|
Welcome to the new look eNewsletter!
If you have any article suggestions or feedback on this issue, please contact Kirsty Dummin at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
QuISP UPDATE
The Improvement Foundation (IF) recently facilitated a Quality Improvement Skills Program (QuISP) for 5 Victorian Divisions’ of General Practice, with 16 staff participating in 3 one-day workshops, held over 3 months.
Participants highlight some of the benefits of QuISP below:
- "Being exposed to the various QI tools and knowing and understanding how to use them to work through priority areas was great. Workshops have been very beneficial and working in a team has been really good - I couldn't imagine doing this program without others. We've heard and considered ideas from other teams in QuISP which can be used in our own Division".
- "It's about being able to involve everyone in the organisation to get their visions and ideas easily implemented into other areas".
- "Learning new and different ways to generate organisational change".
QuISP focuses on the practical application of improvement tools and techniques which helps teams to make sustainable changes for improvement within their organisation. If you are keen to make improvements at your organisation and would like to know more about QuISP, please contact IF on (08) 8422 7400 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or visit www.improve.org.au
USING QUALITY IMPROVEMENT TOOLS
The Cause and Effect Diagram, also known as Ishikawa or Fishbone, is a useful tool which helps to visualise the possible causes of a problem.
In this example a health service wanted to reduce the risk of patients developing healthcare associated infections (HAI), so they used the Cause and Effect Diagram to identify possible causes for the increase in incidences of infection.
To learn how to build a Cause and Effect Diagram, click here.
WELCOME TO IF
The Improvement Foundation is pleased to welcome Felicity Steer as a Program Manager to the APCC Program team. Felicity previously worked at Adelaide Western General Practice Network and has APCC Program experience as a Collaboratives Program Manager. Felicity will be undertaking a range of APCC Program work.
Bryan Foley and Matt Lewis have shifted roles; in addition to the QLD APCC Program Management, Bryan is also undertaking the VIC/TAS APCC Program Management. Matt will continue his ICT focus as SharePoint Business Analyst, however, he will also be taking on additional tasks such as SharePoint (web portal) design and construction, higher level technical support and applying his skills to assist with a range of IF programs.
DID THOMAS EDISON USE THE MODEL FOR IMPROVEMENT?
Do you ever wonder why we use the Model for Improvement? Do you get frustrated by having to make small changes? When you feel like this, keep in mind that it took Thomas Edison over 10,000 attempts to develop the electric light bulb! Contrary to popular belief, he didn't 'invent' the light bulb, but rather, he improved upon a 50-year-old idea. As Edison said himself; "There's a way to do it better - find it." Instead of being discouraged by failed attempts, Edison kept adjusting his approach, making finer and finer distinctions, until he reached his desired goal.
The Model for Improvement is a tried and tested approach to achieving successful change. It will help you successfully manage and plan a change so, like Edison, you can break down your change effort into manageable chunks which are then tested, to ensure things are improving and no effort is wasted.
What change, big or small, has your Division or health service implemented? Send your stories of improvement to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) so we can share them generously through the APCC website.
NEW APCC CASE STUDIES ON THE WEB
The APCC website features a number of valuable case studies that aim to promote the positive changes health services have been making through their involvement in the Program, and serve as a resource for peer to peer learning. Check out the case studies page on the website to see if there are any improvement ideas that might work at your health service.
Building a New Practice from Scratch with a Focus on Diabetes Management
With the help of the APCC Program, Country Health South Australia and Eastern Eyre Health & Aged Care (EEHAC), Cleve Medical Practice successfully changed from private to public ownership, while developing a strong focus on diabetes management and improving the overall care for their patients. Click here to read more.
APCC IN THE MEDIA
The Australian Primary Care Collaboratives: an Australian general practice success story
Medical Journal of Australia (MJA), Volume 193, Number 2,19 July 2010
"The Australian Primary Care Collaboratives (APCC) program has shown that Australian general practices can improve processes and outcomes in the treatment of diabetes, secondary prevention of coronary heart disease, and access to care in practices with long waits." Click here to read the full article.
UPDATES TO THE WEB PORTAL
Health services on the web portal can now identify their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patient populations when exporting report data. The 'Export Report Data' link on the 'My Health Service' page (screen shot below) has recently been updated. This report allows health services to download and view all of the data they have submitted to the portal.
Previously, this link reported the results for ALL patient groups in a health service, however recent updates to the portal allow health services to filter and then download their data by the following patient groups:
- Patients that identify as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin.
- Patients that are listed as not identifying as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin.
- Patients for whom Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status has not been recorded.
- All patients.
To use this improved Export Report Data function, simply choose one of the above filters and the report will show the results for the chosen patient group.
APCC RESULTS UPDATE
Wave 4 and 5 results continue to be updated on the APCC website monthly. To view these results, please visit http://apcc.org.au/about_the_APCC/program_results/. More recently, the latest virtual wave results have also been added to the website.
CLOSING THE GAP
The first learning workshops for Closing the Gap local waves were held in July for Queensland and August for Victoria. A number of useful tips came out of these first workshops including some ways to improve Health Assessments of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, such as:
- Start small, e.g. only target patients 45 years and over - use PDSAs
- Use the Medicare online 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Assessment' form
- Use culturally appropriate questions
- Where possible, screen patients opportunistically (e.g. while patients are in for another reason)
- Claim the item numbers
- Do home visit health checks
- Hold a 'health check day'
- Utilise mobile outreach clinics (e.g. a caravan/Winnebago).
RESOURCES ON THE PORTAL
Presentations and resources from both Closing the Gap workshops are available on the portal. To access these and other related resources, type 'closing the gap' into the search box on the web portal home page.
|
