Queensland

Project Name: Australian Primary Care Collaboratives Program (APCC)
State: Queensland
GPNs/Organisations Involved: General Practice Queensland 12 of 17 Qld Divisions participating in current wave
Categorisation: Data Quality Improvement
Brief Description: The APCC Program helps general practitioners (GPs) and primary health care providers work together to improve patient clinical outdomes, reduce lifestyle risk factors, help maintain good health for those with chronic and complex conditions and promote a culture of quality improvement in primary health care. Ultimately, the APCC Program aims to find better ways to provide primary health care services to patients through shared learning, peer support, training, education and support systems.
Primary Contact/Website: Melissa Williams Collaboratives Coordinator General Practice Queensland mwilliams@gpqld.com.au 07 3105 8300
Geographical Region Covered: 12 of 17 Queensland Divisions
Provider Coverage: General Practice
Expected/Delivered benefits to stakeholders: Improved clinical data quality and population health data to enable quality improvement cycles to occur in general practice with measurable outdomes/benefits
Funding source & Status: APCC funding for those Divisions involved in the Collaboratives through the Improvement Foundation and a Regional Manager position at GPQ to coordinate roll out and implementation.
Any further comments: The current wave of the Collaboratives program involves 5 Divisions in the state collaborative, 3 local and 2 virtual, with a further 2 Divisions eligible for inclusion in the new topics.

 

Project Name: Capricornia Primary Health and Community Care (CPHACC)
State: Queensland
GPNs/Organisations Involved: Capricornia Division of General Practice
Categorisation: Electronic Health Records
Brief Description: CPHACC consists of a community website; an individual, patient consented, shared Electronic Health Record including a consumer environment; a community Service Information Exchange and Community Nurse Coordinators (CNC) to liaise and provide support between GPs, Hospitals and other providers to coordinate individuals access to services and care. The CNCs will also provide health coaching, brief interventions and home assessments.
Primary Contact/Website: Lee Wake Program Manager - CPHACC Capricornia Division of General Practice 07 4927 3182
Geographical Region Covered: Rockhampton and surrounds
Provider Coverage: Multidisciplinary approach to coordinating care.
Expected/Delivered benefits to stakeholders: More appropriate and cost efficient, coordinated care through the use of a local service directory and the implementation of a shared electronic health record.
Funding source & Status: Commonwealth Government grant, to April 2010
Any further comments: Currently the CPHACC project is engaging providers and developing local management pathways for the following conditions: renal, asthma, diabetes, surgical, mental health and palliative care. They are currently in negotiation with Brisbane Cardiologists. The CNC's accept referrals for any clients with complex chronic conditions or those unable to access support through current systems.

 

Project Name: CIMS and Referral & Patient Management System (RPMS)
State: Queensland
GPNs/Organisations Involved: Townsville General Practice Network
Categorisation: Infrastructure, security & access (VOIP, VPN etd)
Brief Description: The CIMS (Centralised Information Management System) framework is a virtual private network offering a range of hosted eHealth solutions. An electronic messaging system has been developed (RPMS) that integrates with practice management software. E-Referrals are another key feature of this product. Another module that is currently being evaluated is tdA (Team Care arrangements).
Primary Contact/Website: Barry Lollo Townsville General Practice Network 07 4725 8915
Geographical Region Covered: Townsville district
Provider Coverage: Being piloted at this stage with several Practices involved - 30 e-Referrals delivered to Townsville Hospital thus far.
Expected/Delivered benefits to stakeholders: More appropriate and timely referrals to The Townsville Hospital.
Funding source & Status: Managed Health Network Grant.
Any further comments: The TGPN secure messaging solution complies with the NeHTA standards for the eHealth PIP.

 

Project Name: Data Extraction Data Quality initiatives Division Profiles
State: Queensland
GPNs/Organisations Involved: General Practice Queensland All 17 Qld Divisions
Categorisation: Data Quality Improvement
Brief Description: All Qld Divisions have been involved in data extraction and data quality initiatives. Main tools used are Canning (almost all Divisions), Clinical Audit Tool (several Divisions) and Practice Health Atlas (a few Divisions). GPQ has organised several training and showcasing events including a Data Expo, Data Workshop and tool specific training. A Data Collection Working Group was established in 2008 to progress this agenda. GPQ has also developed a series of Division Profiles using data extracted by divisions and other publicly available data sources to provide a population based profile of health status and service uptake. These profiles have been designed to support divisions with planning of local activity and service/resource allocation.
Primary Contact/Website: David Millichap Senior Program Leader - eHealth General Practice Queensland dmillichap@gpqld.com.au 07 3105 8300
Geographical Region Covered: Queensland wide
Provider Coverage: General Practice
Expected/Delivered benefits to stakeholders: Improved clinical data quality and population health data to enable quality improvement cycles to occur in general practice with measurable outdomes/benefits
Funding source & Status: Core funding under the MPFA.
Any further comments: A draft Data Quality Framework has been developed by GPQ and will be released by the end of 2009. The Division Profiles developed by GPQ have been modelled off the experience of GP Tasmania and their Quarterly Indicators report.

