QUALITY INFORMATION FOR GENERAL PRACTICE
The Quality Information for General Practice Project (qi4gp) seeks to develop the best way for patient information to be gathered, collated and used so people get safe, effective and efficient care throughout the health system.
It is a ‘grass roots’ initiative, driven by general practice, which has been given seeding funding by the Ministry of Health.
Although New Zealand has a sophisticated health infrastructure in place, the software and information systems we use are out of date. This means general practice does not always have all the information about patients it needs to make the best decisions around patient care.
An improved information environment would, for example: identify if people have a condition which means they can’t be given certain medicines; enable shared assessment; and ensure health records are always up to date. In other words, the right information would be available to all clinical staff where and when it was needed.
The project will also simplify funding and give policy makers accurate information on which to base their planning.
The implementation of qi4gp means current systems will need to change with new systems put in their place. These new systems have not yet been decided, and their final form will be determined by general practices as part of the project.
For example, they could include:
- The introduction of electronic patient records allowing information to be exchanged between providers
- A health information network for general practice teams
- The collection of information at practice and PHO levels that provides feedback to practice teams on population health and practice activity
- Patient access to parts of their medical records
The next step
A discussion document A Quality and Information Perspective for General Practice has been circulated, and feedback received from a number of stakeholder groups. The final report is due in late August 2007.
We need your help to identify ways we can remove current barriers to gathering information and make the system work. In the next phase of the qi4gp project, we will be seeking further feedback from general practice and others in the health sector about what your ideal information environment would look like.
We’ll be providing information to you and seeking your input in a number of ways:
- Regular updates via sector communication channels, such as newsletters, emails, websites and magazines
- Presentations at conferences
- On the website: www.qi4gp.org.nz
- Local and regional workshops (currently being planned)
The qi4gp project is being jointly undertaken by the Independent Practitioners Association Council, Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, New Zealand Rural General Practice Network, and New Zealand Medical Association.
For more information go to www.qi4gp.org.nz.