No 0921: June 25, 2009
eNews is a weekly electronic newsletter
sent to all GP practices (with email addresses) within the
Editorial H1N1 update
Chronic
Disease Management School Asthma Action Plan
Professional Development CPD events
HMR Pharmacy
locator
Immunisation Swine Flu Websites, Whooping cough incidence rising
Information
Management includes General Computer Tip, Medical
Director Tips and New on the Web
Items of
interest Cardiology
Liaison Nurse, New Referral Requirements for RVEEH, Patient information website, Assistance with
implementing EPC items, Specialist Endocrinologist, Light the Night
Mental Health New patient information MD template
News for
Practice Staff Pandemic Planning Update, Community Health Student Nurse Placement
NPS For Your Patients – Medicines Talk
Paediatrics Banyule Community Health Childhood Nutrition Education Program
Women’s Health New GP Resource from BreastScreen
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Tamiflu should only be prescribed to patients
meeting the clinical case definition who are moderately or severely ill.
Prophylaxis should only be given for close household contacts of the confirmed
case who are at higher risk of complications from
influenza. These include:
o
Cardiac
disease (excluding simple hypertension)
o
Other
Chronic illness such as diabetes mellitus, chronic metabolic disease, chronic
renal disease haemoglobinopathies, immunosuppressed (including cancers,HIV/AIDS, drugs) or chronic neurological conditions.
Tamiflu should be prescribed to these patients
stating the dose required and can still be obtained free of charge by your
patient at selected community pharmacies established by the Department of Human
Services. To read the latest Chief Health Officer and Pharmacists alerts click here
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School Asthma Action Plan - this record is to be completed by parents/carers in consultation with their child’s doctor – found under IM Resources – 4. Chronic Disease Management
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“COPD – Home and
Away” Speakers: Dr Nick Antoniades, A/Prof Christine
McDonald
Wednesday 1st
July, 12:10pm
at John Lindell Lecture Theatre, Level 4,
Presented by the RACGP Victoria Faculty and the Skin and Cancer Foundation, this conference will address problems that are frequently seen in general practice. Each session is designed to be highly interactive and will give general practitioners practical information on a range on common skin conditions.
Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 July 8.45am –
4.15pm (registration from 8.15am) at CQ Melbourne,
Approved by the RACGP QA&CPD Program for a maximum of 25 Category 2 points. For more information please call 03 8699 0563 or email vic.events@racgp.org.au
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A list has been prepared to search for many pharmacy specialities – including needle exchange, pharmacotherapy programs, sleep apnoea requirements, diabetes, asthma specialities etc. In addition there is a comprehensive listing of languages spoken by pharmacists and staff which can be searched here
The list may also be accessed at www.guild.org.au then clink on pharmacy locator.
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For
the most up-to-date national
information regarding H1N1 Influenza visit www.healthemergency.gov.au
For Victorian information go to http://www.health.vic.gov.au/ideas/diseases/swine-influenza
Call the Influenza Hotline on 180 2007
or Call Nurse-on-Call on 1300 606 024 – for expert
health information and advice (24/7)
The Influenza Specialist Group (ISG) provides daily updates on the swine flu situation including summaries and links to the relevant government sites. This site also has all relevant and up-to-date information on seasonal influenza.
The Victorian government is now offering the
vaccine (Boostrix®) to parents as soon as possible
after the birth of their child to curb the rising incidence of Pertussis or whooping cough in
Click here
to view the media release about the free Boostrix for
Victorian children.
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From July 2009 the MD hints will no longer support MD2, instructions will only be provided for MD3.
As of the end of June there are 2 new publications available:
· Medical Director Hints Volume 3
· MD – Your Questions answered Volume 3
These will be emailed to you in pdf format once you have contacted Noel by email. If you require Volumes 1 and 2 of both publications you can request them as well. It is my intention to completely revamp and re-index the 3 volumes, e.g. Volume 1 will contain all the hints on Scripts and Histories, Volume 2 on Patient database and LetterWriter etc. This may take a few weeks!!
Rather than clicking, holding down the left mouse button and dragging to select text, there are quicker ways:
· To highlight a single word - double click on the word
· To highlight a paragraph - triple click anywhere in the paragraph
· To highlight a selection of text - click where you want the highlighting to begin, hold down the Shift key and then click where you want the highlighting to end. Then let go the Shift key.
· You begin to highlight a selection of text and your finger slips just before you finish. You swear and start from scratch - don’t start from scratch. Simply hold down the Shift key and resume highlighting from where you had previously stopped.
IN MD you often have a long list of templates. Once you select New in LetterWriter, click on any of the templates, then quickly type the first 2 letters of the template name you want, e.g. HM – this will take you directly to the HMR templates. If you type the letters too slowly you’ll be taken to the templates that begin with the second letter you type, M in the example above.
Question: How can I add results/correspondence that are scanned into the Documents section into LetterWriter?
Answer: Apart from clumsy workarounds that involve screen snapshots or copy/paste there is no simple way to do this.
