The CHGPN was one of the first General Practice Networks/Divisions to trial the Clinical Audit Tool (CAT) within General Practice and has subsequently now purchased the tool for all general practices with compatible medical software within the Division. The CAT enables practices to take a population health approach to examining their patient population. Often this is the first time that a practice has been able to observe their patients in this way. Once the data has been presented practices are then able to implement the systems to care for cohorts of patients with the same disease, risk factors etc in a standardised way.
The tool was used initially for a number of different reasons including, 45-49 year old health assessments, over 75 assessments, the National (now Australian) Primary Care Collaborative Program, data cleansing, the creation of disease registers, Pap smear recalls, however the tool's most useful purpose has been to introduce population health concepts to general practice. The clarity of the presentation of the data and the ease by which patients could be re identified were factors that the practices found particularly useful.
The recently added cardiovascular risk factor assessment feature has stimulated a lot of interest from practices and has encouraged the establishment of cardiovascular disease prevention clinics. The use of the CAT has also encouraged practices not previously participating in the NPCC/APCC program to submit data to the NPCC/APCC for feedback, analysis and benchmarking.
Any General Practice Network/Division with a Population Health program will find the CAT an invaluable tool for general practice.
Further Enquiries
If you would like to contact Pen Computer Systems directly about how CAT can enhance patient and business outcomes in your division, contact:
Phone: 61 2 9635 8955
Fax: 61 2 9635 8966
Email: cat@pencs.com.au
General practice staff should contact their local Division in the first instance to get CAT for their practice.