Issue 205 - 3 October 2024
Welcome to Practice Connect, a fortnightly update for practice managers, principals, nurses and administration staff on relevant issues, upcoming events and education.
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On 25 September the Department of Health and Ageing announced the commencement date for Chronic Conditions Management MBS item changes have been deferred to 1 July 2025. The additional time will support all practices and providers, including GPs and allied health providers, to be ready for the changes to these important services. Previously, these changes were due to come into effect from 1 November 2024. For more information please see the Upcoming changes to MBS Chronic Disease Management Arrangement page on the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care website.
Here are some ideas you might like to consider starting to prepare your practice team for Chronic Conditions Management and MyMedicare patient registration:
To inform patients and their carers about MyMedicare the resources below can help explain the benefits and what it means for them. Patient Brochures
Patient Videos
The Department of Health and Ageing, in collaboration with Services Australia, is running two webinars to cover the registration process for practices, providers and patients in MyMedicare. The first webinar held on 3 October provided an overview of how practices and providers can register with MyMedicare. The second webinar to be held on 10 October will provide an overview of patient registration under MyMedicare and related incentives.
We are excited to announce that the Practice Incentives Program (PIP) and Workforce Incentive Program (WIP) Toolkit pages on the Practice Assist website have been refreshed to provide you with the latest information and resources.
The PIP Toolkit offers an overview of the program and resources to support practices in providing quality care. It includes detailed information on the various incentives available, eligibility criteria, and how to apply.
The WIP Toolkit provides information and links to apply, understand, and engage in the incentive streams relevant to practices. It covers the different streams available, application processes, and key dates to remember. For additional support with PIP and WIP, please contact the Practice Assist Help Desk on 1800 2 ASSIST (1800 2 277 478 or 08 6278 7900) or email practiceassist@wapha.org.au for information and support.
At its core the WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) Suicide prevention strategy is a GP centric depression, management program. This e-resource kit contains access to capacity building resources, activities and training for primary care providers and their teams. Funded through the Australian Government's Targeted Regional Initiatives for Suicide Prevention, the Suicide prevention team has partnered with high quality education providers to bring a selection of accredited courses to meet the needs of clinical and non-clinical team members in the Primary Care sector. Within the kit you will also find access to courses and providers for all community members to gain the intervention skills to support someone with depression and suicidal behaviour. These can be shared far and wide, with family and friends, in a waiting room or with local networks. This resource kit will be regularly updated with new training and activities. If you have any suggestions for activities or would like further information, please contact your WAPHA suicide prevention lead.
From Monday 11 November 2024, mandatory Referral Access Criteria (RAC) for Immunology (adult) WA public outpatient services will be introduced. RAC are clinical criteria developed by Specialist Heads of Department, Consultants and General Practitioners that outline the mandatory history, examination and investigations required within a referral to support effective outpatient triaging and maximise the value of your patient’s first outpatient appointment. The purpose of the RAC is to improve access for those most in need and ensure every appointment adds value. Each RAC also includes examples of presenting issues, a list of excluded outpatient conditions and indicative triage categories for various conditions. RAC are now mandatory for Direct Access Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Endocrinology & Diabetes (paediatric), ENT (adult and paediatric), Immunology, Neurology, Ophthalmology, Rheumatology and Urology. To learn more, please access the RAC via Department of Health website – (www.health.wa.gov.au/RAC)
Pertussis cases are increasing in WA, particularly amongst school-aged children.
For the full Infectious Diseases Health Alert from Department of Health, click here.
The WA Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Infant Immunisation Program will cease in all parts of WA on 30 September 2024 (except the Kimberley and Pilbara). RSV immunisations will continue in the Kimberley and Pilbara throughout the year as local epidemiology shows that the risk of infection extends beyond the traditional winter RSV season observed in the more southern parts of WA. The Department of Health will keep everyone updated as key information becomes available about the 2025 RSV Infant Immunisation Program. WA Primary Health Alliance would like to thank all of the General Practice staff (inclusive of Doctors, Nurses and Administration staff) for adopting this program and ensuring that it was a great success. Since 1 April 2024, more than 22,000 eligible babies received a dose of Beyfortus (Nirsevimab).
