australia. You are not working quietly in the background of specialist O&G. You are one of the reasons it still functions.

If you could not be there this year, we hope to see you at the next Conference. In the meantime if you would like to find out more about NASOG and the membership structures, don't hesitate to contact us.

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