November 2016 No Images? Click here Get on board — apply to become a Health Care HomeGeneral practices and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) in selected regions around Australia can now apply to become Health Care Homes. Health Care Homes will improve the provision of care for people with chronic and complex conditions in Australia’s primary health care system. General practices and ACCHS participating in this first stage of implementation will have a vital role in shaping the future roll-out of this important reform. The ten selected regions are Perth North; Northern Territory; Adelaide; Country South Australia; Brisbane North; Western Sydney; Nepean Blue Mountains; Hunter, New England and Central Coast; South Eastern Melbourne; and Tasmania What are the benefits in becoming a Health Care Home?The Health Care Homes model will provide flexibility to shape care around each patient’s needs. By moving to a bundled payments model, Health Care Homes will remunerate practices for the value rather than the volume of care provided. It also allows for team-based care, giving GPs greater flexibility and drawing on the skills of all the health professionals involved in the primary care of people living with chronic and complex conditions. Health Care Homes…. team-based care and greater flexibility. How do I apply?The Health Care Homes approach to market (ATM) opened on 4 November and closes Thursday 15 December at 2pm eastern daylight time. Interested general practices and ACCHS can apply by filling in an application form. Click here for more information on Health Care Homes When will the selected Health Care Homes be announced?In early 2017. Our practice is not in one of the ten selected regions? Can we still apply to become a Health Care Home?Only practices in the ten selected regions are eligible to apply for stage one in 2016. Benefits for consumersHealth Care Homes will provide patients with a home base – a general practice or ACCHS – through which their chronic and complex conditions are managed. While each Health Care Home will be different depending on the region and community in which it is based, all Health Care Homes will be based on the medical home model. The benefits of this model for consumers include:
Similar models have already been successfully adopted in the United States of America and New Zealand. Many excellent primary care practices in Australia are also already applying the key principles of Health Care Homes. Engaging with the sectorThe Department of Health is meeting regularly with organisations representing doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, consumers and Primary Health Networks (PHNs) about the implementation of the Health Care Homes model. The Implementation Advisory Group (IAG) has now met twice and each of the four working groups established under it have also met. Further meetings are planned for the final quarter of the year. Representatives from the 31 PHNs discussed the role of PHNs in rolling out stage one of the Health Care Homes model, in an October 20 meeting in Canberra. Information about a series of upcoming Health Care Homes webinars will be available soon. Key dates
Health Care Homes in the news“One quarterly payment bundled up for all of the patients’ needs [allows] doctors the flexibility to do what they want... “The College of GPs, the AMA have all talked about the medical home model. It is known as international best practice and it is different in different countries but what we are going to do here is bring the best of what we've seen internationally to Australian patients.”
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