Best Practice Software

Third-Party Integrations for Your Software – 10 Key Considerations Before Implementation

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With our Bp Partner Network reaching over 100 partners, there are many fantastic third-party software solutions to choose from that offer integration with Best Practice Software products, whether it’s Bp Premier, Bp VIP.net or Bp Allied. And with choice comes the responsibility and necessity to ensure you have selected the right tools, to meet the ever-changing needs and growth of your business.

But with so many options available, how do you ensure that you are using the right one? Let’s explore 10 key considerations to think about when selecting a new product or reviewing products currently being used by your Practice.

Circular infographic showing 10 steps to consider prior to integration with Best Practice Software

Identify the Problem You are Trying to Solve

Before you consider purchasing third-party software to complement your Practice management system, it is important that you clearly articulate the problem you are trying to solve. Sometimes this requires input from all staff operating in the Practice to ensure that the product chosen meets the needs of your business.

For example:

  • Are you trying to save time?
  • Are you trying to save money?
  • Are you looking to improve internal workflows?
  • Are you looking to improve the patient experience?
  • Do you need to introduce a product to compete with other businesses?
  • Do you need to reduce medico-legal risk?
  • Is the product required to expand your business offering? Meet new legislation?

We recommend that your problem statement is agreed to by all relevant stakeholders in your business before moving through to the next step.

Gather Your Requirements

Now that you have defined your problem statement, you can start documenting your requirements. This is an important process, as this will provide a framework for you to assess each third-party product and its integration with Best Practice Software products. Some key points to consider when documenting your requirements are:

  • Ensure that your requirements reflect your identified problem statement
  • How much are you willing to invest in the solution? Licensing/training/support?
  • What licensing terms are you comfortable with? Fixed term/flexible?
  • Is this product needed by a certain date?
  • Document your end-to-end workflow requirements, ensuring you think about both Practice and patient requirements
  • If connecting to a Bp product, ensure that the vendor is part of the Bp Partner Network, otherwise the solution won’t integrate with your practice management system
  • Consider documenting any Australian and state based legislation that you want to ensure the product meets, such as the Privacy Act, or Anti-Spam laws

Put Together a Rating System

Before you can adequately assess third-party integration options for your practice management system, we recommend putting together a rating system. This system will document the extent to which each product in review meets your requirements. To do this, we recommend putting requirements into a spreadsheet and during the product review process indicating to what extent each product meets your needs.

As a first step, we recommend you indicate the degree of importance of each requirement, for example:

  • Extremely important
  • Important
  • Somewhat important
  • Neutral

We recommend rating each requirement as:

  • Exceeded = 3 points
  • Fully met = 2 points
  • Partially met = 1 point
  • Did not meet/Below expectation = 0

Gather and Analyse Products

Now that you understand your problem statement, requirements, and have a rating system in place, you are ready to scan the market for potential products and start the review process. Before booking a time with each vendor to complete your full analysis, ask them some top line questions to ensure that they are suitable.

We also recommend including your PMS (Practice Management System) in this analysis piece, as some of your key requirements may be able to be delivered through existing functions and features that you may not have been aware of.

Vendor/Product Agreement

Once you have completed your analysis and determined your front runner, you will need to move through to the contract/agreement/licensing phase. There are a number of important items that should be considered as part of this process:

  • How long is the agreement for? What are the termination terms?
  • Is their pricing model clear? Are there any hidden costs?
  • What support is being offered and it is clearly documented?
  • What are your obligations versus the vendor’s?
  • Have you read and understood their terms and conditions?
  • Have you read and understood their privacy policy?
  • Do they comply with federal and state laws, e.g. Privacy Act?

Complete Communication and Change Management Process

Prior to implementing any new solutions that offer integration with Best Practice Software products or workflows, we suggest engaging your internal staff to ensure that they clearly understand the scope of the implementation, the role they play, the value to the business and how they will be supported through this process.

