Practice Support

Gold Coast Primary Health Network (GCPHN) provides each general practice on the Gold Coast with a designated practice support officer. They can provide support and resources to assist with improving patient outcomes and business processes.

Support is available in in the following areas:
 

• quality improvement
• accreditation
• data analysis
• business modelling for clinical outcomes
• Cat Plus training *
• Cat Plus data reports *
• evidence based resources
• digital health
• chronic disease management
• immunisation
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
• team approach to coordinated care
• staff development, training and networking

*The Cat Plus suite of tools (includes Cat 4 data extraction tool, Cleansing Cat, Registrar Cat, Top Bar, Pat Cat) is compatible with MD, Best Practice, Zedmed and Genie.

GCPHN offers Practice Support in a tiered approach. The tiers range from ad hoc support and access to the Cat Plus data extraction tool – to high level practice activity reviewing their practice population data.

This tiered approach enables all practices with compatible software to have access to the extraction tool, at a level that suits their requirements. This approach also offers practices to gradually increase confidence with data analysis with ongoing support. 

Practices can choose the level of support that meets their needs. This is reflected through the tiered system approach which ranges from low level assistance to high level practice activity reviewing practice population data.

Tier 4 – Tier 4 is a pilot program in a small number of general practices to developing a practice based population health management system for the Gold Coast. General practices are supported with proactive, preventative care for healthy and chronically ill people, with a focus on the distribution of health within populations including those patients living in residential care facilities. Tier 3 - Practices receive access to Cat Plus, there is a focus on data quality improvements for improved clinical outcomes with detailed chronic disease data reports and regular visits by practice support officers to track and monitor progress. Additional resources are also available to support this higher level of activity.​ Tier 2 – Practices can be supported through a focus on improving data quality and recording, receiving quarterly data reports and assistance with improved data quality. Tier 1 – Practices have free access to the Cat Plus suite of tools and general practice support. Initial training is provided to use Cat Plus with de-identified data sent to GCPHN.