By Dr Graeme Bleach, GP Clinical Leader with Tasmanian HealthPathways
After the last General Practice Matters, I am sure the hospitals will have noticed a huge drop in COPD-related presentations to emergency departments because we’ve all optimised our management with the help of Tasmanian HealthPathways – in fact I’m sure they’ll write and thank us soon!
What’s the next illness that we can help divert from the emergency departments, I hear you ask?
Well, for similar reasons to COPD, asthma is also more common in winter. Major triggers include viral respiratory illnesses, weather conditions, mould and fungal allergens, and pollution from wood heaters, which all peak in winter.
On the Tasmanian HealthPathways website there are six pathways relating to asthma in adults - including acute asthma, non-acute asthma, asthma in pregnancy, and differentiating asthma from COPD - to help you give even better care than you already do.
There are also specific child pathways – because children can often be difficult to assess and manage, and when it’s a child we perhaps fear making an error more than ever and may err on the side of referring for a hospital assessment.
Tasmanian HealthPathways have two pathways specifically for children with asthma. There are also pathways for assessing and managing common childhood respiratory conditions such as bronchiolitis and croup with clear advice on what you can safely manage in the community and what and when you should refer, how to use steroids safely, and other gems.
There is also a pathway for persistent cough in children (which is often not asthma), and pertussis (which appears to be having a resurgence this winter). So, have a look – if you already know and do everything suggested in these straightforward pathways, which are written by and for GPs to be used in real-life practice, then a) you’re a much better GP than me and I congratulate you, and b) you have the satisfaction that you’ve not missed something important!
To log into Tasmanian HealthPathways, click on the button below (username: connectingcare and password: health).
|
|
With winter well and truly upon us, Tasmanian health professionals are reminded there are dedicated after hours services available for use by them and their patients.
GP Assist, with support from Primary Health Tasmania, provides local GPs and other health professionals with direct access to after hours telephone support from an on-call GP in Tasmania.
The service is free, and available to health professionals via 6165 2346.
Consumers can also access free after hours medical advice through the national healthdirect Australia telephone helpline. This consumer number is 1800 022 222.
They can also use the Tas After Hours website or app to find information about a range of medical services available at night time, weekends and public holidays.
In the Greater Hobart region, a reminder that Moreton Group Medical Services provides a mobile health clinic for vulnerable people who are clients of community service providers. Click here for more information.
|
|
MedicalDirector advises relevant general practices the recently announced changes to the National Immunisation Program childhood schedule will be incorporated in the next release of Clinical.
In the meantime, MedicalDirector is offering an interim solution for practices to record these vaccinations manually into patient records. You can access the instructions via the button below.
Those seeking information about how the MBS July 2018 fee update impacts on Pracsoft software are advised the Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs has indicated there is no need to delay submitting claims. The fee applied on date of service will be the fee that providers will be paid.
If you are experiencing difficulties activating new item numbers, please follow these steps:
- After opening Pracsoft, go to Admin > Fees
- Click “Add Item”
- Enter the item number (e.g. 63487) and press the TAB key
- You may be prompted with a message: “The Description has been truncated. Please enter a shorter description”
- Click OK – the description will automatically be truncated for you
- Repeat for any other items required.
|
|
From 1 January 2019, RACGP fellowship exam candidates will be permitted a maximum of six attempts at the fellowship exams, undertaken across three years.
RACGP says research shows after six unsuccessful attempts at an exam, candidates become increasingly less likely to pass at all, and permitting unlimited exam attempts has "serious implications for patient and community safety".
The change will affect all doctors who have not yet attained fellowship, including those currently on pathways to fellowship and those who will join a pathway to fellowship in the future.
|
|
A reminder the toolkits to help inform and educate all Australians about My Health Record can be displayed, now the opt-out period has commenced.
Almost 20,000 education kits have been distributed to healthcare workers and Australia Post offices across the country. If you haven't received yours, please contact Primary Health Tasmania via the button below.
