With preventive health activities the key to the future of Australia’s health, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) have collaborated to make it easier than ever to conduct these vital checks within general practice.
Following the recent release of advice for GPs and practice staff by the Department of Health (DoH) on the practice nurses role in facilitating health assessments, the RACGP and APNA have today released Conducting quality healthcare assessments in general practice.
The information sheet establishes the fundamentals around accurate Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) billing, maintaining quality health records and the role of the practice nurse in delivering health assessments.
RACGP President, Dr Liz Marles said it is through the successful collaboration between GPs and practice nurses in delivering health assessments that quality health outcomes for all Australians can be achieved.
“Preventive healthcare is an important activity in general practice and is critical in addressing the health disparities faced by disadvantaged and vulnerable population groups.
“The recognition of the importance of a collaborative team-based care arrangement is vital in ensuring a sustainable and well-resourced primary healthcare system.
“The information sheet is a valuable resource that provides GPs a quick reference guide to refer to when performing health assessments with or without the input of a practice nurse, ensuring appropriate remuneration and maintenance of quality health records,” said Dr Marles.
APNA President, Karen Booth said nurses play an important role in preventative health and chronic disease management activities in general practice.
“Utilising the skills of nurses in the general practice team helps to expand a practice’s capacity to offer those key population health based activities that keep people well and out of hospital,” said Ms Booth.
“One of the cornerstones of good team based care is clear and well documented contribution of each team member to help map the needs and progress of our patients’ health and aide a quality clinical handover.”
To facilitate evidence-based preventive health activities in general practice, the RACGP has developed the Guidelines for preventive activities in general practice (8th edition), commonly referred to as the ‘red book’ which is widely accepted as the main guide to the provision of preventive care in Australian general practice.