Shared care trials a little e-help
By Jen de Montalk, NZ Doctor magazine
Eight GP practices across Auckland are testing an e-facilitated integrated approach to managing patients with long- term health conditions.
Three pilots involving selected GP clinics, community pharmacies and hospitals have been launched across Auckland, Counties Manukau and Waitemata DHBs as part of the IT Health Board's National Shared Care Plan Programme.
The pilots are for patients with long-term conditions, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, respiratory disorders, chronic pain, depression and arthritis.
Shared care is a person-centric approach which involves all health professionals that have a role in the patient's care working to a common care plan and sharing information on one record.
Health IT Board director Graeme Osborne says shared care is not an entirely new practice, but, where it used to happen on paper, it now happens electronically using a Collaborative Care Management System (CCMS) by healthcare software company HSAGlobal.
A shared record can be accessed electronically by the patient and all the professionals involved in caring for them, avoiding unnecessary duplication and fragmentation. It includes a summary of a patient's personal health information, health goals and the treatment and follow-up care they receive.
GPs enrol eligible and willing patients in the programme and work with them to identify main areas of concern and create a care plan. If a GP needs other clinicians to get involved in the patient's care, they can notify them through the CCMS.
Mr Osborne recognises the CCMS is not yet perfect but is confident the pilots will help identify any niggling problems so they can be sorted out. At the moment, the software works best with Medtech and MyPractice but will eventually be tailored to work just as well with Intrahealth and Houston.
Grey Lynn Family Medical Centre GP Neil Hefford explains in a media release that shared care gives patients more input into decision making around their treatment and care. "Shared care is about putting the person at the centre of their care and involving them in creating an integrated plan for everyone who plays a part in managing their condition," Dr Hefford says.
"This is likely to include their GP, practice or community nurse, specialists, pharmacist and allied health professionals, but could also include social services or their extended family."
The practices and co-located pharmacies involved in the trials are Hauraki Medical Centre, West Harbour Medical Centre, Onewa Rd Doctors, Grey Lynn Family Medical Centre and Grey Lynn Amcal Pharmacy, Mount Wellington Family Health Centre, De Lacey Surgery, Mangere Family Doctors and Radius Pharmacy, and Mangere Health Centre and Mangere Health Centre Pharmacy.
The three secondary services taking part are Waitemata DHB AIRS service, Auckland DHB heart failure service, and Counties Manukau DHB gout service.
The National Institute for Health Innovation is evaluating the trials and has already released an interim report to the Health IT Board. A more detailed report is due next month.
The pilots are being led by HealthAlliance, are funded by the DHBs and the IT Health Board, and will run until December 2011.
