LATEST NEWS!
New Patient Feedback Tool
The RACGP has recently endorsed and awarded certification for a new Patient Experience Survey developed by Press Ganey ... read more.
New Australian Privacy Principles (APP)
- practice procedures
- staff responsibilities
- patient consent
- collection of information
- access and collection of information
The RACGP have also produced a document to assist general practices to meet their legal obligations - Compliance Indicators for the Australian Privacy Principles: an addendum to the Computer and Information Standards (2nd edition).
Influenza Vaccination - 2014
The annual influenza vaccination program commenced on 15 March - this is provided free to the following groups:
- People aged 65 years and over
- Pregnant women
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 15 years and over
- Anyone aged six months and over who has a chronic condition placing them at increased risk of complications from influenza
Telehealth Financial Incentives Program to Cease
The Department of Health has announced that the Medicare Telehealth Financial Incentives Program (FIP) will cease on 30 June 2014. While there are no changes to the MBS Telehealth items, Telehealth services will no longer attract FIP. To receive an incentive payment, claims for services prior to 30 June 2014 must be submitted by 31 December 2014.
For more information contact the Department of Human Services (DHS) on 1800 222 032 or Telehealth@humanservices.gov.au.
New Mobile App for Bleeding Disorder
 The National Blood Authority has recently launched a new mobile application to assist people with bleeding disorders. The MyABDR app enables people to records bleeds and their home treatments and the details are immediately listed on their clinical record in the Australian Bleeding Disorders Registry ... read more
Emergency Response Planning Tool Webinar
The RACGP is running a webinar to assist general practices to use their Emergency Response Planning Tool (ERPT) on Thursday 10 April - you can register on their website.
Guidelines for Hiring Staff - from the Fair Work Ombudsman
The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched a guide to hiring new employees for small business that covers the importance of Position Descriptions and Induction processes ... read more.
A free online interactive learning course to help employers improve their skills in employing and inducting new staff is also available at www.fairwork.gov.au/learning.
Medical Benefits Schedule (MBS) Online
The 1 April 2014 MBS files are now available to download on the MBS Online website ... read more. Please note that this is not applicable to Pracsoft users.
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TOP TIP FOR ACCREDITATION
At least every three years practices need to use a validated patient experience questionnaire to seek feedback about patients' experiences in their practice
Our practice seeks and responds to patients' feedback on their experience of our practice to support our quality improvement activities
The key points for this criterion are:
- Patient experience is an outcome of healthcare
- Good patient experiences are positively related to other aspects of healthcare
- Collection of feedback about patient experiences needs to be rigorous so that actions based on patient feedback can lead to meaningful quality improvement
There are three validated Patient Experience Survey Tools currently available to general practices:
Practices can develop and use their own individual practice specific method to seek patient feedback but it must be approved by the RACGP ... read more
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 ARE YOU READY FOR ACCREDITATION?
- Is your practice coming up for Accreditation?
- Is your practice team aware of the changes from the 3rd to the 4th Standards
- Do you need to update your Policy and Procedure Manual
Here is what one of our happy client's had to say:
The transition in our policies and procedures from 3rd to 4th standards was made much smoother by using Medical Directions. They went through our existing policies and procedures and identified areas where change was needed as well as additional policies that we now needed to have.
Medical Directions were flexible in their approach to our online documents allowing us to keep HTML access for our staff. The investment saved me considerable hours preparing for our accreditation visit. Medical Directions prepared a document which mapped our relevant policies against each Standard.
Giving GPA access to our knowNOW! intranet then allowed surveyors/accreditation manager to confirm our policies were compliant prior to our surveyor visit.
I would recommend using Medical Directions to any busy practice manager !
Dale, Practice Manager - Mount Gambier SA
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Did you know that there are many direct links on knowNOW! that may be useful to your practice. Under Non-Clinical/Practice Management/Resources you will find links to resources such as:
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RECIPE OF THE MONTH
Raw Beetroot Salad
This recipe makes a large salad so you might like to half the quantities
Ingredients - Salad
500g raw beetroot - peeled and grated
700g carrot - peeled and grated1 cup fresh mint leaves - roughly chopped½ cup raisins¼ - ½ cup sunflower seeds - toasted ¼ - ½ cup pumpkin seeds - toasted½ tsp salt Ingredients - Dressing 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar¼ cup orange juice ¼ cup olive oil1 tbsp honey Method In a large serving bowl, combine the beetroot, carrot, mint, raisins, seeds and salt and mix. Place all the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well to combine. Pour the dressing over the beetroot mixture and toss again when ready to serve.
ENJOY!
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 | | Kathryn Davis |
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