Service details

Eligible patients: private clients and Medicare (EPC)
Medicare registered: yes
Cost: initial assessment $120, half hour therapy $70
Bulk bill: no
Require same day payment: yes
Gap: EPC: assessment $70, therapy $20

Referrals

Argus: no
VSRF: no
Phone: 5339 3366
Fax #: 5339 6447
Address: 1046 Howitt Street Ballarat
Reports returned by: fax, mail, email

About Lake Health Group speech pathology

Speech pathology clinic runs Fridays (all day) and Saturday mornings. Hours to increase in 2011.

About Meaghan Sullivan

Experience: adult rehabilitation, aged care, sub-acute care, community rehab, outpatient voice clinic (Royal Melbourne, St Vincent’s, Austin), 5 years private practice in Melbourne (paediatric, adolescent and adult).

1. More time is needed for practice nurses, managers and GPs to:

• Talk to patients
• Learn new processes and plan how to go about things
• Find things (resources, websites, templates etc.) quickly
• Do things properly with patients without being under constant pressure

2. Insufficient staffing impacts on new initiatives, dependent on:

• The number of staff available within a practice
• The space available within a practice environment either for extra staff and/or extra activities
• Availability of skilled practice staff
• Interest areas of practice staff – including GPs and practice nurses. This can impact on the type of care patients receive.
• How often practice nurses are pulled away to do other things on an ad-hoc basis which are not on the list for the day

There are constant demands placed on practice nurses. This was not evident in the survey results, but came through very strongly in verbal discussions.

3. The referral pathways for diabetes prevention programs are not clear

• There is much confusion about referral pathways from all GPs, practice nurses and practice managers, but in particular within the GP group.
• GPs would like the steps clearly identified, easily found & promoted, and the profile of the diabetes program raised.
• Everybody would like the referral process to be as simple as possible.
• There is confusion about the rules for MBS items, for referral to groups & the necessity of doing an OGTT.
• Practice staff would like to see the profile raised of both diabetes prevention programs

4. All practice staff wanted to know who and what is out there

• More information about providers; who are they, what do they do?
• More information about diabetes prevention
• More information about care plans
• More stats on diabetes and costs to community and what is happening locally
• More resources for practices – posters, brochures, patient information kits
• What are the local supports available for GPs to refer to?
• How do practices get on to these supports?

5. Need help to identify patients at risk

• Some would like practice nurses to use the PEN cat tool
• Some would make a designated person responsible for identifying patients in the practice who are at risk, and for that person to drive the approach
• Some would like to identify a trigger for GPs to remember to screen patients at risk
• There was a suggestion to align diabetes week with practice activities in identifying at risk patients

6. Please BDDGP … simplify, tailor and change the way information is provided

• Practices want simple, fast, small chunks of information
• Keep the information coming
• Raise the profile of new programs and initiatives
• Practice nurses in particular want to know about the software requirements
• Suggestions for BDDGP to provide information packages for staff and for patients (about diabetes prevention programs)
• From this small survey, it appears that GPs prefer to use the website, practice nurses may favour the mid-week news and practice managers might like email best because “it’s in your face!”

7. Division practice visits don’t suit everybody

• Practice visits from the division – great, but difficult to fit into a normal day
• Practice visits were seen as a good way to build relationships and to keep in touch, for input and updates and education (selected), but only in the way the practice finds it useful
• Face-to-face and 1:1 visits were preferred by some, while others liked group sessions.
• 3 respondents talked about how much time Division visits can take and the impact this has on their own planning and meeting times, even though the Division visits are generally considered useful.

8. Ambivalence about education on new programs, new government stuff

• Education was considered highly important by practice managers (5/6)
• GPs were half and half in how they saw this (4/9)
• Practice nurses did not see education as a highly desirable way to get information about new initiatives (2/8)
• Suggestions were to have education sessions on site; after hours in different venues; coupled with other events and for the Division to consider different ways of learning such as “walking through something (with practice staff so they had the opportunity) to see and hear it.”

Stay tuned for the next article where we tackle these issues.

Government sponsored seasonal influenza vaccines are available to a wider target than ever before. The largest target group for influenza vaccination is people over 65 years of age.

Identification of this age group using the CAT is best done later in the vaccination program.