If the product being implemented will also be used by your patients, we suggest communicating with them early in the process to ensure that they are also adequately engaged. Communications can occur in writing, verbally or even visually using posters and notices within your Practice.

Update Internal & External Artefacts

Prior to implementing a new product, we recommend that Practices review their internal and external artefacts. Some examples of these include:

  • Internal policies
  • Work instructions
  • Checklists
  • Your Practice website
  • Other external websites/directories that may reference your Practice
  • Patient registration forms

Conduct Staff Training

Training is critical to the successful implementation of any new product or workflow being introduced at your Practice. We recommend that all impacted staff are trained prior to the implementation occurring and that supporting documents and instructions are prepared in advance. We recommend identifying a ‘super user’ at the Practice who can assist with internal staff queries and escalate to the software vendor if required.

Additional training may be required post-implementation and with future releases of the product. It is important to keep across these changes and to take advantage of the documentation and training being provided by the vendor.  

Review and Measure

It is always important to review your products to ensure they are meeting your requirements. This can be easily achieved by revisiting your initial problem statement and documented requirements to ensure that they are being met. In some instances, your business may have also changed, along with your requirements, and it is important that these are communicated with your vendor.

Also consider what other metrics can be used to measure the success of the implemented product.

For example:

  • If your goal was to reduce Practice spend, did this occur?
  • If you goal was to increase patient numbers, did this occur?
  • If your goal was to introduce efficiencies within the Practice, did this occur?
  • If your goal was to decrease the number of ‘no show’ appointments, did this occur?

Having data to demonstrate the success or failure of a product will assist with any discussions you are having with your vendor.

Look For New Opportunities

With new third-party products that offer integration with Best Practice Software coming onto the market frequently, we always recommend that you keep on top of what offerings are available in the market. This is particularly important as your business changes and grows, your requirements change and new products enter the market with new functionality and potentially a better pricing offering!

The best way to keep across new solutions available for your product is to check the integration section on your respective Practice management system webpage:

Visiting our Bp Partner Network web page, engaging with peers via your peak bodies, and other platforms such as online forums and blogs can also help keep you abreast of new solutions on the market.

We also recommend keeping across the new features and functions being delivered by your PMS by reading Release Notes and attending relevant training to better understand what they have available.

If you have any questions regarding the above information, our Commercial Partnership Team can be contacted via partners@bpsoftware.net

Authored by:

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Jessica White
Manager of Commercial & Customer Enablement at Best Practice Software

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Enhanced eOrdering – Available Now in Saffron SP1!

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Saffron SP1 was released in early June and has some exciting new features! Diagnostic Imaging and Pathology eOrdering has been updated, and what users will see has changed as they request a pathology or diagnostic imaging service with one of our onboarded partners.

What is eOrdering?

An eOrder (or electronic request) is the digital version of a request for pathology or diagnostic imaging services. The HL7 message is generated using your Bp Premier software, then encrypted and delivered safely and securely to your nominated addressee using a secure messaging provider.

What Has Changed?

From Saffron SP1 there is a new streamlined process for configuring pathology and diagnostic imaging providers in Bp Premier. The new eOrdering setup screen includes all functionality required to set up and configure eOrdering providers for pathology and imaging, combining functionality found under Setup > Preferences > Pathology and Imaging and View > Contacts.

See Set up Pathology E-Ordering in Saffron SP1 and Set up Imaging E-Ordering in Saffron SP1 for more information. These are available on our Knowledge Base which can be accessed by clicking Help, then Online from within Bp Premier.

Doctors will see the pathology and diagnostic imaging partner’s logo and up-to-date contact details during the service request workflow, making getting in touch when needed a quick and easy process.

Pathology partners will now supply test lists, which will be kept up-to-date through our monthly data update process. Having a pathology provider supplied test list will ensure that a doctor is not only requesting a test that is offered by their selected pathology provider, but that the terminology is consistent between the Practice and provider processes and systems. In addition, recommended tests will be provided, saving doctors time as they will be able to quickly and easily add the recommended tests for a given medical condition or query.

