Cecilia Moretti, PHC RIS
As a national health priority of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, the prevention and management of diabetes provides a major focus for Divisions of General Practice. But exactly how have Divisions contributed to diabetes care in General Practice, and to what effect?
These questions are best answered by looking to the two major existing sources of data about Division activities in this area. Standardised, longitudinal data collected in the Annual Survey of Divisions (ASD) demonstrates the types of activities conducted by Divisions, the approaches used and the populations targeted. Division reporting against National Performance Indicators (NPIs) provides further complementary detail about activities and outcomes at a practice and GP level, as well as qualitative reflections on challenges and significant achievements to contribute to a learning culture within the Network.
Findings show that in 2006-07, over 90% of Divisions reported conducting diabetes activities with a chronic disease management focus; moreover, they tended to use multiple approaches and were increasingly targeting men, women, and children and youth for these activities.
Divisions are also working to improve access to diabetes-related allied health professionals, for the general population and for residents of aged care facilities. Division reporting against NPIs in the diabetes domain focuses on register, recall and reminder systems and recording patients' HbA1c levels and Aboriginal status. While a range of quality issues were identified concerning the collection of systematic NPI data for the purposes of quantitative analysis, the explanatory text provided was greatly useful in identifying the challenges faced by practices in implementing recording systems, and strategies used by Divisions to improve practice use of such systems, for example consulting with GPs to devise a strategy to increase the use of RRR systems in diabetes.
For further information, you can view the following reports on the PHC RIS website:
<www.phcris.org.au/products/asd/results/06_07.php>
<www.phcris.org.au/dios/displayReport0607.php>
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