IM in GP Stocktake Report
Thank you to all those Divisions and Practices who contributed to the national Information Management (IM) in General Practice (GP) 'Stocktake'. This 'stocktake' was intended to provide important information and assist in providing greater national detail on the type of current information management needs and usage, as well as capacity to provide GPs with practical ideas to realise the benefits that can be achieved through the application of information management systems by GPs.
By having a clearer understanding of the needs and expectations of GPs, as well as the current practices, and systems and capabilities available, action plans for individual practices can be developed that set a direction and timeframe for establishing co-ordinated approaches to Practice information management implementation.
It is hoped that the summary information and detail contained in the Divisional 'Stocktake' Report Summary can be used by Divisions, in conjunction with the IM in GP Action Plan to assist in tailoring efforts and approaches in continuing to raise the awareness of the many benefits that can be achieved through the uptake of information management practices in General Practice. This may well form the basis for individual Practice IM Action Plans to also allow Practices who have not yet fully embraced IM to see the relative ease at which a wide range of practice and clinical management issues can be addressed, such as:
- Electronic data availability and exchange
e.g. online pathology/ radiology ordering and reporting; use of electronic forms (admissions, referrals, etc)
- Patient information databases
e.g. practice registers including relevant patient and disease; recall and reminder systems
- Electronic diagnosis and treatment support
e.g. drug-drug interaction alerts; patient medication and clinical histories
- Practice administration and management
e.g. electronic staff rosters/pays, billing and claiming; stock ordering on-line; for GST Business Activity Statements
- Contribution to research activity
e.g. adverse drug reporting; electronic contributions to approved clinical research activities.
The full IM in GP 'Stocktake' Report, along with the Divisional 'Stocktake' Report Summary (available below) may be useful for discussion at practice support visits or at other appropriate fora. You may also like to make the Divisional 'Stocktake' Report Summary available on your Divisional Website.
Thank you for your contributions to the development of the national Information Management (IM) in General Practice (GP) 'Stocktake'. Any comments you may have on them or other strategies for dissemination; please feel free to contact Mark Brommeyer, ADGP IM Coordinator, in the first instance.