The Australian Government this week announced a further expansion of eligibility for the free herpes zoster (shingles) vaccine Shingrix to include more people aged 18 years and over who are immunocompromised as a result of an underlying health condition or as a side effect of a treatment. The government estimates the expansion will mean hundreds of thousands more Australians can access free shingles vaccination. As the official announcement of the new expansion notes, Australia’s shingles vaccination program is among the world’s most comprehensive. To see the updated advice and increased eligibility criteria, click here.
Join the next event in National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) popular webinar program, ‘Falling childhood vaccination rates: current context and future strategies’, which will explore decreases in childhood vaccination rates in Australia – and what can be done to reverse them. Immunisation experts will present on subjects such as: the latest childhood vaccination coverage data and trends in Australia - results from new research on partial and under-vaccination in children - strategies to increase coverage rates and address vaccine mistrust. Register here.
Immunisation Coalition, in collaboration with Inovating, is pleased to announce the Primary Care Infectious Diseases meeting in Sydney. This hybrid event is specifically designed for General Practitioners and Nurses who immunise/vaccinate against infectious diseases. Topics include:
To register for this activity, simply:
Registration Open.
This webinar provides viewers with an update on shingles epidemiology, changes to the NIP schedule, and current trends in vaccination rates. Low shingles vaccination rates in Australian adults impact the epidemiology of the disease. This webinar explores what current guidelines advise regarding vaccination to reduce disease burden and complications associated from contracting Shingles. For more information and to register, click here.
General practices across Australia will have recently received cancer screening packs from the Department of Health and Aged Care to help remind eligible patients to undergo cancer screening. The packs include resources your practice can use to encourage your patients to be more proactive about cancer screening, such as:
When you receive the kit, make sure to hang up the posters and share the packs among the GPs at your practice. Translated versions are available online for printing in-practice. If your general practice did not receive a pack or would like to order another, please email your practice details to cancerscreeningcommunications@health.gov.au
Eligible Australians aged 45 to 74 can do the free National Bowel Cancer Screening Program test. When found early, nine out of ten cases can be treated successfully. So encourage patients to do the free test as soon as they get it in the mail – it could save their life. A how to video has been updated and re-released. Share with your eligible patients to ensure they know how easy the tests are to complete. How to do the free test.
Ensure your vulnerable patients remain protected against the risk of COVID-19 infection by scheduling booster reminders and planning their upcoming vaccinations in conjunction with their over 75 health checks or other standard appointments.
If it is not known when the last COVID-19 infection was, it is safe to get another COVID-19 vaccine. For further information please visit the Practice Assist website or email gpvaccination@wapha.org.au
A reminder that WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) has a funding model to assist COVID-19 vaccination providers. It will offer eligible immunisers the opportunity to participate in a targeted program to support vulnerable people who are unable to receive a vaccination through usual channels. This could include housebound individuals or those facing significant challenges in attending practices during routine business hours. Complete the EOI form online to submit your interest before 1 November 2024. For further information please visit our COVID-19 Vaccination & Resources webpage or email gpvaccination@wapha.org.au
The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care has provided funding to WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) for the administration of COVID-19 vaccinations for non-Medicare patients within primary care. WAPHA can reimburse general practices to the value of the relevant MBS item number to support non-Medicare patients being vaccinated against COVID-19, and this reimbursement can be backdated to July 2023. Please note: The non-Medicare vaccine reimbursements will cease in December 2024. The last day to submit a claim will be 1 December 2024, to align with WAPHA’s end of year payment processing. To claim, practices will be required to declare reimbursement (i.e. private fee charge) has not already been received for the services claimed. WAPHA understands that some practices have withdrawn or are not administering COVID-19 vaccinations. Practices with a large cohort of non-Medicare patients can be supported to submit an expression of interest to join the program. To make a claim complete the survey or for further information please email our COVID-19 team gpvaccination@wapha.org.au
To make sure PHN clinical and referral pathways platforms continue to meet the evolving needs of GPs and their patients, WA Primary Health Alliance wants to learn more about user needs and expectations now and into the future. To gather valuable insights from GPs, experienced researchers from the Behaviour Change Collaborative have been engaged to conduct two phases of research. Phase one will consist of paid interviews and focus groups to gather detailed insights from GPs about their use of current platforms: potential participants can opt-in now via a short expression of interest questionnaire. Phase two will gather detailed quantitative survey responses from GPs across Australia, to gain deeper insights into individual experiences, attitudes and expectations as they relate to existing platforms and any potential future solutions.
