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Practice Support Team
Health Connections Community
Quality improvement
Accreditation
Resources

Practice Support Team

Enhancing primary care capability & encouraging continuous improvement

Practice Visits

Tailored support is provided to the practices as per their individual needs. Our Practice Support Officers (PSO) carry out routine practice visits (twice each year), in order to provide assistance and keep practices up to date with recent developments in primary healthcare.

The PSOs are also available for ad hoc assistance via phone, video conferencing, email and in person.

Practice Advocacy

The Practice Support Team works with practices to ensure that country South Australians are receiving the right care, in the right place, at the right time. Country SA PHN is committed towards implementation of continuous quality improvement, ensuring comprehensive and integrated primary care services. Country SA PHN continues advocacy to the Department of Health and peak bodies around health concerns and challenges impacting service providers.

Practice Support Team

Country SA PHN

Health Connections
Community

Online collaborative platform created for Practices

Resources, support & collaboration

Practice Support Health Connections Community is an online collaborative platform created for Practices to use as a tool for resources, support and collaboration, these resources were in the past supplied to you via USB.

This is the place you can participate in a Forum, Ask a Question, Share your ideas & Keep up to date in your community. You can participate in a Survey, a Quick Poll and Share a Story. To register for the said portal please contact a member of the practice support team to organise access.

Register for the Portal

Contact Practice Support to access this site.

Register

Quality Improvement Incentive

Improve the quality of healthcare delivered to practice patients

A model for improvement

Changing leadership, systems and structures are at the core of supporting and improving capacity in primary care. The Model for Improvement uses the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle, a tried and tested approach to achieving successful change. It offers the following benefits:

  • It is a simple approach that anyone can apply
  • It reduces risk by starting small
  • It can be used to help plan, develop and implement change that is highly effective

If you would like additional support in relation to quality improvement in your practice, please feel free to contact us.

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Accreditation

Delivering high quality care and safety to patients

Standards for General Practice

Accreditation is an independent activity undertaken by general practices showing that a practice meets the Standards for General Practice set out by the Royal Australian College of General
Practitioners (RACGP). It demonstrates a practice’s dedication to delivering high quality care and safety to their patients.

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Accreditation Agencies

General Practices obtain accreditation from an independent accreditation agency. The agency will be able to assist the process and provide support for requirements, the process usually takes 12-18 months. There are four accreditation agencies that general practices can choose from:

Benefits of Accreditation
  • Promotion of quality and safety of the standard of service provided to patients and the wider community
  • Provides confidence to patients and/or consumers
  • Reduction of business risk
  • Education and engagement of staff in the provision of quality service
  • The creation of a culture of quality
  • A competitive advantage over practices/service providers who are not accredited
  • Eligibility for access to the practice incentive program (PIP)
  • QI and CPD points for each general practitioner participating in accreditation, and
  • Compliance with regulatory requirements and national standards.
Practice Support for Accreditation

Country SA PHN Practice Support team provides support for practices undertaking accreditation for the first time, or for those undergoing re-accreditation. This support includes:

  • Deciding on an accrediting body
  • Enabling the practice to plan and implement policies and procedures
  • Providing feedback regarding the readiness for accreditation
  • Providing templates and resources
  • Demonstrating available resources - AGPAL “Hub” and QPA Connect Plus websites. providing (capped) in-practice support to practices preparing for accreditation using the 5th Edition Standards
  • Sourcing relevant resources, including templates and guidelines

Resources & Useful Links

Call one of the services below

Please see our helpful resources below. If you still have questions, feel free to reach out to the Practice Support team support@countrysaphn.com.au.

Medicare Benefit Schedule Online
1300 659 467

MBS Online contains the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS), a listing of the Medicare services subsidised by the Australian government.

Visit Site
Department of Health
1800 020 103

The Department of Health develop and deliver policies and programs and advise the Australian Government on health, aged care and sport.

Visit Site
SA Health
(08) 8226 6000

SA Health is committed to protecting and improving the health of all South Australians by providing leadership in health reform.

Visit Site
PEN CS
(02) 9506 3200

Pen CS is Australia’s leading provider of health analytics software for national population health analysis and reporting, in primary care. 

Visit Site
Services Australia
13 23 07

Services Australia deliver government payments and services. 

Visit Site
RACGP
1800 472 247

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is Australia’s largest professional general practice organisation and represents urban and rural general practitioners.

Visit Site
Provider Digital Access (PRODA)
13 23 07

An online identity verification and authentication system. It lets you securely access government online services.

Visit Site