Our imaging partners will now supply their printed request layout coordinates, again saving Practices time as this used to be a time-consuming manual process. Also, the printed request will now include a barcode so that the service request can be quickly selected on the provider’s system upon the patient arrival.

Training materials, designed to help you get the most out of Saffron SP1’s newest features, can be found in the ‘What’s New’ section of our Bp Premier Knowledge Base, and available to access around the clock. You can access the Knowledge Base from Bp Premier at any time by clicking Help, then Online, then searching for What’s New in Saffron SP1 article to see all of the new additions in this release.

What Are the Benefits of Using Enhanced eOrdering?

As the receiving pathology or diagnostic imaging provider has the eOrder sent to them securely and directly, there is no need for them to request and enter the patient’s data into their system once the patient arrives. eOrders mitigate the risk of error and provide the best possible experience for the patient.

In fact, using electronic requests can provide benefits to the requesting doctor, receiving pathology or diagnostic imaging service provider, patient and Practice!

They include:

  • The highest level of clinical safety and data integrity
  • Workflow efficiencies that are intuitive, save time and reduce errors
  • Confidence in the privacy and security of transmitted patient data
  • A single channel through which requests and results are sent or received

To help Bp Premier users understand the value eOrdering may introduce to your Practice, you can view our short video below on eOrdering: Benefits for Your Practice

Does My Patient Still Have Choice?

Of course! The patient can still decide to take the printed request to a provider of their choice. It is commonplace for diagnostic imaging and pathology providers to accept all referrals.

How Do I Get Involved?

Several diagnostic imaging pathology providers have already joined the Bp Partner Network! We recommend contacting them directly to start discussing the implementation of eOrdering at your Practice.

To view an up-to-date list of these partners, please visit the Bp Partner Network page on the Bp Software website.

Authored by:

Monica Reed Author Image for Diagnostic Imaging and Pathology eOrdering

Monica Reed
Commercial Partnership Leader at Best Practice Software

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Preparing for the Introduction of Medicare Web Services – Taking Your First Steps

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You’ll all be aware that Services Australia is upgrading the technology used by Practice management software such as Bp Premier and Bp VIP.net to connect to digital health services such as Medicare online. Hopefully, you also know that this new technology will replace the existing Medicare client adapter and PKI certificates, and that will be facilitated by the use of PRODA. Most importantly, what you definitely need to know is that Practices must migrate to this new technology by March 2022, to maintain access to Medicare Online functionality.

What you might not know, is that while March 2022 may seem too far away to begin preparation, now is actually the perfect time for you to start preparing for Medicare Web Services. There are a few steps in this process and you can not only be across what this change is all about, you can also complete steps 1 – 4, right now. Imagine that – you’d already be 70% of the way there, and across one of the biggest technological changes in the healthcare industry for quite a while, with plenty of time to spare.

Ok, so you’re ready to take the first steps?

  • Firstly, familiarize yourself with what this change is all about, and how it will impact you and your Practice by clicking here to watch this short introduction to Medicare Web Services and PRODA.
  • Next up, click here to view Step 1. Registering an individual account in PRODA. Already got one? Fantastic! Onto the next step. Does everyone in the Practice need one? No. Not sure if that’s you? The clip in this step covers that.
  • Click here to access Step 2. Registering an organisation in PRODA. Already got one? Even better. Step 3 will be for you.
  • Click here to access Step 3. Managing members and delegates in PRODA.
  • Finally, this one is only relevant if you actually have subsidiary organisations. Click here to access Step 4. Add subsidiaries. Not sure you if you have any? The clip in this step will guide you through what they are, if they’re applicable to you and whether you need to register them.

And that’s pretty much it for now! You’re 70% of the way to preparing for Medicare Web Services access through your software! What happens next? Well the team here at Best Practice Software are working hard to develop the product versions integrated with Medicare Web Services by the end of Q3 this year. Plenty of time to complete the final two configuration steps from within your software. Stay tuned to our Knowledge Base and communications for more information, or you can contact us with any questions on medicarewebservices@bpsoftware.net.

