No 0908: March 19, 2009
eNews is a weekly electronic newsletter sent to all GP practices
(with email addresses) within the
Editorial New PIP eHealth Incentive, NEVDGP Google Map locations
Chronic
Disease Management DA-Vic Health Professional membership online survey, Cultural
Diversity Week
Professional Development CPD events
HMR Eczema
- differential diagnosis, treatment and management plans, Dose Administration Aids, Combining Item numbers, Calcium use in older people
Immunisation Immunisation Questions
Information
Management includes General Computer Tip, Medical
Director Tips and New on the Web
Items of
interest New
Cardiovascular Disease Guidelines for GPs, GPs and child abuse: recognition,
responses and experiences of reporting, Cancer MDT Workforce and Workflow Survey,
APRA Background Music Licensing Requirements, Neurologist commencing
private practice, BECC waiting times
News for
Practice Staff RCNA Continuing Professional
Development Workshops 2009, Educational Seminar, Courses for practice support staff
Paediatrics RCH Clinical Services Directory
Women’s Health Cardiovascular disease in women and the importance of risk perception, Medical & Psychiatric Interventions to Improve Perinatal & Maternal Outcomes
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Earlier this week all practices should have received notification of the new PIP eHealth Incentive which begins with its first payment in August 2009. This replaces the previous PIP IM/IT incentive with the final payment to practices in May of this year. The first August payment is for the May-July quarter – this means you need to complete the Application Form by April 30th. There are 3 requirements that a practice must meet:
1. have a secure messaging capability provided by an eligible supplier – as yet there are no listed suppliers. Most likely you will need to sign up with Argus.
2. you must have a PKI practice location certificate and an individual PKI certificate for each doctor of the practice.
3. all doctors must have access to a number of key electronic clinical resources from their desktops.
To come to grips with all the “ins and outs” of this rather convoluted and complicated process the division is providing assistance in 3 ways:
a. a briefing to Practice Managers on the evening of March 19 as part of the Practice Managers Network meeting
b. a guide with all the relevant electronic
links to help you comply – this will save you from individually wading through
the
c. organising an information session for GPs/PMs in early April to further explain the process. We hope to have representatives from Argus and Medicare. We will advise you of the date and location as soon as possible.
In the meantime if you have any queries contact Noel at the division on 9496 4333, ring the PIP Enquiry line on 1800 222 032 and keep an eye on our website at http://www.nevdgp.org.au/?content=15 where we will continue to update the information as it comes to hand.
This has been updated to include the GPs attached to each medical centre. Found under NEVDGP Google map. Please check that the doctors’ names are correct in your practice. Please contact Noel if there are any errors or omissions.
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Membership to DA-Vic gives health professionals access to the most up to date information on diabetes, its treatments and management strategies. Health Professional members of DA-Vic are helping to support their community by being involved in the state’s leading charity and consumer advocate for people with diabetes. We are currently reviewing the Health Professional membership benefits. Whether you are currently a member or not, please help us improve it by completing the online survey. Please click here to complete the evaluation - it should only take around 5 minutes! Thank you for all your support!
For diabetes information in other languages and to learn more about the Diabetes Australia -Vic Cultural Diversity Program visit www.diabetesvic.org.au
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Meetings are held each Tuesday starting at 12.30 in the
Lecture Theatre, Ground Floor,
March 24 - Carotid Artery Disease - Mr Neil Roberts
For full term Tuesday lecture program click here
Diane, 40 years of age, is the mother of two young children. She presents with tiredness, fever and a non-productive cough. Although she has recently been in very good health, she is overweight and has diabetes. Explore issues of influenza vaccination, diagnosis and disease management with Dr Greg Rowles, a GP with special expertise in immunisation. This case has been approved for RACGP QA&CPD Category 2 points. Visit www.gplearning.com.au or access via MyGeneralPractice.
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Wednesday 1 April: 6:30pm for 7:00pm start at Northern Division Training room. Light meal provided. Presenters: Dr David Orchard, Dermatologist and Dr Jenny Gowan
RSVP to Cherry Braine on Tel. 9416 7689. Click here for flyer.
