North East Valley DGP eNews
No 1208: March 22, 2012
eNews is a weekly electronic newsletter
sent to all GP practices (with email addresses) within the NEV catchment. The
aim is to provide up to date information relevant to GPs and to disseminate the
latest activities and resources from the division. All feedback and enquiries
welcome and should be addressed to Patty Marshall.
You can also visit our website at: http://www.nevdgp.org.au/.
To subscribe to eNews click on subscribe.
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Aged Care New Coordinated Veterans’ Care online
training released
Chronic Disease Management Life! Update
Professional Development CPD
events
Information Management Medical Director Tips
Items of interest Community Assistance Support
Program, Services and Supports for ME/CFS, GP Network News
Mental Health Mental
Health Skills Training
News for Practice Staff News for Nurses
NPS NPS e-Audits are still available, Medicines
Talk No. 40
Women’s Health Peri Conception – What to screen? PIP breast
implants
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New Coordinated Veterans’ Care online training
released
CVC Program partners are pleased to announce the release of Module Two
this week – Care Planning and Coordination with the Flinders Program TM.
Module Two has been designed as a flexible, self-paced learning tool enabling
individuals to design their own study timetable. The module has four sections,
will take 8-10 hours to complete and is available free of charge. This program
has been endorsed by APNA for 8–10 CPD hours. For more information visit
the APNA website or go to www.cvcprogram.net.au.
As part of Module Two of the CVC Program online education and training, there will be an opportunity to attend a face to face, one day workshop. At the workshop you will do a 2nd Care Plan and complete Module Two. Workshops are being run nationally in conjunction with Medicare Locals - to register to attend a workshop click here
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Life! media campaign - Over the coming weeks the Life! program is running another media campaign to encourage people to call 13RISK. The dates for the campaign are scheduled as follows:
Radio
and Print: 8th-14th April
Radio only
8th-28th April – making this a
month long campaign.
Patients visiting their GPs within this time may enquire further about being referred, so it may be helpful to be mindful of these upcoming dates.
Case Finding Agreement – This is still available for all GP practices across Victoria. The amount of $560 (+GST) is available for every 15 referrals (to either Life! course or Telephone Health Coaching) which come through the practice. A practice can generate a healthy income from the funding agreement as there are no restrictions on how many claims can be made per practice, providing the practice signs the agreement and makes the claims within the time frame for the case finding funding period. The time for signing a case funding agreement is running out, so practices should endeavour to sign an agreement as soon as they can.
Practices should fax signed agreement to the Life! team: (03) 9667 1757
For any other queries relating to the Life! Program, please contact Michelle Jones- Primary Care Prevention Coordinator- 9667 1773
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Wednesday 2nd
May, 7-9pm (dinner and registration from 6.30pm) at John Scott Meeting House.
Presenter: Dr Stella Heley – Sexual Health Physician.
Flyer
Wednesday 28th March 7-9pm (Registration & refreshments from 6.30pm) at Melbourne GP Network, Suite 9, 233 Cardigan Street, Carlton. RSVP: by Friday 23rd March to Talitha Willis (03) 9347 7433 or email to events@mgpn.com.au. See flyer.
Sunday 29th
April 8.45am – 4.30pm at General Practice Victoria (GPV) - Level 4, 458 Swanston Street,
Carlton. For more information and to register online click here.
(this session
may be repeated on the 17th June depending on funding)
Saturday 19th May 10am -1.30pm (includes a
light lunch) Registration at 9.30am at General Practice Victoria (GPV) - Level
4, 458 Swanston Street, Carlton. For more information and to
register online click here.
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There are
three ways of adding allergies: “By drug”, “By Class” or “Other”. The first two
forces you to pick from a coded drop down list, i.e. free text is not
permitted. “Other” allows you to free text for things
like peanuts, milk…
I have seen
GPs use “Other” to free text multiple “drug” or “class of drug” allergies. This
is an inappropriate way of adding allergies as these items are unsearchable. These
should have been added one by one using the coded “By drug” and “By Class”.