 

Project Name: Enterprise Discharge Summary (EDS) project - Queensland Health
State: Queensland
GPNs/Organisations Involved: General Practice Queensland Queensland Health Queensland Divisions
Categorisation: Continuity of care (referrals, discharge & event notification)
Brief Description: Queensland Health have implemented the Enterprise Discharge Summary after extensive consultation with Divisions and GPQ. The EDS complies with NeHTA standards and has drastically improved the timeliness and quality of the discharge summary.
Primary Contact/Website: John Forsythe Queensland Health David Millichap Senior Program Leader - eHealth General Practice Queensland dmillichap@gpqld.com.au 07 3105 8300
Geographical Region Covered: Currently 55 hospitals throughout Queensland have implemented the EDS project. Most Queensland Divisions have been involved in the roll-out. All Queensland hospitals will be involved in the project by the end of 2010.
Provider Coverage: Electronic discharge summaries are primarily sent to GPs. Currently 43% are sent via secure electronic messaging, with the majority meeting the 48 hour GPAC Continuity of Care guidelines.
Expected/Delivered benefits to stakeholders: More timely receipt of discharge information which leads to improved business processes for GPs and greater clinical efficiency.
Funding source & Status: Queensland Health funded project. GPQ participation at Steering Committee level.
Any further comments: The Queensland Health EDS team have liaised closely with Queensland Divisions, ensuring a successful roll-out of the program across the state. Queensland Divisions have played a critical role in enabling general practice to receive the discharge summary electronically.

 

Project Name: e-Referrals
State: Queensland
GPNs/Organisations Involved: Several Queensland Divisions Queensland Health Districts
Categorisation: Continuity of care (referrals, discharge & event notification)
Brief Description: Many Queensland Divisions are liaising with their local public hospitals to implement e-Referrals. Templates have been developed that integrate with practice management software and conform to Medical-Objects standards.
Primary Contact/Website: Various contacts at Divisions
Geographical Region Covered: Majority of Queensland Divisions e.g. Gold Coast, GPpartners, Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Far North Qld, Ipswich
Provider Coverage: GPs and Queensland Health Hospitals
Expected/Delivered benefits to stakeholders: More timely and appropriate referrals
Funding source & Status: Variety of funding streams, with the latest round of funding being administered to divisions via the Hospital Access Unit of Queensland Health as a means of reducing aged or longstanding referrals for Queensland Health OPD.
Any further comments: A standardised approach to e-Referrals is preferable in the longer term, however these local Divisional initiatives are establishing important change management principles, improving business processes and ICT capacity and requriements.

 

Project Name: GP Census
State: Queensland
GPNs/Organisations Involved: General Practice Queensland 13 of 17 Qld Divisions AGPN
Categorisation: Health Provider Directories
Brief Description: GP Census is a standardised, online survey owned by AGPN. A GP Census Working Group comprising Division representatives and led by GPQ was established in early 2009, for the purposes of state wide development and implementation strategies. This group met regularly to determine the data set for Queensland. GP Census went live on 24 August 2009.
Primary Contact/Website: David Millichap Senior Program Leader - eHealth General Practice Queensland dmillichap@gpqld.com.au 07 3105 8300 www.gpcensus.net.au
Geographical Region Covered: Majority of Queensland (13 of 17 Divisions)
Provider Coverage: There are two surveys - a GP and Practice Manager survey. As of 22 September 2009, 864 GPs and 420 Practices have completed the survey.
Expected/Delivered benefits to stakeholders: For Divisions, GP Census provides more accurate information about the GP workforce, a needs assessment, reporting information and service delivery satisfaction results. This tool enables a consistent mechanism for divisions to collect and report against the MPFA reporting requirements and will build a picture of provider activity and behaviour over time.
Funding source & Status: Primarily funded by AGPN and SBOs.
Any further comments: GP Census was implemented as a pilot in Queensland in 2009 . A statewide report will be produced that summarises the findings. A review on the implementation of GP Census will also take place. Based on the results of that review, Census will take place in May 2010 to support 12 month reporting requirements.

