New accreditation standards for general practices launched quality improvement
The RACGP has launched the Standards for general practices (5th edition) last week. They have been developed over a three-year consultation period with general practitioners, practices managers, nurses, consumers and other stakeholders.The standards are aimed at protecting patients from harm by improving the quality and safety of health services, while supporting general practices in identifying and addressing any gaps in their systems and processes. From 1 November 2018, practices will be required to be accredited against the 5th standards. Click here for more details.
New guidelines for GPs on breast cancer diagnosis cancer
Cancer Australia has developed new guidance for GPs to investigate and improve breast cancer diagnosis. The investigation of a new breast symptom: a guide for General Practitioners has been updated in line with contemporary practice and latest evidence.
The guide is designed to support health professionals in the investigation of breast symptoms. The recommendations utilise the ‘triple test’ approach to diagnosis which includes: medical history and clinical breast examination, imaging (mammography and/or ultrasound); and non-excision biopsy (fine needle aspiration cytology and/or core biopsy). The triple test is positive if any component is indeterminate, suspicious or malignant. Click here to access the guide.
Commonwealth subsidies for GPs in rural locations anaesthetics and obstetrics
The General Practitioner Procedural Support Program is a workforce support program aimed at improving access to obstetric and anaesthetics services for people living in rural and remote communities.
It supports rural GPs to attain procedural skills by providing funding to enable them to obtain either the Advanced Diploma of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists or Advanced Rural Skills Straining in Anaesthesia qualifications. Applications for the current round of funding are open and closing 23 November 2017. Click here for more details.
Fixing the pain in TAC payments TAC
Eligible TAC providers can now submit invoices through LanternPay, a digital payment solution. This new platform allows providers to instantly verify TAC client eligibility when billing for accident-related services, submit a digital invoice and know immediately if the payment is approved and receive payment for approved invoices the next business day. More than 1,000 TAC providers are already on the LanternPay system.
There are no set up or ongoing fees, just a 1.45% fee per transaction (or 73 cents on a $50 invoice), typically cheaper than the cost of printing and mailing paper invoices, with no follow-up administration. This fee does not go to the TAC but is paid by monthly direct debit to LanternPay. LanternPay is accessible on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone. For providers who choose not to adopt the LanternPay system, the TAC's paper-based option is still available. Register for the system here.
Information Security Guide for small healthcare businesses cyber security
The Australian Digital Health Agency has launched its Information Security Guide for Small Healthcare Businesses developed in partnership with the Australian government's Stay Smart Online Program. The guide provides simple guidance for non-technical health professionals around issues such as privacy, passwords, software updates, back-ups and staff security awareness.
Your healthcare business or practice has access to valuable digital information entrusted to you by healthcare consumers, suppliers and employees. The information and systems your business uses to access and store this information are critical to its ability to operate.
If criminals compromise your computer systems or steal important business information, your business may suffer significant financial loss, possible legal liability, reputational damage and your customers' personal information may be misused for fraudulent purposes. Some cyber attacks may cause you to lose access to critical business systems or Internet bandwidth making it difficult to run your business. Click here to access the guide
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