This sort of poor clinical record keeping must be stopped, perhaps by a
punishment of writing a hundred times: “I must use coded items and not free
text.”
Question: We are trying to encourage GPs enrolled in
our study to appropriately ‘code’ conditions such as chlamydia, pelvic
inflammatory disease and epididymitis by selecting items in their medical
records software instead of writing these diagnoses as free text. Some GPs have
said that they are reluctant to do this, as they do not feel that it is
appropriate for a chlamydia diagnosis to show on a patient’s history if they
are referred on to a specialist for an unrelated issue. My question is whether
ticking the ‘confidential’ box, or unticking the
‘summary’ box on the ‘New History Item’ or ‘Reason for Medication’ dialogue
boxes would help to keep this item off the patient’s summary?
Answer: Marking a past history
item as “confidential” ensures that the condition does not appear on a printed
summary (such as a referral). This is the accepted way for a GP to work. They
need to know if they are then referring to a specialist where the Chlamydia is
relevant they need to remove the tick from Confidential. This is the accepted
and correct way of doing it. Those GPs who are using free text are simply doing
it the wrong way.
Ticking
the summary box is a way of making sure that history item is an important
history item and it will appear on printed summaries. Deselecting the tick in
summary will make sure that the item won’t print but in the case of recording
chlamydia, this is the wrong way of going about it.
The
so-called “reluctant” GPs need to be educated on the correct way of recording
histories. In summary, for an important history item tick the summary box and
tick or untick the Confidential
box as appropriate.
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The Australian Red Cross provides a range of humanitarian services for refugees, asylum seekers and others in need of support. The Community Assistance Support program is funded by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) on behalf of the Federal Government. The program provides support to vulnerable persons awaiting decisions on Australian visa applications. One of our key roles is to provide medical and health care support. In considering our clientele groups’ (primarily single men asylum seeker) current visa status and subclass, they are not eligible for Medicare or Centrelink support and experience financial hardship. Predominantly, this group experience and develop severe health problems in conjunction with mental health issues while in detention centre.
On behalf of our clients, I request the cost claim for GP visits to be taken into consideration under the Medicare rate rather than being charged under the private rate. If our clients are charged under the Medicare rate then Australian Red Cross is able to cover the cost on behalf of the client.
If you have any further questions, please contact Richa on 8327 7879 or rkhadka@redcross.org.au.
ME/CFS Australia (Vic, Tas, NT) is pleased to inform you and your organisation of the latest services, education and supports available for adults, teenagers and children with ME/CFS in Australia. Over 180,000 young and adult Australians live with ME/CFS in either a mild, moderate or severe form. See our website.
This week’s edition includes: AMA Doctors Health Survey; AMA takes action to prevent bullying; AMA GP Survey on the impact of mental health funding cuts; Applying Lean Thinking to your Practice
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Mind the Gap:
Managing Physical and Mental Health Comorbidities
Saturday 24 March 9am – 4pm at The
Northern Division of General Practice, 232 Plenty Rd, Preston.
This
training will be co-facilitated by a GP Presenter (TBC) and a Psychologist Ms Jacqui Stanford
Guest Presenters: Dr David Hickingbotham, Psychiatrist, Northpark Private Hospital, Consumer representative, Carer Representative.
Completion of this program will enable GP participants to register with the GPMHSC to receive the higher Medicare rebates for provision of GP Mental Health Care items. Priority will be given to GPs and Practice Nurses to attend. Registration form.
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Post-graduate diploma of Primary Care nursing - a distance education course for RNs. Click here
Scholarships are now open for nurses to apply. Click here.
Latest APNA newsletter.