Authored by:

Suzi Eley Blog Author Image

Suzi Eley
Product Training, Knowledge & Deployment Leader at Best Practice Software

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The 2020 RACGP Health of the Nation Report

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Each year, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), conducts a range of surveys and collates data from nationwide sources to generate an insight into the state of general practice in Australia. From this, the annual Health of the Nation report is produced and published.

Given the tumultuous events of the past several years in Australia, beginning with a spate of bushfires in late 2019, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic from early 2020 to the present day, the RACGP 2020 Health of the Nation report has presented some stark differences when compared to prior editions.

This article summarises some of the findings from the 2020 Health of the Nation report, primarily those relating to current and emerging issues, telehealth, the funding of Australian general practice care, and the business and economics of a general practice.

Common Health Presentations in General Practice

Unsurprisingly, issues relating to the 2019-2020 bushfires and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic were represented heavily when considering common reasons for presenting to GPs in 2020. Psychological issues including depression and anxiety remained the most prevalent, with 64% of surveyed GPs listing psychological issues among their top three most common reasons for patients presenting.

Preventive care, primarily comprised of vaccinations and health screenings, rose to the second most prevalent reason for presenting to a GP. This was largely due to the government drive to encourage early vaccinations for things like the seasonal flu to avoid heaping more stress onto the healthcare system during the pandemic. It’s interesting to note that while vaccinations increased, preventive health screenings dropped, likely as patients were not presenting for usual care among COVID-19 directives.

The Mental Health Impact of Natural Disasters

For the fourth year running, the RACGP 2020 Health of the Nation report has listed psychological issues as the single most prevalent reason that Australians are presenting to GPs.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the entirety of the Australian population to some degree, young Australians have been impacted most heavily, with female patients being disproportionately affected within that subset.

Infographic on mental health impact from RACGP Health of the Nation Report

But it is not just patients being negatively affected – healthcare workers were similarly affected. While 43% of GPs reported no impact to their wellbeing, 57% reported a negative change to their wellbeing with regards to either physical health, being able to maintain a healthy work-life balance or managing their mental health.

This is of particular concern, as GPs have, for the past several years, ranked managing their own wellbeing as one of the top three challenges for being able to provide consistent, high-quality patient care.

Issues Requiring Policy Action

When it comes to policy issues that GPs believe require action, MBS patient rebates are the most significant area of priority for the fourth consecutive year with more than 40% of surveyed GPs placing it in their top three issues for policy action.

Consideration for mental health services remains the second most identified area for Australian Government priority, while a focus on creating new funding models for primary healthcare rounds out the top three most significant issues.

However, the priorities of GPs working in Aboriginal Medical Services did vary slightly. For GPs working in these communities, social and cultural determinants of health equity and equality held particular concern, with 33% and 31% respectively noting these issues in their top two policy concerns.

A Critical Issue in Focus - Pandemic Response

When it came to considering the Australian Government’s response to the pandemic, the survey showed mixed opinions.

On one hand, many GPs supported the government’s initial response, with one in two GPs labeling the response either ‘good’ or ‘very good’ with regards to ensuring the safety of GPs and their Practice teams.

GPs were also quick to acknowledge that amid a pandemic, the need for telehealth was identified quickly and acted upon – with the government quickly providing funding to support the model of care.

However, many GPs also noted that much more could have been done in the early stages of the pandemic and throughout its progression to support frontline healthcare workers. A particular challenge and area of concern was accessing personal protective equipment (PPE). Eight out of 10 GPs surveyed believed that the government could have done much better in providing Practices with PPE when they needed it most.

Of the many challenges faced by GPs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the inability to provide their usual standard of care to patients ranked the most highly, with the aforementioned lack of access to PPE following closely behind, with a notable number of GPs citing the constantly changing MBS rules as a cause of concern also.

