CURRENT PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS

Promoting GP coordination of care

Activities and achievements promoting integration and systems reform include:

Coordinated Care Trial

One of five Divisions of General Practice that are developing a Coordinated Care Trial in partnership with the Southern Health Care Network (SHCN). The Division expects that involvement will enhance GP capacity to provide effective, integrated care across the health spectrum.

Acute Hospital Interface

Coordinated a program across five Divisions of General Practice to establish an effective and streamlined preadmission process to integrate GP comprehensive knowledge of patient health with the requirements of the SHCN for efficient acute admissions.

Development of an innovative discharge planning process involving local GPs and a progressive private hospital. These programs have improved patient health outcomes by streamlining services that link the patient into a seamless system between acute and primary care.

Other integration activity

This builds on past project activity. The Division is actively participating in the Victorian Primary Care Partnerships model. The Division has recently received Innovation Pool funding for a systems focused program for patients with a dual diagnosis.

Programs promoting GP skills and capacity for care planning

GP as Care Manager

The Division continues to promote the role of the GP through action research into the daily tasks of care management undertaken, an extensive program of activity in our Business Plan, active engagement in the Primary Care Partnerships approach and patient self-management strategies in association with AXA Private Health Insurance.

Care Planning

The Division, working with another, developed and piloted a checklist to support the roll-out of the Enhanced Primary Care (EPC) package, by focussing on barriers to practice change. The project has received further DHAC Innovation Funding in 2000 to enable a full trial, and eventual dissemination Australia wide of a 'Readiness for Care Planning Checklist' which identifies barriers to practice change and provides support and advice on effective practice based change management strategies.

Information Technology and Quality Care

Clinical Decision Support

One of three Divisions of General Practice working with a range of diverse stakeholders to introduce effective evidence based decision making into General Practice using Information Technology (IT) as the facilitator. Central Bayside has developed and implemented an asthma decision support system to 20 GPs who have trialled the software with over 440 patients. The program has been successful in introducing GPs to information technology and supporting structured clinical decision making at the practice level.

Electronic Referral Processes

The Division is currently participating in an E-Secure project with another Division, to trial encryption processes between GPs and community based service providers. This builds on our past experience and aims to enhance GP ability to effectively provide services to their patients.

Promotion of the Clinical Use of Information Technology

The Division has taken a lead in the development of successful programs to enhance GP uptake of clinical IT, using skilled facilitation supported by an array of projects to engage various aspects of GP consultation work. An extensive practice management support service functions to enhance the GP IT capacity. These projects have increased clinical IT usage in the Division to over 50%.

PREVIOUS PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS

• Promoting GP coordination of care
• Development of integration tools and networks
• GP as Care Manager
• Information Technology and Quality Care
• Electronic Referral Processes