Identification of other groups can be performed using the CAT and following the steps set out in this 2010 Fluvax recipe.

In the busy life of a general practice, using your clinical software effectively can save time.

When pathology results are downloaded in HL7 format, Medical director users will notice lipids & HbA1C auto-population within the diabetes assessment & cardiovascular risk assessment tools.

CAT users will be able to easily identify patients who require:

• 45-49 year old health assessment (especially those at high risk of CV event)
• PAP smears (can even search according to date of last PAP)
• Completion of diabetes SIP

How to organise HL7 pathology download? It’s a simple matter of ringing your pathology companies to request – nothing needs to be changed at your end!

About HL7

HL7 is a standard for exchanging information between medical applications. It defines the format and the content of the messages that applications must use when exchanging data with each another in various circumstances.

For further information contact me on 5331 6303 or tanyag@bddgp.org.au.

This expansion will see Australia’s largest and longest running private mental health facility evolve into a class of accommodation that meets the exacting needs of private patients and clinicians today.

Located in Richmond, The Melbourne Clinic offers inpatient programs, day programs and outreach services developed in conjunction with our expert team of psychiatrists.

If you would like to tour the new facilities or discuss referring to The Melbourne Clinic please call me on 0408 860 028.

Service details

Eligible patients: private patients, Medicare EPC, Veterans Affairs
Medicare registered: yes
Cost: patients on a health care card or pension bulk billed; all others attract private fees (MBS schedule amount)
Bulk bill: yes
Require same day payment: yes
Gap: people with EPC referral not on health care card or pension are required to make a gap contribution

Referrals

Argus: no
VSRF: no
Phone: 5334 3564
Fax #: 5334 1378
Address: 17 St Cedars Grove, Lake Gardens
Reports returned by: mail or fax

About Central Highlands Podiatry

Private podiatry clinic, in Arches Business building in Lake Gardens (plenty of free parking!).

Registered with Dept of Veterans Affairs, Workcover, TAC and Medicare (EPC).

At present open Monday to Thursday.

About Matthew Austin

Bachelor Health Science (Podiatry)(Honours) First Class, research project looked at circulation and Doppler ultrasound.

Podiatrist for 6 years, private and community work, also teaching podiatry students at University.

Special interests: Diabetes, Vascular, Sports Medicine, General Podiatry.

A feedback email has been included within the site so GPs, Practice Managers and Practice Nurses can suggest improvements to the site.

Members of the Unit worked closely with stakeholders within BHS, the Ballarat and District Division of General Practice and local GPs to develop content aimed at improving communication with GPs and highlighting the services available at BHS.

Dr Jaycen Cruickshank, director of the BHS Emergency Department, will also be a key speaker at the session and will discuss electronic discharge summaries to GPs and improved methods of communication between the ED and GPs.

We look forward to seeing you there.

For more information and to register, please contact Rebecca Steele at rebecca.steele@ovariancancer.net.au or call 1300 660 334.

About Ovarian Cancer Australia

Ovarian Cancer Australia is a national not-for-profit organisation that provides support and advocacy for people affected by ovarian cancer, and is the peak body for ovarian cancer awareness and prevention.

Its programs are focused on raising awareness of ovarian cancer and providing support networks and resources for women and their families and friends affected by ovarian cancer.

February is national Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, an initiative of Ovarian Cancer Australia. To raise awareness of ovarian cancer in your local community order symptom diaries (A4 sheet), awareness brochures and posters.

If any of your patients has ovarian cancer please refer them to Ovarian Cancer Australia for a range of information resources and support options.

Contact Ovarian Cancer Australia on 1300 660 334 or visit the website.

The entire program is delivered by correspondence and can be completed at the family member’s convenience.

Family members or GPs requiring more information are encouraged to call 1800 153 340 (free-call).

Visit the website for more information, a preview of the program materials and to access a brochure that can be distributed to families.

We close at 12pm Christmas eve, and will reopen on Monday January the 4th.

Standing: Heather Campbell, Julian Laffey, Andrew McPherson, Angela Aldred, Bianca Slater, Paula Desnoy, Jo Millard, Faye Shepperson. Seated: Bobbie-Jane Rosenhart, Tanya Gradolf, Georgina Christofi, Belinda Schaefer, Chris Franck