This project aims to identify areas of improvement with the existing clinical referral pathways offerings to deliver better patient care within general practice. You can learn more about the project here.
MBS Online contains the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) which is a listing of the Medicare services subsidised by the Australian Government. The website is an important way for everyone to keep up to date on the latest MBS information.
This survey gives users of MBS Online a chance to provide feedback. The results will give us valuable information about how people interact with the website. For example, what works well and what we could work on.
We want to hear the views of everyone who uses MBS Online as a source of information. This includes:
The survey will be available on the department’s Consultation Hub between 9 September 2024 to 11 October 2024. Learn more here.
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health (Commission) is seeking General Practitioner feedback on the Medication Management at Transitions of Care Stewardship Framework via an online survey. The survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete and will close on Sunday 27 October 2024 at 11:59PM (AEDT). Read the fact sheet for more information or take the survey.
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As a proud sponsor of the annual WA Mental Health Week (October 5-12), WA Primary Health Alliance is committed to promoting awareness, reducing stigma and encouraging people get support to improve their mental health and wellbeing when they need it. This year’s theme, empowering communities, thriving workforces: a journey towards investing in our mental health, highlights the vital role of workplaces and the wider community in supporting prevention of and recovery from mental health challenges.
WA Mental Health Week is a great to time to highlight the suite of online depression management and suicidality education courses we support via the Black Dog Institute, and deliver at no cost to GPs and GP Registrars:
Find out more and register for upcoming sessions in October and November.
There are lots of other ways your practice/organisation can get involved in 2024 Mental Health Week as well. Access resources for support, strategies and self-care and downloads to promote Mental Health Week 2024 at mentalhealthweek.org.au/resources and if you’re looking for strategies to look after your own mental health, visit mentalhealthweek.org.au/support.
Please join us for the eighth webinar in the Healthy Weight Masterclass series. In this webinar, we will hear from guest speakers Dr Andrew Leech and his practice team who will be speaking about multidisciplinary team care models in a healthy weight context. Learning outcomes:
Clinician Assist WA is a free to access, secure website providing GPs and other health professionals with guidance for assessing, managing and referring patients across Western Australia. It has replaced HealthPathways WA and provides access to the same trusted local guidance, features and functionality. The Clinician Assist WA team will run online demonstrations facilitated by a GP Clinical Editor monthly until November 2024 to support users. These sessions will demonstrate how to maximise integration of Clinician Assist WA into your clinical practice. Learn key functionalities of the website and how to access condition specific tools and resources, Referral Access Criteria (RAC) (where available), GPbook Specialist Directory and specialist regional rosters. Sessions have been approved for 1 CPD Educational Hour with the RACGP and will be held online on the following dates:
WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) is providing GPs in WA with paid online Initial Assessment and Referral Decision Support Tool (IAR-DST) training, designed to help practitioners and clinicians recommend the most appropriate level of care for a person seeking mental health support. GPs and GP registrars who attend the two workshops in the one online session will be remunerated $300 and CPD hours are available.
For the October, November and December IAR-DST training dates and registration links, visit the WAPHA IAR-DST webpage.
Presented by the ACRRM 5 November 2024 (7pm AWST)
What every doctor needs to know about providing best practice telemedicine.
Available for both members and non-members this is an education and skills development program on how to plan and deliver telehealth services.
Featuring a live online workshop and exercises to complete in your own time, the program explores consultations with patients, remote GP supervision, assessing patients through nursing and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health staff, and family conferencing. More information here.
As a proud sponsor of the upcoming annual WA Mental Health Week (October 5-12), WA Primary Health Alliance is committed to promoting awareness, reducing stigma and encouraging people to get the support they need to improve their mental health and wellbeing. WA Mental Health Week is a great to time to highlight the suite of online depression management and suicidality education courses we support via the Black Dog Institute, and deliver at no cost to GPs and GP Registrars:
Acknowledgement WA Primary Health Alliance acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Owners and Elders of this country and recognises the significant importance of their cultural heritage, values and beliefs and how these contribute to the positive health and wellbeing of the whole community.