HMR or medication issues contact Dr Jenny Gowan 0417 506 944.
Remember that DVA patient are eligible for free Dose Administration Aids – authority script required.
Unsure how to order these for your DVA patients? Publicity is out via the RSL clubs. Click on the form here
The attached form (click here) shows you simply how to provide best care for your patients and find out what they are really doing with their medicines. This week the lady was trying to inhale a meloxicam capsule using the Handihaler.
Further information contact Dr Jenny Gowan 03 9416 7689 for Northern & North East Valley DGP
Routine use of calcium supplements by all older Australians has been backed
by three professional groups, who say most elderly people are unlikely to be
able to get enough calcium from their diet. An extra 500-1000 mg of calcium a
day is recommended in a new position statement issued
by the
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Question: Zostavax - The NCIS fact sheet for zostavax particularly comments about those people that have a negative clinical history of chicken pox. That is, NCIS quote that 97% of Australians have seropositivity to varicella and that the vaccine is not contraindicated if you are seronegatvie. Could this be clarified?
Answer: Re Zostavax
To clarify: NCIRS Fact Sheet
states: What if my patient has a
negative clinical history of chickenpox?
Although an adult person may
report not having had chickenpox, it is unlikely that they will actually be
seronegative for VZV. In
Therefore, the recommendation is
that if a person has no history of Chicken Pox infection &/or seronegative,
only VZV is licensed to be given. As there is no contraindication to having
Zostavax following prior administration of a VZV vaccine, Zostavax can be given
later if Zoster protection is desired. There are currently no official specific
recommendations relating to this issue. It does say in the same Fact Sheet: Zostavax®
vaccination of people who have previously received varicella vaccine is not
recommended at this time.
This means there is no
recommendation yet to vaccinate people who have previously received VZV
vaccine, but this does not mean it is contraindicated.
It just means they haven’t made any
recommendation yet.
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Quite often a GP practice will not have electronic or paper copies of patient’s investigations where the patient is under the care of a specialist. A typical example is a GP not getting the HBA1C pathology results for a patient under the care of an Endocrinologist. This results in a distortion of a GP’s HBA1C record – those patients are tagged as “Nothing recorded” under a HBA1C graph (such as the PEN Clinical Audit Tool). A simple fix is to add the following line to the standard specialist referral letter (put it under “We thank you for your opinion and management…”.)
“Please note: We require to be
Carbon Copied (CC’ed) on any pathology/radiology results and would appreciate
your co-operation in this matter as it helps us to maintain accurate clinical
records. Our preference is for electronic copies of the results.”
Question: I have found another issue with MD3. Under Patient Education, there used to be a section on Paediatric Health. This appears to have gone. I was looking for information sheet on “Gastroenteritis in children” and couldn’t find it. Any ideas?
Answer: The “Gastroenteritis in children” is still there!!!
1. Click on the Patient Education Leaflets (Mortarboard icon)
2. Under Patient Education click on + sign next to Part 1 - Stages of human development
3. Click on + sign next to Chapter 03 – Children’s Health
4. No 24 is: Gastroenteritis in children
1. eHealth Initiative - August
2009 - a document by
2. NEVDGP Google Map locations - this has been updated to include the GPs attached to each medical centre. Found under NEVDGP Google map
3. DVA Dose Administration Aids Service- provides for pharmacy-filled sealed blister pack dose administration aids for eligible Veterans’ Affairs patients who are living in the community. Found under Home Medicines Review
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New guidelines, endorsed by the National Health and Medical Research Council, have been released to help GPs save people from death and disability caused by cardiovascular disease (CVD). The ‘Guidelines for the assessment of absolute cardiovascular disease risk’ are available here
Dr Jan Coles is conducting a research project which investigates how GPs
recognise child abuse in practice. The research explores how GPs respond to
child abuse and the decision making process involved. The GP’s experiences of
reporting to child protection services will also be documented. The study has
ethics approval from
The survey is attempting to clarify exactly what the workload implications
of MDT meetings are on participants, as well as the extent to which information
and communications technologies do or could assist in preparing for and running
the meetings. The link can be found on
the WCMICS Website
In order to comply with the Australian Copyright Act 1968, business owners
who authorise the public performance
of copyright music (playing music to customers) must be authorised by the copyright owner.
