What is your practice willing to do to improve your chronic disease systems and patient access issues? Have you considered the Australian Primary Care Collaborative Program? Think about it now!

“The future depends on what we do in the present” -Mahatmar Ghandi

As you know, Carn-Brae Clinic has been involved in the APCC Collaborative program. Many BDDGP practices felt that they could not participate in the State wave of the program when it was offered in 2008, due to the time involved to attend the 3 learning workshops in Melbourne.

Here is another opportunity for you. How about a VIRTUAL WAVE? There is a lower time commitment for practices to participate, as the program will be accessible online.

Your staff will not have to travel and you will be supported by division staff as you participate in the program. In addition, your practice will be paid an incentive to participate.

What kind of benefits could your practice experience? To give you an example, Carn-Brae Clinic has experienced the following clinical improvements in a 7 month time frame:

1. Establishment and maintenance of an accurate Diabetes register.
2. Establishment and maintenance of an accurate Coronary Heart Disease Register (CHD).
3. Patients with CHD whose last recorded BP within the last 12 months <140/90 mm Hg – 30% improvement
4. Patients with Diabetes with a last recorded HbA1c of <=7% within the previous 12 months – 30% improvement
5. Patients with Diabetes with a last measured total cholesterol of <4mmol/l within the previous 12 months – 20% improvement
6. Patients with Diabetes with a last recorded BP reading of <=130/80 mm Hg within the previous 12 months – 20% improvement

Carn-Brae Clinic have something to celebrate! Congratulations to the team for their work and commitment to the program.

So what is required of your practice to participate?

1. a GP and a practice staff member to actively participate in the APCC virtual workshops
2. undertake work in the required topic areas (diabetes, secondary prevention of coronary heart disease, patient access and care redesign)
3. submit PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Act) cycles each month.
4. submit data on a monthly basis

Your practice will be fully supported by BDDGP through this process.

Pick up the telephone and call me, as recruitment of practices is underway now. Recruitment will stop on July 31 2009.

If you would like to talk with Dr Frank Marton or Ms Gail Buchanan at Carn-Brae Clinic to learn more about their experience, call me on 5331 6303 to find out when they are available to speak with you.

Tags: practice management