The toolkits contain materials to inform consumers of the benefits of My Health Record, privacy and security controls, examples of data included and how people can opt out or find more information.
The opt-out period runs until 15 October.
|
|
Applications have been extended until 27 July for primary healthcare centres to take part in the National Indigenous Bowel Screening Pilot.
This national pilot will allow such centres to distribute screening kits directly to their Indigenous patients aged 50 to 74, helping to address many of the barriers to bowel screening.
|
|
Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health is surveying GPs to inform policy work on the role of general practice in youth mental health care.
The survey explores the role GPs currently play, the challenges they face and the support needed. Responses will inform the development of a policy report to be published later this year.
The survey is open until 25 July and takes approximately five to 10 minutes to complete.
|
|
Researchers in the School of Public Health at Sydney University and Geriatric Medicine at Concord Hospital are studying polypharmacy in the older population.
They aim to develop strategies to increase patient involvement in decision making about their medicines, and are seeking GPs to give their opinion on the Home Medicines Review program.
The researchers have developed a Medicines Conversation Guide to be used in a Home Medicines Review with an older person experiencing polypharmacy. The guide is designed to facilitate a discussion around medications and what’s important to the patient in a structured format.
GPs who would be willing to discuss their positive and negative experiences of the Home Medicines Review program and provide feedback on the guide (30-minute interview total, in person or on Skype) can contact Kristie Weir via email or on 0401 900 646 or Vasi Naganathan via email.
Participants will be reimbursed for their time.
|
|
Are you looking for ways to make your practice more 'health promoting'? The Tasmanian Health Service's health promotion teams are running a free six-week course for people working in clinical settings.
The course runs from 20 August to 28 September and combines face-to-face sessions with online components.
Click the button below for more information.
|
|
International #hellomynameis Day is approaching on 23 July, and aims to promote introductions and build trust between healthcare providers and consumers.
The awareness campaign tries to promote person-centred care and compassion in the interest of improving health outcomes. In Tasmania, the #hellomynameis cause is growing steadily, with more than 120 individuals and organisations engaging in the campaign.
If you are interested in becoming involved in International #hellomynameis Day or simply want to know more, contact the Health Literacy Network via the button below.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Hobart Clinic has opened its new Mind Hub Centre at Level 1, 175 Collins Street.
The new centre has been designed to facilitate easy access for patients in the community to participate in a range of group therapy programs and courses.
A number of the The Hobart Clinic’s consultant psychiatrists will be practising from the new consult suites and the full program of Mind Hub courses is now available at the new location.
Referrals are being accepted via triage for direct admission to programs. For patients with private health cover, the costs will be covered in most cases. Inquiries are welcome about which courses accept patients on a mental health plan.
For more information about The Hobart Clinic or Mind Hub, visit this website or call 6247 9960.
|
|
|
Glebe-based GP Dr Ilona Bewsher's fax number is now 6231 9670.
|
|
|
Charles Clinic Heart Care has welcomed two new full-time permanent cardiologists to its team.
Dr James Mau completed his medical degree at the University of Sydney and went on to complete a PhD in cardiology at the Royal North Shore Hospital. His sub-specialty is rhythm management and electrophysiology and he has specific expertise in complex device implantation.
The clinic also welcomes back Dr Srija Bhattacharyya, who has previously provided locum services to the team. Srija’s sub-specialty is echocardiography.
The recruitment of James and Srija enables the clinic to increase cardiologist services to Burnie to four days per week commencing in August, and will include increased capacity for consulting, echocardiography and stress assessment, along with Holter and cardiologist-led pacemaker services.
The clinic has farewelled Dr Alexander Jacobsen who recently moved to NSW.
|
|
|
The Centre of Excellence in Severe Asthma has developed the Severe Asthma Toolkit to address an identified gap in the availability of severe asthma education resources for clinicians
The toolkit website provides tools to help clinicians provide optimal care for people with severe asthma, and is targeted at clinicians in primary and specialist care, in both private and public clinic settings.
|
|
|
Musculoskeletal Australia will host a webinar on the diagnosis and management of low-back pain in primary care on 25 July.
