Quote Of The Year

Timeless Quotes - Sadly The Late Paul Shetler - "Its not Your Health Record it's a Government Record Of Your Health Information"

or

H. L. Mencken - "For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."

Friday, February 15, 2019

The College Of GPs (RACGP) Takes A Look At Technology Use In The Sector. Some Interesting Alleged Findings.

This popped up a little while ago.

The RACGP’s technology survey results are in

The survey explored knowledge and experience of eHealth technologies, barriers and drivers, and education and training needs.
The RACGP’s Views and attitudes towards technological innovation in general practice: Survey report 2018 incorporates results from the 1762 GPs who participated in the survey.
The survey is designed to gain insights into GPs’ use of technology in Australia, assist the RACGP in understanding what systems are being used, where future investment is needed and the key technology challenges faced by general practice teams.
It also details a number of RACGP resources to support implementation and effective use of eHealth technologies in general practice.
‘GPs report that technology has led to improved practice efficiencies and more effective collaboration with other healthcare providers, resulting in improved continuity of care and better patient outcomes,’ Dr Rob Hosking, Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – Practice Technology and Management (REC–PTM), said.
Significant findings from the 2018 survey show that:
·         87% of GP respondents are entirely digital, with no supplementary paper records maintained
·         71% of GPs are satisfied with the way they use technology in their practice (those with 5–10 years’ experience report the highest rate of satisfaction)
·         50% of GPs feel confident about experimenting with new technologies
·         50% of GPs send and receive clinical information via secure electronic communication.
Identified barriers for adopting eHealth technologies include a lack of:
·         knowledge of effective apps, both for GP usage and recommendations to patients
·         trustworthy sources to access effective apps
·         patient digital literacy
·         integration into clinical software and workflows.
In terms of professional development, 41% of respondents reported participation in eHealth professional development in 2018, with webinars the most used platform.
My Health Record was the most cited eHealth professional development topic for GPs, with 73% of GPs uploading patient data to the system. A third of GPs (30%) also reported accessing patients’ health information via My Health Record that would not have otherwise been available to them.
The next RACGP technology survey will open in late 2019.
Here is the link:
From the document the Summary Findings were:

Summary of findings

Eighty-seven per cent of GP respondents are now entirely digital, with no supplementary paper records maintained.
Seventy-one per cent of GPs were satisfied with the way they use technology in their practice, with the highest rate of satisfaction among GPs with 5–10 years’ experience.
Fifty per cent of GPs feel confident about experimenting with new technologies. There is an inverse correlation between age and confidence in experimenting with new technologies.
Fifty per cent of GPs send and receive clinical information via secure electroniccommunication.
GPs with 1–5 years’ experience are the biggest users of mobile devices in their practice at 49%, while GPs with less than one year’s experience are the smallest users at 30%.
Thirty-eight per cent of GPs not using mobile devices report that they do not see
how mobile technology can benefit their day-to-day practice.
In 2018, there was an increase in the number of GPs recommending apps to patients, which rose from 40% to 60% of GPs. Twenty-six per cent of GPs rarely or never recommend apps to patients. This is down from 47% in 2017. Mental health, nutrition, fitness, family planning and smoking cessation apps are the most commonly recommended.
The main barriers identified to recommending apps were a lack of knowledge around effective apps, lack of a trustworthy source to access effective apps, lack of patient digital literacy and lack of integration into clinical software and workflows.
Thirty-one per cent of GPs use telehealth services to provide support to patients
during a video consultation, conduct video consultations with other healthcare providers and/or undertake training. Were future funding available, 48% of GPs who do not use telehealth services currently said they would be likely to commence using them in the next three years.
GP use of social media remains consistent from 2017, with one in four GPs using a social media platform for work purposes.
Barriers to use of social media for work purposes include medico-legal and privacy concerns.
Forty-one per cent of GPs participated in eHealth professional development within the last 12 months. The most used platform for eHealth professional development was webinar, and the most cited eHealth professional development topic was My Health Record.*
Seventy-three per cent of GP respondents work in practices uploading patient information to My Health Record. However, 54% do not feel adequately prepared to manage the impacts of the expansion, via an opt-out model, of My Health Record in their practice.
*It is acknowledged that since this survey was advertised at a number of RACGP ‘My Health Record in general practice’ education events, this result may be skewed.
-----  End Summary.
The results are very interesting as far as they go, but the report notes that many survey recipients learnt about the survey while doing myHealth Record training and that only 1220 of the 1762 responses were able to be analysed.  (The College claims about 40,000 members so the sample size is pretty small which probably explains some of the odd numbers)
Re: the #myHealthRecord I don’t think much can be drawn at all – but you be the judge! For me this is one of the most unscientific and spun surveys I have seen in a fair while!
David.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Seventy-three per cent of GP respondents work in practices uploading patient information to My Health Record."