 

Project Name: Health Hub
State: Queensland
GPNs/Organisations Involved: RHealth GP Connections
Categorisation: Secure Messaging
Brief Description: The Health Hub project was a collaborative approach to secure electronic messaging between RHealth & GP Connections. Argus was selected as the preferred secure messaging vendor and their was widespread uptake thoughout both Divisions.
Primary Contact/Website: Manjeet Singh Manager, Practice Information Services RHealth 07 4638 1377 Miriam McLeod Program Coordinator GP Connections 07 4688 2000
Geographical Region Covered: Toowoomba and south-west Queensland
Provider Coverage: GPs, specialists and allied health providers throughout the district.
Expected/Delivered benefits to stakeholders: Health Hub established a connected health community in Toowoomba and south-west Queensland, enabling more timely tranfer of clinical information between health professionals in the region.
Funding source & Status: Managed Health Network Grant.
Any further comments: Funding for the Health Hub project discontinued at the end of 2008. Argus and Medical-Objects have entered into an interoperability agreement, effective October 2009.

 

Project Name: Health Record Exchange (HRX)
State: Queensland
GPNs/Organisations Involved: GPpartners
Categorisation: Electronic Health Records
Brief Description: GPpartners’ Health Record eXchange (HRX) is an electronic health record that allows GPs, hospitals and allied health professionals to share important patient information in a secure system. Shared electronic health records have benefits for all patients but are especially useful for patients with chronic and complex conditions or people who require care from of a number of health professionals. The HRX ensures accurate and timely access to critical patient information by all members of a patient's care team.
Primary Contact/Website: Simon Carr Information Systems Manager GPpartners 07 3630 7321
Geographical Region Covered: Northern suburbs of Brisbane. Expansion planned with another 5 Divisions
Provider Coverage: Multidisciplinary approach to care, involving GPs, practice nurses, sopecialists, hospitals, aged care and allied health professionals.
Expected/Delivered benefits to stakeholders: Better patient outdomes through the implementation of coordinated care and the use of a shared electronic health record.
Funding source & Status: Australian Government Department of Health & Ageing, Australian Better Health Initiative
Any further comments: HRX focuses on frequent flyers - patients with complex and chronic conditions who are at the greatest risk of hospital readmission. Expansion of the HRX is planned for 2010 with another 5 Divisions.

 

Project Name: iHealth Care Directory
State: Queensland
GPNs/Organisations Involved: General Practice Queensland All 17 Qld Divisions
Categorisation: Health Provider Directories
Brief Description: The iHealth Care Directory was established in 2008 and is a listing of where health professionals work and how they can most effectively be contacted. Recruitment to the Directory has been linked to the uptake of secure messaging (see below) and has been driven by Divisions with ongoing support and maintenance of the Directory provided by General Practice Queensland. A wide range of validation strategies are in place to increase the accuracy of the data.
Primary Contact/Website: David Millichap Senior Program Leader - eHealth General Practice Queensland dmillichap@gpqld.com.au 07 3105 8300 www.ihcdirectory.com.au
Geographical Region Covered: Queensland wide
Provider Coverage: As of September 2009 almost 80% of Queensland GPs have consented and are listed on the Directory. The Directory also includes contact details for over 1200 allied health professionals and specialists.
Expected/Delivered benefits to stakeholders: The iHealth Care Directory provides accurate contact details for health professionals and health services in Queensland, thus improving communication flows between health providers. It is anticipated that Queensland Health and other health services will acquire the iHealth Care Directory data to update their existing directories, thus realising the Directory as the source of truth for provider information in Queensland.
Funding source & Status: Primary funding for iHealth Care was through a MHNG received in 2007.
Any further comments: The iHealth Care Directory is based on the Health Provider Registry (HPRy) operated by General Practice South Australia. Currently Qld, SA and Tasmania have adopted this directory system and a Governance Group and Reference Group were recently established. An evaluation of the iHealth Care Directory is currently being planned in collaboration with NeHTA.