Perhaps the most interesting statistic to consider when looking at the pandemic response holistically is the percentage of Australians that visited a GP. During 2019-2020, 87.4% of Australians visited a GP, which was the lowest rate seen in the country since 2014-2015. This is likely due to a significantly decreased number of patients presenting for usual care while they were being encouraged to isolate at home, or socially distance under COVID-19 directives.

A Fast-Tracked Adoption of Telehealth

When social distancing measures and stay-at-home mandates were implemented, telehealth quickly became the standard by which GPs would continue to be able to offer consultations while still being able to protect themselves, their patients and Practice staff.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, only 17% of GPs surveyed had used telehealth to deliver a consultation – 4% via video, and 13% over the phone. During the pandemic however, 30% of GPs conducted at least one telehealth consultation over video, and 96% conducted a consultation over the phone.

When asked about their thoughts on the initiative, 67% of GPs reported a positive change in their attitude towards telehealth, with only 10% noting a negative shift in attitude.

Those that felt positively about it noted that telehealth allowed them to see their patients more regularly and in a timely manner, which often led to patients discussing health concerns as they arose, rather than ‘saving them all up’ and attempting to fit each concern into a single consult. In addition, GPs noticed an increased feeling of safety and security in patients being able to consult with them in their own home. This was of particular benefit for mental health consultations and some forms of counselling.

Among those who felt negatively towards telehealth, the primary reason was that they felt telehealth presented limitations to the provision of patient care, and that telehealth should complement, not replace, face to face consultations.

7 out of 10 GPs believe that a continuation of telehealth consultations post-pandemic is possible, and it would continue to support patient access to high-quality care in general Practice. However, many noted that telehealth should only be made available to patients already known to the Practice and should only be available for specific types of consults; repeat scripts, discussing uncomplicated test results, some forms of counselling, and referrals.

Government Contribution to Patient Services

Australian government contributions to patient services continues to be an area of concern for general Practice. While most patient care in Australia is being delivered in the general Practice sector, the overwhelming majority of government healthcare expenditure is in hospitals.

In 2017-18, state and federal governments spent approximately $52 million in the hospital sector, while unreferred medical services (which is primarily general Practice), received a little over $11 million, with almost the entire expenditure coming solely from the federal government.

Infographic showing percentage of total health expenditure from the RACGP Health of the Nation Report

Across both state and federal governments, the total expenditure on general Practice is approximately 7.5% of the nation’s total health expenditure.

The Australian government’s expenditure on healthcare, as a share of our gross domestic product (GDP), is lower than almost all other developed countries with a similar primary care focused system.

Trends in General Practice Billing

The 2020 RACGP Health of the Nation report showed the following bulk billing trends in 2019-2020:

Infographic showing percentage of bulk billing by state from the RACGP Health of the Nation report

The report did note, however, that patients may receive multiple services when visiting their GP, and that some of those services may be bulk billed, while others are billed privately.

Nationally, the proportion of patients who have all GP services bulk billed is rising, but in several states the rate is in decline. It is also interesting to note that while the number of bulk billed services has increased year on year, each year the rate of increase slows further.

Business and Income Challenges in General Practice

General Practice as a business is a key part of the Australian healthcare sector, worth over $13b annually to the Australian economy, and employing more than 100,000 people nationwide.

When consulting GP Practice owners about the most common challenges they face, respondents nearly unanimously agreed that maintaining a healthy work-life balance, maintaining a steady income, and sourcing and retaining quality staff were at the top of their list of concerns.

GP Practice owners working in regional, rural, or remote areas were still concerned with managing a work-life balance and steady income but are comparatively more concerned with ensuring the ongoing delivery of high-quality care to patients from disadvantaged backgrounds.

GPs and Practice owners noted that at a time when the country needed their services most, many were faced with a lack of job security. In a survey conducted in May of 2020, 71% of GPs reported that their income was lower than the same time the previous year, with 25% of those reporting a much lower income. Only 5% of GPs reported a higher income than the previous year.