It doesn't matter whether it is spin or not and it doesn't matter that the survey population was small. The bottom line s the ADHA will quote the impressive 73% statistic as being absolute proof that the MHR is a huge success. No withering on the vine here.

Anonymous said...

Certainly pours cold water on the axe the fax crowd. Must be lonely under that rock with only Tim and Bettina to keep company with.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget Tim's clinical half, Meredith

Anonymous said...

On the 2016 Census, almost some 20% of the population were recorded as NOT being able to access the internet from home - on any type of device, PC, laptop, phone etc. In lots of regional/rural areas where there is high unemployment and very little cash for such luxuries, I doubt that figure has changed too much.

What use will the MyHealth Record be to them Tim? (As if it was ever going to be in the first place!)

Anonymous said...

@10:53 PM silly question. It will be useful to them when they see their doctor or go to a hospital. You need to remove your blinkers.

Anonymous said...

Well it is and it is not a silly question. If you cannot access then you cannot personally control it, does not enable iderviduals to improve through technology use their individual health and well being. That might be a simple case of mis-leading advertising or ignorance of the world or ....

On the other hand it might assist people “offline” who see multiple GP and specialists, hospitals, however even this would be a small slice as many would have established patterns of travel or have a history within a geographic area.

So perhaps silly, perhaps not. It does still leave the Department of Health scratching around for justification as to why the federal government believes it should be operating a presumed clinical tool in competition with an already vibrate and competitive market that by all account from the RACGP seems to be doing just fine of the back of established and emergent standards.

Anonymous said...

David something very fishy is going on here. Just what have the ADHA done or not done?

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/15/my-health-record-minor-glitch-still-generating-thousands-of-pages-of-internal-files

Anonymous said...

The thousands of pages is easily explained. In reality it is a few reports created each year and presented to what ever new deaf blind and dumb board/committee/group they put in place. The fact the information replicates is simply because the ADHA has no information or records management mindset, structure or discipline. The top brass in their wisdom even managed to kick the team out trying to drag them towards some resemblance of government record keeping and information management.

The ADHA is a danger to themselves and society in general.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear they do seem to be fumbling around in the dark making things worse for themselves. You are a brave man Minister.

Anonymous said...

Safe to assume that if the ADHA says there is nothing to be concerned about then there is a whole lot to worry about.

Anonymous said...

The ADHA spokesperson is fraudulent in the facts, or ADHA clearly has no record. The Microsoft Security Patch was released several months prior to ADHA official commencement. NEHTA tried to address the issue and it was NEHTA not ADHA that released the updated guidance.

This issue was carried over to ADHA with then then acting CEO of NEHTA. The issue was presented to the then interim CEO of ADHA. The current CEO, COO and The head of Core Services and System Operations. This issue has been carried with ADHA is has been well known from Directors to General Managers to Executives. The response to this has not been to work to ensure it is resolved but rather to leave a trail of “hush” sackings.

What we are witnessing is panic and ass covering. Internally the witch hunts have begun, but not towards The CEO, COO, Board or Executives for their neglect but simply because cruelty towards staff and the public are at the core of their DNA.