In a busy general practice finding the time to revamp the appointment system or get your new health promotion project off the ground is difficult in itself, let alone the enormous effort it takes to get your colleagues to participate and to change. The Collaboratives program offers a simple, structured framework that can help you get the job done.

Collaboratives is about the whole practice team working together to make changes—small changes that improve the running of the practice and which lead to improved performance in many areas including workflow, patient services and finances.

Collaboratives provides:

• a framework to identify, implement and evaluate changes, 
• a network of peers to share experiences, ideas and solutions, 
• a dedicated GPpartners staff member to assist you, and 
• funding to participate.

The program’s model of improvement guides you through identifying your objectives, planning what you will need to do and implementing change. The benefit is ultimately improving patient health but you’ll also gain a greater understanding of how your practice works, enhance your team building and team work and improve your patient management systems overall.

Our practice teams are: 

• proactively and systematically reviewing target groups of patients 
• developing innovative ways to improve patient access to their services 
• building their skills and management of chronic disease registers 
• developing and improving individual roles within the practice 
• embedding a system of continuous quality improvement and embracing change.

Over 600 practices throughout Australia have participated in the Australian Primary Care Collaboratives pogram since 2005. If you’re interested, contact Michelle Casella.

Read more about Collaboratives...
What Collaboratives practices say… 
Collaboratives Model – Plan Do Study Act 
Your commitment  

What Collaboratives practices say… 

"Collaboratives has been a positive and worthwhile experirence for us. The program provides a sustainable framework to progress team building and to improve outcomes in chronic disease management. Collaboratives provides the targets, tools and support to achieve our desired improvements. The experience is that the more effort we put in, the more we get out of it." Dr Shyuan Loh, Arana Hills

"Being a part of Collaboratives has helped us to build our team to run the surgery more smartly, organise our time better and to understand how we can use our computer systems and data to our best advantage. Especially  being able to collate data and organise and export patient information in a meaningful and useful way such as disease registers, medication lists, age groups." Robyn Ashman, Practice Manager Ironside Medical Centre

What others have acheived:

• Through a series of PDSA cycles which included cleaning up their patient database, Newmarket 7 Day Medical Practice established a successful diabetes clinic and increased the practice’s income along the way. 
• Eaton Central 7 Day Family Practice provided proactive health care by cleaning up their chronic heart failure register and recalling patients to review their medication regime. Their systematic PDSA helped to define the roles and actions of staff in indentifying, recalling and educating patients.
• Ironside Medical Centre ran a Healthy Weight Week campaign to identify patients who fell into the pre-diabetes risk category. Their PDSA set out agreed goals for the campaign, the roles of staff and where to source resources. The practice enjoyed the campaign so much they’re continuing with other health weeks.

The Collaboratives Model

The model used by the Australian Primary Care Collaboratives is called Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA). This framework prompts continuous improvement in your practice. 

• What are you trying to accomplish? 
• How will you know that a change is an improvement? 
• What changes can you make that will result in improvement?

The PDSA model tests your ideas you think may create an improvement. It can be used to test research, feedback, theory, reviews or audits and practical solutions that have worked elsewhere.

Example 

Objective - To identify patients with diabetes who are not on the diabetes register. 
Plan - Practice manager obtain names of all patients with diabetes who have had a HbA1c test in the last 18 months from main pathology provider. Practice manager to check list against names on the diabetes register and identify new patients to be added to the diabetes register. Task to be completed by Friday second week of July. 
Do - Task was completed. 
Study - There were 57 people who were not on the diabetes register. 
Act - The list of people not on the register provided to Diabetes Nurse Educator for checking against current active diabetic patients list and, to add those outstanding to the diabetes register.

Commitment 

• Firstly, and most importantly, Collaboratives requires commitment from all staff members and a team attitude and approach. 
• You must commit to providing dedicated time to participate. To be involved, GPs and staff will need to commit time. 
• You must be prepared and willing to work towards change.
• You need a GP and a staff member who are committed to driving the process in your practice.