When asked for their thoughts on the main contributing factors for the reduction in income, 83% cited fewer patients presenting for care among stay-at-home directives. 70% also indicated that while telehealth consultations did allow patients to still present to their GP, the requirement to bulk bill these telehealth consultations contributed significantly to a reduction in income. Approximately 50% of GPs surveyed agreed that the removal of mandatory bulk billing of telehealth services would improve the viability and sustainability of their Practice.

There were a range of other reasons cited for reduced income revenue – these included reduced rental income, reduced work hours, changing circumstances and generally increased demands in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Practice Ownership

The trend in Australian Practice ownership continues to shift towards more heavily towards multi-partner and corporate arrangements. Broadly speaking however, GP interest in owning a Practice is relatively low, even more so amongst women. Just over a quarter of Practices operate in conjunction with other businesses, with 28% of GPs surveyed reporting that their Practice was networked with another site, often sharing human resources, payroll, marketing, or clinical governance arrangements.

infographic showing Practice Ownership stats from the RACGP Health of the Nation report

The 2020 RACGP Health of the Nation Report in Summary

The RACGP Health of the Nation report is an incredibly insightful, thorough report for which we have only just scratched the surface. However, even this brief look has managed to outline some interesting data points, both new and recurring, that have surfaced over the past 2 years.

Given recent and ongoing tumultuous events, many of which disproportionately affect the healthcare sector and in particular GPs, the 2021 Health of the Nation report should shed some light on whether many of these trends are anomalies, or whether they will begin to evolve and embed themselves into what we now consider the ‘new normal’.

The RACGP Health of the Nation report for 2020, along with previous editions, are available to read in full here.

Authored by:

Louis Valenti Blog Author Image

Louis Valenti
Marketing Specialist at Best Practice Software

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Cubiko Multisite is Coming Soon! Aggregated Reporting for Multiple Practices

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Owning and managing a practice is no easy feat, let alone managing multiple practices. Without the proper tools and technologies gathering and analysing data to gain insight into how your practice group is performing is tedious work.

Best Practice gold partner, Cubiko, is excited to announce their new product Cubiko Multisite. Aggregated reporting for multisite practices.

Cubiko is a Practice Intelligence Platform, bringing together over 500 data points for your practice in easy-to-understand dashboards for business insight, increased billings and less stress in managing the practice.

The intelligent business reporting within Cubiko Multisite identifies your top-performing practices and helps you discover areas for improvement. It allows you to gain an understanding of your practice group’s billings and where they are coming from. Additionally, it allows you to identify opportunities to increase revenue and efficiencies across your practice group.

Speaking on the announcement of Cubiko Multisite, Co-founder and CEO Chris Smeed, said, “Cubiko Multisite is an exciting opportunity for the industry to have aggregated data across multiple practices. Cubiko helps you achieve oversight across multiple practices. With over 30 years of combined experience in practice management, the Cubiko team understand how difficult it can be to gain insight into what’s happening in your practice. We’ve created Cubiko, to make practice life easier for you.”

Anyone using Bp Premier, Version Jade and above can click through to the Cubiko website directly from Bp Premier, by clicking on the Cubiko Icon located in the top bar.

Cubiko Button in Bp Premier Screenshot

Book a demo to learn more about Cubiko Multisite or sign up for their free product, Cubiko Assist.

This article was written and contributed by our partner, Cubiko. Click here to visit their profile on the Best Practice Software Partner Network.

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Australia’s COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout by the Numbers

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In comparison with other countries, Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan was very measured, and the implementation has been somewhat leisurely. With the frequent changes to the guidelines paired with vaccine hesitancy, vaccination hubs and GP clinics around the country have faced many challenges in their quest to immunise the nation.

In theory the government’s plan was considered and robust – vaccinations would be done in phases, where the most vulnerable would be immunized first, and the young and healthy would be immunized last. Millions of doses of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine were ordered, and could be manufactured locally, while fewer of the more expensive Pfizer vaccine was ordered for the most vulnerable.

