The movement to value based healthcare across the industry in Australia, gained pace last month, with the Australian Healthcare & Hospitals Association launch of the Australian Centre for Value-Based Health Care.
AHHA CEO Alison Verhoeven says, “The initiative will publish exemplars of great value-based projects in Australia, academic research, webinars and events to inspire and stimulate conversation on doing things a little bit differently in our health care system. And all for better outcomes for Australians in terms of their health”.
The launch on 11th June in Melbourne included a case study from Dental Health Services Victoria that has developed measures for tracking outcomes, patient experience and costs. DHSV CEO Dr Deborah Cole and Executive Director Susan McKee speak about the approach and success so far, reducing the failure to attend from usual figures 18-19% . They also talk about the strong clinician engagement with better collaboration across to other functional teams. The full case study will be released by Australian Health Journal later this week.
A panel discussion with senior health leaders also discussed the innovative projects which will transform the way that health is provided and funded in Australia – improving health outcomes across disease groups such as cancer, public dental health and gastroenterology. The panel comprised the following:
• Professor Anne Duggan, Clinical Director, Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
• Michael Pervan, Secretary, Department of Health, Tasmania
• Professor Christobel Saunders, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Western Australia
• Terry Symonds, Deputy Secretary, Health and Wellbeing Division, Victorian Department of Health & Human Services
Australian Health Journal will be producing more content on value-based health care in the coming months.
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Priming Australia for social prescribing
Social prescribing provides support in various areas of people’s lives, leading to increased confidence, improved navigation of systems, and enhanced friendships and trust in healthcare, while communities should be designed in an age-friendly way to prevent isolation.
In Part 1 of the Models of Care on Social Prescribing, Australian Health Journal spoke to 4 people advocating for social prescribing in Australia
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Unleashing the potential of Paramedic skills and knowledge
According to a prominent paramedicine academic and researcher, paramedics have the potential to provide much-needed care in the community, changing the traditional healthcare model. Research points to paramedics having a wider healthcare workforce impact based on their ability to identify and fix problems 24/7.
Dr. Brendan Shannon is Head of Postgraduate Programs in the Department of Paramedicine at Monash University and a member of The Australasian College of Paramedicine. His interests including refining healthcare models, to ensure underserved communities receive requisite care. These alternative care pathways, like outreach programs, can work out of hospitals to provide care in underserved communities with social and complex chronic conditions.
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Specialist emergency care clinics in rollout
Unlike Emergency Departments that operate within public hospitals and some private hospitals, a Walk-in Specialist Emergency Clinic is located in the community and designed to provide comprehensive, coordinated acute care – from initial consultation and diagnostic services, to treatment and specialist referral if required – without the patient having to visit a hospital.
Australian Health Journal spoke to the visionary, founder and CEO behind this WiSE Specialist Emergency clinic, Dr Pankaj Arora.