The webinar will summarise the current evidence base and provide practical tips for frontline clinicians. It costs $30 for Musculoskeletal Australia members and $45 for non-members, and takes place from 7:00pm and 8:00pm (AEST).
|
|
|
The Mental Health Professionals’ Network, in partnership with the Australian BPD Foundation and Spectrum Personality Disorder Service for Victoria, will host a free webinar about borderline personality disorder on 23 July.
The webinar, Borderline personality disorder in youth and early intervention, will feature insights from a psychologist, psychiatrist, consumer and family peer support worker, and runs from 7:15pm to 8:30pm (AEST).
|
|
Date: Monday 6 August and Tuesday 7 August
Time: 9:30am to 4:30pm
Location: Launceston
Host: Mental Health First Aid Australia
Cost: $220
|
This course is for adults working or living with older people (those aged 65 and over) who want to know more about mental health management.
Click here to find out more.
|
|
Primary Health Tasmania will be hosting education events for GPs on prescribing HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in the community in September.
The evening sessions will take place in Hobart on 11 September and Launceston on 12 September.
Presentations will cover evidence on the effectiveness of PrEP, resistance and side effects, PrEP consultations, and providing a comprehensive PrEP service including screening and counselling.
For any queries, please contact Primary Health Tasmania's Alison McLeod on 6213 8200 or via the button below.
|
|
Dr Christopher Hughes' interest in information technology started at an early age. His father worked in the field, and the Burnie-raised clinician imagines this is why he's such an early adopter of new technology.
But he's under no illusions about the prevalence of such digital enthusiasm in the broader health sector.
"Technology adoption can seem to move at a glacial pace (in general practice)," the Saunders Street Clinic team member says. "Patients themselves expect us to be across this stuff, so I want to help drag our workflow into the digital era."
Dr Hughes - who was named RACGP's 2016 GP registrar of the year - who has worked as a junior doctor in Melbourne, Sydney, Darwin and Hobart, has conducted research into the area, specifically considering practitioner attitudes towards eReferrals. It’s a term that can mean different things in different contexts - for the purposes of their study, Dr Hughes and his collaborators used it to describe electronic letters sent by secure means, as a functionality offered by a number of secure messaging services.
They published the article eReferrals: Why are we still faxing? in the Australian Journal of General Practice earlier this year. The study found, somewhat ironically, most respondents to a local survey wanted to send more electronic correspondence, but peer behaviour was a barrier to doing so.
"I think a watershed moment will be the public outpatient clinics mandating eReferrals for communication between clinics and general practitioners," Dr Hughes says. "This will allow health professionals to try the software, sample the cost and time savings it can provide, and perhaps drive further adoption in their private practice."
Here’s what else he told Primary Health Tasmania:
- On living and working in Tasmania: "Tasmania is a great place to live and undertake vocational training. The slower pace of life without constant advertising and long commutes is good for the state of mind. Our career is portable so why not bring it to the most beautiful place in the world? (But) access to health care can be a challenge on the north west coast. Sometimes it feels like there’s a high turnover of healthcare professionals in the region, and patients can get frustrated by the lack of continuity of care. It requires the regional GP to increase their scope of practice - which can be a challenge but also one of the most rewarding parts of the job."
- How My Health Record could boost digital habits in general practice: "I think it has great potential. Currently each health professional and hospital has their own silo of digital information, only shared when correspondence is sent between practitioners. This correspondence should certainly be digitised in the form of eReferrals (secure messaging) - but the My Health Record has potential to go further and to become an online interconnected patient information hub."
- On security concerns in the eReferral space: "The irony is that eReferrals (secure messaging services) are arguably the more secure option."
Do you know someone working in general practice who would be a good subject for The Check Up? Suggest them by clicking the button below and getting in touch!
|
|
|
|