A central online system was developed that allowed citizens and residents to determine which phase of the rollout they qualified for. Those who qualified for the first phase, aptly titled 1a, would be vaccinated soonest with the Pfizer vaccine at government run vaccine hubs. Those who were 1b or lower in the schedule could book into a participating GP clinic near them to get the Astra-Zeneca vaccine. 

Anyone who was involved with the logistics, patient booking, ordering and administration of COVID-19 vaccines was required to complete a five hour online module developed by the federal government to ensure adequate and uniform training of all personnel involved in the vaccine rollout. This included couriers, receptionists, nurses, doctors, and Practice managers at GP clinics around the country.

The plan also involves recording the vaccination details in a centralized system, the Australian Immunisation Register. A lot of groundwork had to be done by software vendors to enable the seamless uploading of this data. This data would help to accurately determine how many people have been vaccinated, in addition to enabling the safety of vaccine administration to ensure they are administered within appropriate time frames. Reactions to vaccines are also being collected to track trends and monitor for any emerging serious reactions.

Despite Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan, four months into the rollout, as of the 3rd of June only 4.6 million vaccine doses have been administered in Australia, with only 2.1% of our population being fully vaccinated against COVID-19. A rough comparison with other countries with a similar GDP per capita and healthcare systems, over a period of five months paints a startling picture:

COVID Vaccination Numbers Infographic

The large vaccination numbers in the above-mentioned countries are mostly likely a reflection of the disastrous effect COVID-19 has had socially and economically in those nations, resulting in a more urgent rollout and vaccine acceptance within the community. Given the low level of infections and community transmission in Australia, the immediate benefit of the vaccine is not overtly obvious to many Australians and so the uptake has been slow.

Now with yet another outbreak in Melbourne, a sense of urgency has re-emerged as the public realise the pandemic is still very much a risk to us and this could happen anywhere in the country. Despite the risks of the vaccine, it is clear now from data overseas that the benefit is still greatly outweighed. One of the most common concerns held by those who are vaccine hesitant is the risk of blood clot from the Astra-Zeneca vaccine. Recent Australian data shows 31 confirmed cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome and 10 probably cases, out of a total of 3.29 million doses administered. At the time of writing, the death rate remains at one. Conversely, for every million people diagnosed with COVID-19, 165,000 of those cases (16.5%) experience blood clots as a symptom of the virus.

On the 1st of June 2021, the UK saw its first day without a COVID-19 death. This is a remarkable feat made possible due to their extraordinary vaccination rollout. Similarly, the USA has also seen a significant reduction in mortality and morbidity. Meanwhile other countries, such as Japan, that initially had a slow rollout and low vaccine uptake, are ramping up their vaccination efforts after recent Covid-19 outbreaks.

As a GP who is involved in vaccination counselling and administering the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, the experience has been interesting. From discussing patient concerns, to ensuring informed consent, appropriate documentation, and counselling on the potential side effects in a very short consult has been challenging. There is an immense amount of paperwork and logistical work that is done by my Practice manager and nursing staff to smoothly run the COVID vaccine clinics. Patients are confirmed multiple times to ensure they attend their appointment to avoid wastage of vaccines. 

From a funding perspective, our clinic is not making money with this enterprise, but rather we are doing it as a service to the community. For patients, it is much more convenient to have the vaccine at their local and familiar health care centre rather than a large vaccination hub with thousands of other people like we have seen overseas. In some of these centres, both local police and the military have been involved with administering vaccinations.

As medical practitioners we are taught to look at the evidence and what can be deduced from large amounts of data. There is a limited role of anecdata in medicine, yet I still do get asked “What did you do doc? What has been your experience? Is your family ok?”.

I had registered myself to get the Astra-Zeneca vaccine. Despite being considerably concerned about the risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenic syndrome, I felt the risk of the sequalae of COVID-19 was much worse. After all, what is the point of worrying about the long-term effects of vaccine related complications if I didn’t make it through the pandemic itself? I ended up having to cancel my Astra-Zeneca vaccination as the guidelines changed, and I have subsequently received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Overseas, I have elderly relations who have had the Astra-Zeneca vaccine and have either, at worst, had a very mild infection or, at best, had escaped infection all together.