In most instances, this permission is obtained through one of APRA’s
comprehensive licences. An APRA licence provides your business with legal
access to copyright music from around the world. This includes the use of
radio, CD, TV, DVD in your business or music on hold over your telephone.
Further information and application form is available from our website: www.apra-amcos.com.au/musicconsumers.aspx
Dr Henry Ma, consultant neurologist and Director of Physician Training at Austin Health with a special interest in stroke medicine, will commence private practice at Diamond Valley Specialist Centre (DVSC) in March on Wednesday afternoons. The telephone number for DVSC is (03)9435 2477.
Waiting times for new referrals to Bundoora Extended Care Centre Inpatient Admissions are currently approximately Gem 0 - 2 days, Rehab 0 - 2 days as of 17/3/09. Any queries regarding our waiting times please contact Access BECC on 9495 3109
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This year there will be two topics 'Motivational strategies to build a team' and 'Skills and strategies in mediation and managing conflict' presented by Dot Yam.
The first of these workshops, 'Motivational strategies to build a team',
will be held in
‘How to get the most out of your staff’ - FREE seminar highlighting how to improve the productivity and performance of your staff
Thursday 2 April 2009 See flier
ESSET
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The RCH Clinical Services Directory is for GPs wanting to refer to the
RCH. You can look up services by keyword, clinic name or specialty.
Each clinic links to referral forms, pre-referral guidelines, parent
factsheets, contact information and other online useful tools and resources
where available. Remember to bookmark: Outpatients in the Kids Connect
website: www.rch.org.au/kidsconnect/outpatients.cfm.
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The Jean Hailes Foundation for Women’s Health is holding its next
videoconference on April 28. For more information visit the website.
Assoc
Prof Sue Walker, Perinatal Medicine Consultant & Dr Megan Galbally, Consultant Psychiatrist,
Tuesday 24th March.
7.00-9.00pm (Registration
& Refreshments from 6.30pm) Level 4
Registrations: Merran McDonald 8458 4833 / mmcdonald@mercy.com.au or click here for the registration flyer.
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Please
note: only new ads, paid ads or resubmitted ads will be posted here. All other ads
can be found on the website
Doctors
Thornbury - We are seeking a dedicated VR GP to join our team at our busy accredited, computerised and long established family medical practice. Friendly and professional working environment, dedicated staff and excellent nurse support. For enquiries, please contact Rose on 9484 2007 or email dundasdr@bigpond.net.au
Thornbury - VR GP, F/T or P/T required for accredited long established friendly family practice. Mixed billing. Nursing support. Fully computerised. Please contact our Practice Manager Evelyn on 9484 7762 or 0408 100 279
Practice
Staff
Lalor clinic seeking a practice nurse RN1 to join our friendly, computerised clinic for 1 day/wk. Duties include care plans, CMAs and some relief work. Experience preferable. Please fax resume to Lory on 9465 0633 or email resume to lalornurse@ipnet.com.au.
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A bloke from the bush walked into a
It had no price tag, but it was so striking that he decided to buy it anyway.
He took it to the owner and said: 'How much is this bronze rat?'
The owner replied: "It's $12 for the rat, and $100 for the story."
The fella gave the owner his $12 and said: "I'll just take the rat, you
can keep the story!"
As he walked off down the street, he noticed that a few real rats had crawled
out of the drains and begun following him.
This was a little disconcerting, so he started to walk a little faster, but
within a couple of blocks the swarm of rats had grown to hundreds, and they
were all squealing and screeching in a very menacing way. He increased his
speed and ran on towards
By now very concerned, he ran down to the pier and threw the bronze rat as far
out into the water as he could. Amazingly, the millions of real rats jumped
into the water after it ... and were all drowned.
The man walked back to relate all this to the shop owner, who said, "Ah,
you've come back for the story then?"
"No, no!" said the bloke, "I came back to see if you've got a
bronze Carlton Supporter!!!!
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And remember…
… marriage is a relationship
in which one person is always right, and the other is the husband