Aust Fam Physician
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Children in Australia are infrequent recipients of general practitioner (GP) home visits. ⋯ There is infrequent use of home-visiting GP services by children who present to EDs with lower urgency conditions. These services refer some children with low-urgency conditions to the ED.
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With increasing computerisation in general practice, national primary care networks are mooted as sources of data for health services and population health research and planning. Existing data collection programs - MedicinesInsight, Improvement Foundation, Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) - vary in purpose, governance, methodologies and tools. General practitioners (GPs) have significant roles as collectors, managers and users of electronic health record (EHR) data. They need to understand the challenges to their clinical and managerial roles and responsibilities. ⋯ Representatives from existing programs, Medicare Locals, Local Health Districts and research networks held workshops on the scope, challenges and approaches to the quality and use of EHR data. Challenges included data quality, interoperability, fragmented governance, proprietary software, transparency, sustainability, competing ethical and privacy perspectives, and cognitive load on patients and clinicians. Proposed solutions included effective change management; transparent governance and management of intellectual property, data quality, security, ethical access, and privacy; common data models, metadata and tools; and patient/community engagement. Collaboration and common approaches to tools, platforms and governance are needed. Processes and structures must be transparent and acceptable to GPs.
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The New South Wales (NSW) Sexually Transmissible Infections Program Unit (STIPU) produced nine resources to support the diagnosis and management of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) in general practice. ⋯ STIPU's best practice translation of clinical guidelines could be enhanced by promotion of online resources, links through general practice software, strong engagement with general practice organisations, and developing the role of PNs.
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Chronic pain is a large and growing public health concern in Australia. Chronic pain is generally associated with physical, psychological, social and cultural risk factors. ⋯ Knowledge of psychopharmacology is important in the management of chronic pain. The majority of patients with chronic pain have comorbid psychiatric conditions ranging from mild anxiety, depression and adjustment problems, to severe delusional and psychotic disorders. Depression and anxiety are known to enhance the perception of pain. Not all antidepressants have independent analgesic properties. There is now a convincing body of controlled data, as well as extensive longstanding clinical experience, supporting tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) as analgesics independently of their antidepressant actions.