IMPROVE ACCESS TO DATA AND INFORMATION

PHC RIS manages and facilitates information about the activities and outcomes of primary health care research and the Divisions of General Practice Network in many ways as outlined through the following activities.

Maintain databases and data collection/Roadmap Of Australian primary health care Research (ROAR)

The Roadmap Of Australian primary health care Research (ROAR) database remains one of PHC RIS’ most popular on-line resources and many exciting developments occurred in 2009.

It was viewed more than 80 000 times in 2009, with an average of 6 678 hits per month – 9% more than the 6 025 hits per month in 2008.

In June ROAR profiles were merged with ROAR projects which increased the number of ROAR profiles from 541 to 1 179. In July ROAR Profiles were merged with GP & PHC Research Conference abstracts. This produced approximately 1 300 new provisional ROAR profiles and bought the total amount of profiles to over 2 500.

A link was also created between a primary organisation to all ‘active’ researchers so that when a user clicks on an organisational profile link they find information and contact details about the organisation, the researchers who are listed on ROAR that work within the same organisation and ROAR projects being conducted there.

PHC RIS staff have worked diligently to ensure the validity of ROAR profiles by asking keynote speakers and delegates of the 2009 GP & PHC Research Conference if their information could be used to update their ROAR profiles in addition to prompting Research Capacity Building Initiative contributors to PHC RIS infonet to update or add their profiles.

Support users in providing and accessing information

The PHC RIS website continues to provide support and information for the extensive range of resources available. When new resources are launched or updated, the PHC RIS website alerts users and directs them to the information by providing details in both the Announcements section of the home page and the What’s new pages.

Average monthly hits to the PHC RIS website in 2009 were 39 864, over 8 000 more than the monthly hits in 2008 (see figure). The peak in July 2009 reflects the interest in web information about the GP & PHC Research Conference.

PHC RIS Assist

Nine hundred and eighty three incoming calls were received via the PHC RIS Assist 1800 number in 2009, an average of 82 calls a month. The busiest months were February, July and September which coincided with the peak planning and reporting periods in 2009.

Nearly all (98.5%) of the 2 036 requests for 2009 were responded to within one working day.

Promoting the PHC RIS Assist service from the side bar of the PHC RIS website enables users to easily submit specific queries or contact PHC RIS directly when the information they require is not readily available.

The PHC RIS Assist 1800 phone number and generic mailing list were the most used methods to communicate with PHC RIS, however emails and phone calls to specific staff members were also common.

PHC RIS communicated most with members of the Divisions Network, followed by researchers and the Department. The most time intensive enquiries were requests for specific ASD data, and face-to-face consultation with stakeholders.

Planning & reporting on-line system

In 2009 substantial work was conducted to enhance the existing planning and reporting on-line system for Divisions of General Practice and State Based Organisations (SBOs) particularly in relation to requirements around their renewed Multi-Program Funding Agreement with the Department.

As required by their contract with the Department, all Divisions and SBOs completed their Plans and Reports using the on-line system. This included the ASD component of the 12 Month Report.

The resulting information on the activities and attributes of Divisions was made accessible through a suite of on-line tools designed to suit the needs of people within the Divisions Network, researchers and policy advisors. This, and past information, can be seen within the Divisions Network Reporting section of the PHC RIS website.

Along with the new enhancements to the on-line system, PHC RIS also managed the support service for users of the existing on-line system. The PHC RIS Assist support service receives a wide range of queries from the Divisions Network regarding both functionality and the content of the Plans and Reports.

"The team that provides support and assistance for the Divisions Information Online System is always friendly, professional, helpful and responsive. I really can't speak highly enough of [PHC RIS staff] as they bend over backwards to provide assistance and follow-up. Congratulations for all your hard work!"

Develop and implement new Information Management systems

In 2009 a substantial IT project involved redesign of the existing website infrastructure which increased capacity of the website, enabling it to manage and link complex data and information and thereby improving the search function significantly (via keyword and categorisation). These features are being used in the ROAR resource cross linking PHC projects with the investigators involved (ROAR Profiles).

This initial development provides immediate benefit but is also a basis for future developments and expansion.