 

Project Name: iHealth Care Secure Messaging
State: Queensland
GPNs/Organisations Involved: General Practice Queensland All 17 Qld Divisions
Categorisation: Secure Messaging
Brief Description: iHealth Care secure messaging aims to improve communication between GPs, specialists, allied health, pharmacists, hospitals and aged care facilities through the establishment of a connectivity platform for Queensland. Medical-Objects were awarded a two year license to provide a subsidised secure messaging service to all registered private health professionals in Queensland. Divisions have played a critical role in engaging with their members to promote the benefits of secure messaging, and to facilitate adoption and installation.
Primary Contact/Website: David Millichap Senior Program Leader - eHealth General Practice Queensland dmillichap@gpqld.com.au 07 3105 8300 www.ihealthcare.net.au
Geographical Region Covered: Queensland wide* * 3 Divisions (Mackay, GP Connections and RHealth) had previously adopted Argus as their preferred messaging provider.
Provider Coverage: The uptake of secure messaging has escalated significantly across all health provider groups as a result of iHealth Care. Data from the iHealth Care Directory reveals the following uptake of secure messaging: GPs - 2731 (86%) Allied Health - 425 (63%) Specialists - 415 (65%) Approximately 87% of these health providers have adopted Medical-Objects as their preferred secure messaging solution.
Expected/Delivered benefits to stakeholders: The dramatic increase in secure messaging adoption has changed business processes and work flow for health professionals using this mode of secure communication, including savings in practice time and money, and improvements in the quality and timeliness of clinical information exchange.
Funding source & Status: Primary funding for iHealth Care was through a MHNG received in 2007. The contract for subsidised messaging provided by Medical-Objects expires on 30 June 2010.
Any further comments: The National Health & Hospital Reform Commission report, eHealth: Enabler for Australia’s Health Reform (2008) prepared by Booz & Co noted the iHealth Care secure messaging model as a potential solution for developing the optimal strategy for a national secure messaging solution (recommendation 2). Medical-Objects and Argus have entered into an interoperability agreement, effective October 2009.

 

Project Name: Primary-Secondary Care Interface Program (Map of Medicine) - Queensland Health
State: Queensland
GPNs/Organisations Involved: General Practice Queensland Queensland Health Queensland Divisions involved in Phase One
Categorisation: Secure Messaging
Brief Description: An outdome of the Specialist Outpatient Review Committee, the Map of Medicine project aims to provide evidence based continuity of care to primary health care and facilitate more appropriate referrals to Queensland Health facilities.
Primary Contact/Website: Andrew Bryett Queensland Health David Millichap Senior Program Leader - eHealth General Practice Queensland dmillichap@gpqld.com.au 07 3105 8300
Geographical Region Covered: It is anticipated that Phase One of the Map of Medicine project will progressively roll-out in the following Divisions - GPpartners, Moreton Bay, Brisbane South, SEA-GP, SPHN, Gold Coast, Cairns & Townsville.
Provider Coverage: Map of Medicine will be piloted with GPs in the south-east corner
Expected/Delivered benefits to stakeholders: More appropriate referrals to Queensland Health hospitals. Providers who have received presentations regarding Map of Medicine believe that this will provide much needed decision support to referrals in their area, particularly with the addition of waiting times for public and private services.
Funding source & Status: Queensland Health funded project. Contract still under negotiation.
Any further comments: The Map of Medicine contract with Queensland Health has not been executed at the time of writing this report. An executed contract is expected before the end of 2009 with implementation set to commence in early 2010.

 

Project Name: Service Access project
State: Queensland
GPNs/Organisations Involved: General Practice Gold Coast
Categorisation: Continuity of care (referrals, discharge & event notification)
Brief Description: The Service Access project will have the following components: • Health professionals and consumers accessing information on services through a web based system that allows health professionals direct referral through secure communications • Health professionals and consumers accessing information on clinical and service delivery pathways through a web based system that links to the service directory and allows health professionals direct referral through secure communications • Enhanced care planning and coordination though the linking of health, community services and private providers through secure communications. • Business intelligence tools that facilitate Gold Coast planning and resource allocation based on identified need • Empowering consumers through access to health information and assisting self management and consumer health literary
Primary Contact/Website: Jon Goodman Program Manager General Practice Gold Coast 07 5507 7777
Geographical Region Covered: Gold Coast and surrounds
Provider Coverage: Primary health care and community organisations.
Expected/Delivered benefits to stakeholders: Local community web portal will allow greater access to primary health care and community services, as well as improve care planning and coordination.
Funding source & Status: Primary Care Partnership Council
Any further comments: This project is in the development phase at present. A steering committee comprising representatives from Qld Health, primary care, GPQ and community organisations has been formed to review preliminary work by consultants.