Wouldn’t it be nice to focus on something that isn’t COVID-19 for a change?
For more than 2 years general practice has taken the lead in supporting our community through the pandemic. GPs have cared for many thousands of patients with COVID-19, helping to keep people well and out of the hospital system. Primary care providers have also vaccinated the majority of Australians against the disease.
This work meant that many clinics had to put aside some of the formal quality improvement (QI) activities that are normally part of our everyday practice. However, we all know that QI must continue. The first annual report on Quality Improvement Measures in Australian general practices, released late last year, confirmed this. The data shows that while some improvements have been made, many more are possible – and necessary for the future health of our growing region.
To support you in getting started again, we have published a new QI activity hub on our website. These self-directed templates make it quick and easy for you to get back to driving continual improvements in your practice and help you meet the requirements for PIP QI.
Our first batch of QI activities focus on chronic disease prevention and management and new topics will be added regularly throughout 2022 and beyond.
Quality improvement support
North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network has many other QI resources to support general practices and ensure we are giving each practice the right level of support.
- Our Practice Partnership Plan (.docx) supports our work with general practice.
- Our QI Record (.docx) makes it easy for you to record and review your QI activities. It is also very useful should your practice ever be audited, as it provides a record of your participation in QI.
Completing the QI Record can also assist you to meet the requirements for the Practice Incentives Program Quality Improvement (PIP QI) Incentive. PIP QI has two components. Practices must:
- participate in continuous quality improvement
- provide their PIP eligible data set to their local Primary Health Network.
If you would like to talk to someone about getting started again with QI, please contact primarycare@nwmphn.org.au
More information about our QI program is available on our website.