To get through this pandemic, no doubt we all must work together as no one is safe, until everyone is safe.

Authored by:

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Dr. Fabrina Hossain
Clinical Advisor at Best Practice Software

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Video: Bp VIP.net TOPAZ Release Supplement for Bp VIP.net & My Health Record

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This product release activity contains important information about enhanced My Health Record functionality that is included in the TOPAZ release of Bp VIP.net.

It is designed to familiarise you with the type of information you can view in My Health Record for your patients, security you can implement in your clinic around accessing My Health Record and uploading both a prescription episode and specialist letters to your patients’ records.

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Video: The Charges Screen in Bp VIP.net

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This Be In The Know webinar will cover the Charges Screen in Bp VIP.net.

The webinar will cover the following topics:
(Drag the progress bar in the video below to jump to a specific section)

– Navigating around the Charges screen [00:52]
– The Provider charge screens [04:29]
– Billing per provider [06:39]
– The function buttons at the bottom of the screen [08:09]
– Setting up Item Fees for private items [10:24]
– Looking at the set up of MBS items and copying MBS items [15:09]
– Billing Protocols [19:44]
– Working with Feescalers [21:28]
– Working with Subsidisers [25:39]
– Updating fees [26:55]
– Assistance Fees – Australia Only [29:18]
– Scaling – Australia Only [31:22]

Watch the video and join our expert trainer, Jo Monson, to learn about the Charges Screen in Bp VIP.net!

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ACC Digital Services – An Update for Our New Zealand Customers

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As you may be aware, ACC is upgrading the current technology used by Practice management software to connect to critical ACC Digital services such as eLodgement and eSchedule. 

You may have already started receiving information about this change from ACC, stating that the current methods for accessing ACC Digital services will no longer be available later in the year.

The good news is that Best Practice Software is already working on making the programmatic changes to our software to conform with the new connection requirements, and these will be made available to you later this calendar year.

What does this mean for your Practice?

To ensure that your Practice is not impacted by the ACC connection changes, you will need to upgrade your software when we make it available to you later this year. 

From a software workflow perspective, we expect minimal change, and for the transition to using eLodgement and eSchedule API equivalent, to be non-disruptive. We will be providing you with training and enablement material to equip you.

What can you do now to prepare? 

  • If you are using the latest version of Bp VIP.net, Version Ruby SP3 (525.018), no action is required at this time.
  • If you are on a lower version, we strongly recommend you commence planning now to upgrade to the latest version of the software. This will lessen the impact to your Practice operations when you upgrade to the ACC version of the software later in the year.
  • We also recommend you notify your staff of the impending ACC software change, in particular, your IT provider.

As soon as we have more information, and our Training team has published enablement resources related to the ACC software update, we’ll notify you through another formal email communication.

Questions? Contact our Support team by phone at 0800 40 1111 or by email at support@bpsoftware.net.

Are you interested in becoming an early adopter of our ACC Digital Services API Integration or do you have further questions?

Contact our team on support@bpsoftware.net and we will register your interest and provide further information as we progress our development.

Authored by:

Michael Toulsen
Product Manager at Best Practice Software

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Video: Using Contact Notes in Bp Premier

Contact Notes in Bp Premier Webinar Blog Post

This Be In The Know webinar focused on Contact Notes will demonstrate how Contact Notes can be utilised in your Practice to provide a high-level of patient care and meet your medico-legal obligations in Bp Premier.

The webinar will cover the following topics:
(Drag the progress bar in the video below to jump to a specific section)
– What are Contact Notes? [04:07]
– Why use Contact Notes and Where can they be raised? [09:24]
– Following-up Contacts and Resending Messages [22:00]
– Using Contact Notes for Recalls & Reminders [36:49]

Watch the video and join our expert trainer, Bec Bland, to learn about Contact Notes in Bp Premier!

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