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The current QPI-PIP is due to complete at the end of April 2012. If you do not have the requisite number of GP audits completed in your practice, you might wish to explore some of the e-audit topics that are still available. E-audit topics currently available include:
· CVD risk and lipid-modifying therapy (complete before 30 April 2012 to be recognised in the current QPI year (1 May to 30 April) in which it is completed)
· Review of proton pump inhibitor prescribing (complete before 30 April 2012 to be recognised in the current QPI year (1 May to 30 April) in which it is completed)
· Management of hypertension (review of 10 patients only; complete before 30 April 2012 to be recognised in the current QPI year (1 May to 30 April) in which it is completed)
· Optimising management of type 2 diabetes (Note this e-Audit must be completed by 30 June 2012 to be eligible for the 40 Category 1 QI&CPD points.
Enrol online now at www.nps.org.au/health_professionals.
MedicinesTalk March 2012 has articles on saving money on your medicines, the new NPS Medicines List iPhone app and making the most of your asthma medicines.
Written by consumers for consumers, MedicinesTalk is a free quarterly newsletter that gives you reliable, accurate information and useful hints on managing your medicines. Download a copy or subscribe here.
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·
To provide an update on knowledge of what
to screen pre pregnancy and in early pregnancy to assist in identification of
risk factors
·
To promote screening opportunities,
including practice system changes, for the capture of women in age of
conception and early pregnancy
·
To inform GPs of support services
available at Mercy Hospital for Women and access
·
To inform GPs of a revised maternity
service referral tool developed to support quality information transfer
·
To update re population data in our
region relevant to maternity care
Dr
Bernadette White, Clinical Director, Obstetric and Maternity Services, Mercy
Hospital for Women.
Tuesday 27th
March, 7-9pm
(Registration & Refreshments from 6.30pm)at Level
4, Mercy Hospital for Women, Heidelberg
4 (Category 2)
points in the RACGP QI&CPD Program for the 2011-2013 triennium.
For further
details and registration click here
or contact Merran Mackie on 8458
4833 or mailto:mmackie@mercy.com.au
Medicare support from 12
March 2012 for GP referred MRI evaluation of Poly Implant Prosthese
(“PIP”) breast implants. Patients with known or suspected PIP branded implants
who are concerned about or show symptoms of implant rupture will now be
eligible for one Medicare supported MRI scan within a 12 month period, in order
to evaluate the integrity of their implant. This is regardless of whether or
not they have previously had a normal imaging examination.
Medicare supported implant
screening is available at two Lake Imaging locations:
Please do not hesitate to
contact us if you have any questions.
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Please note: only new ads or resubmitted ads will be posted here. All other
ads can be found on the website
Doctors
Eltham - P/T VR GP position is now available. Eltham Clinic is a
well-established, accredited, fully computerised, private billing practice. With
pathology on site, practice nurses, friendly supportive staff and a pleasant
work environment. Attractive remuneration with flexible
hours. For further information please call Dianne Fueggle
(Practice Manager) on 9431 0644 or email df@elthamclinic.com.au
Greensborough - full time or part time VR Female/Male GP to join
our family orientated practice.
Greensborough Plaza Medical Centre is a new privately owned practice situated
within Greensborough Plaza, with free undercover parking on-site. This fully computerised practice offers
private and bulk billing within a supportive team environment. Flexible sessions with no
afterhours.
For more information, please contact our Practice Manager, Cathy on 0419 314 839 or cdamos.gpmc@gmail.com
Northcote – F/T P/T VR GP or Subsequent Trainee GP
position. Fully accredited, computerised, long established doctor owned
practice in a new purpose built facility with a fabulous work environment. Ancillary Health, Pharmacy and Pathology services on site.
Inquiries Diane Cronin (Practice Manager) 9481 1214.
Visit our website www.doctorsofnorthcote.com.
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How to sell an iPad
This is very clever. Unless you speak German you don’t need sound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSq7D6aX4dI&feature=youtu.be&t=26s
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And remember…
…To write with a broken pencil is pointless.