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GP queries about specific patient related cardiac issues (i.e. follow up arrangements, medication questions) can be made through the Outpatient Cardiology Liaison Nurse – Fraser McPherson. Fraser is available Monday – Friday 9a.m – 5p.m. and can be contacted on 9496 5942 pager 5942. It is anticipated that this service will provide GPs with a more efficient means of obtaining information about their patients. For more information about Austin Health please refer to www.austin.org.au or contact Austin Health’s GP Liaison Officer – Dr Wendy Fisher available on Monday and Tuesday on 9496 2681 or email wendy.fisher@austin.org.au.
The Eye and
We have streamlined our process so that the minimum information required on a referral is as follows: Legible; Patient’s Full Name; Date of Birth; Contact for patient: Address and/or Business hours phone number; Reason for referral; Relevant medical history to assist with triage.
Please note that referrals cannot be processed without the above information. We thank you for your co-operation. Electronic and printable referral templates available here.
Dr Mike Banning of Selby Family Clinic showed a colleague the Patient UK website he uses frequently for information sheets,
esp. for patients. Mike was a GP in the
National Primary Care Pty.Ltd is one of several companies assisting pratices to complete EPC items. Services provided include Health Assessments either in the home or in the surgery, contributing to the GPMP & TCA's. For more information please call Rhonda on 9432 8936
Dr Elif Ekinci and Dr
Felicity Pyrlis will commence private practice in Ivanhoe
in July 2009 at the rooms of Endocrinologist Dr Mario DeLuise.
As Dr DeLuise is retiring at the end of 2009 they
will provide ongoing specialist care to his current patients and also accept
new referrals for all endocrinological problems
including: Diabetes- Type I / Type II, Hypertension, Thyroid Disorders,
Osteoporosis and metabolic bone disorders, Lipid disorders, Pituitary
disorders, Adrenal disorders. For appointments or clinical advice contact
Ivanhoe Specialist Centre,
This September
at twilight, thousands of people will Light the Night
at celebrations across
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Better Outcomes Patient Referral Information - an information sheet to hand to patients explaining the program and how to contact the Allied Health Provider – found under IM Resources – 8. Mental Health
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Includes practical training in the appropriate use and fitting of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). For all general practice staff.
Facilitators: Dr Jenny Bocquet, Ms Janina DeSilva and Ms Wendy Reid
Tuesday 7th July, 6.30 – 9pm (Dinner
included) at John Scott Meeting House. La
Would you like to define the future of your practice?!
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The autumn issue of Medicines Talk is now available. This issue features articles on: using medicines wisely and safely; how NPS is providing information about generic medicines for people from Italian, Greek, Vietnamese and Chinese speaking backgrounds; the ABC of looking after your medicines and using medication organisers to keep track of your medicines.
Your practice or your patients can opt to receive an e-alert or hard copies
of future issues of Medicines Talk by visiting the NPS
website. You may wish to download copies for your waiting room from here.
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Paediatric Dietitian Nathalie Cook APD, runs nutrition education sessions for parents and carers of children 0-5 year at the Greensborough and West Heidelberg Community Health Centres. Topics covered include: Introducing Solids; Healthy Eating and Active Play for Toddlers; Nutrition and Physical Activity for Mums after Pregnancy; Healthy Eating and Active Play for Children Starting Kinder or School. The aim of the program is to establish healthy eating early in childhood to prevent overweight and obesity. Cost: A gold coin donation. Call 9490 4222 for session times and dates and to book in.
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BreastScreen
The resource can be downloaded in either black and white or colour from the BreastScreen Victoria website and is also available on the GPV e-Bulletin Resource Page.
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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
Ivanhoe Medical Clinic - Positional available for FT or PT VR GP, large supportive group (9 GPs), FT nurses, computerised, EPCs, no A/Hs, friendly, flexible, mixed billing. Contact: Dr.Stephen Smith or Dr.David Doig on 94991245
Lower Plenty - F/T, P/T GP - VR overseas trained Dr is required for a busy, fully computerised, accredited and friendly family medical and dental centre. Call: Christine or Dr Eva Tossoun on 9432 5400
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
Kinglake Community Medical Centre 2 positions
- Practice Nurse required to provide nursing services at the Kinglake Community Medical Centre. The medical practice has been established in response to the devastating Black Saturday bushfires to the practice population. The position is expected to work as part of the general medical practice team currently consisting of 1FTE GP, a position shared by 12 rostered GPs and Receptionist as well as work in collaboration with the range of other services within the Kinglake catchment area.
Job description. Applications close June 26, 2009.
- Medical Receptionist wanted to provide reception services at the Kinglake Community Medical Centre. Initially a 6 month F/T OR 6 month P/T (job share) position is available with the possibility of extension. Experience with Medical Director and/or Pracsoft (Practice Management computer software) will be highly regarded
Job description. Applications close June 26, 2009.
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And remember…
… those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.