Best Practice Software

Lucy

MyComms Tips & Tricks for Bp VIP.net Users

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Our Training and Deployment Specialist, Warren Goertz, has some handy tips and tricks to help you use MyComms in Bp VIP.net more efficiently.

1. Communications Preferred View 

Most Bp VIP.net users know outgoing and incoming communications are accessed from the keyboard shortcut Shift + F4, but did you know you can create your own keyboard shortcuts to the MyComms screen using filters? The filters section is on the right-hand side of the MyComms screen. There are over 20 different filter options available.

By default, MyComms shows all outgoing correspondence from the last two weeks. You can change the type of documents shown and the time period using the filter options on the right-hand side.

In the example shown, a user has modified the Providers and Users filters to show only correspondence associated with selected providers and users. The filter options are coloured red to indicate they have been changed. 

Click Save Settings to save your preferences as a shortcut so you can switch to your preferred view whenever you view MyComms. 

2. Filtering Letters By Provider

Are you a practitioner who only wants to see your own letters or a typist who only needs to see a particular doctor’s letters? Select the Providers checkbox on the right of the screen from the filters section of the screen in MyComms and select the providers you wish to see letters corresponding with.

Have you been using a particular filter regularly? Save it! Once the filter is selected, click the Save Settings button from the right-hand panel in the MyComms screen, and give the filter a name and a shortcut. The shortcut is saved to Bp VIP.net for use on any screen or from your Fastkeys menu. 
3. SMS Messages Over 160 Characters

Want to send SMS messages from Bp VIP.net that are longer than 160 characters? Select the Extend option from Facility Preferences for the message to be split into multiple SMS messages. 

Go to Setup > Preferences > Facility Preferences > Communications. The checkbox Extend character limit beyond 160 controls whether Bp SMS allows override of the 160-character limit. This checkbox is disabled by default upon upgrade. If a practice ticks this checkbox, Bp VIP.net will send as many SMS messages as required if the number of characters in the message is more than 160. If this checkbox is unticked, Bp VIP.net will truncate the message to the first 160 characters.

For more tips and tricks, check out our Bp VIP.net Knowledge Base!

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5 Simple Ways Your Practice Can Boost Its Online Presence

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These days, attracting new patients and retaining existing patients requires an impactful online presence. Looking awesome online will work wonders towards building a recognisable brand and reputation for your practice.

In the increasingly competitive healthcare industry, simply having a website is not enough – you need to be dotted across the internet to appear where your patients are searching. Patients now expect medical practices to have an online presence for sharing information, scheduling appointments, managing reviews, and interacting with patients. Here are 5 simple ways your practice can boost their online presence.

1. Put Your Practice on the Map with a Listing on Google My Business

You could have the best practice in the world, with no wait times and a free lollipop with every visit, but nobody would know if they couldn’t find you! Visibility is important.

Patients usually search for health professionals in their geographic area, so linking your practice to Google Maps is vital. This ensures that your practice’s name and location appear on the map when someone searches your city and “doctor” (or whatever your specialty might be).

There’s no denying that Google reigns supreme in digital marketing. Google My Business is a practice’s one-stop shop for directory listing optimisation. Subscribers’ business information appears on Search, Maps, Google+, and Google Places. 

And the best part is it’s free! Create a profile with Google My Business to claim your Google Maps listing. After logging in, you can edit your listing’s contact details, opening hours, photos, and description. You will also be able to see reviews that patients post about your practice and respond to them.

2. Never Underestimate the Power of Social Media

Many practices think they only need to post professional, business-relevant content. Realistically, fun content, relatable memes or photos of practice staff will more likely earn you organic and community-focused engagement. 

Aim to regularly post content that people want to ‘like’ or ‘share.’ Each interaction will expose your post to new potential patients. Remember, you’re trying to connect with patients, so your content needs to appeal to people outside the medical profession. 

Information on social media can directly influence a prospective patient’s decision to choose your practice or even a specific doctor.

Activity on your social media pages can influence where your site appears in Google searches. While the exact SEO impact of social activity is difficult to pin down, there are specific ways to increase your online presence through clever social media usage.

3. Doctor Review Websites = Reputation Management

Many people will search for patient reviews before choosing a new healthcare provider. Online reputation can make or break new patient acquisition. The effort you put into acquiring and managing reviews can lead to acquiring and retaining more patients as well as bringing overall business growth to your healthcare practice.

Online reviews help prospective patients understand the provider’s level of patient care, helping them determine which doctors they should select for their healthcare needs. Practices with a solid online reputation can also help curb a patient’s anxiety, providing reassurance that they are to be trusted with their care.

Encouraging patients to leave reviews is essential for boosting your online reputation. Since unhappy patients may be more likely to share their negative experiences while happy patients continue with their days, the simple act of asking patients for a review can help your practice acquire more positive online reviews.

You might discover your practice already exists on online directories, and people may already be talking about you. Doing a search online will help you find these listings and claim them so you can track what’s happening on them, respond to customer queries, and make any necessary updates. This also applies to some social networks such as Facebook, Yelp, and Google My Business, that allow users to create business listings.

4. Get Into Blogging

Another great way to improve your online presence is to create a blog. Publishing blog posts regularly is a great way to improve your search engine ranking. It also sets you apart by showing off your expertise, which increases your patients’ trust in your service. An engaging blog can also help establish yourself as an industry leader. 

When thinking about what to post, focus on content relevant to your audience and related to your area of expertise. You can add value to your content by targeting high-traffic keywords and building links from high-authority websites and credible bloggers. Another way to drive traffic to your blog is by promoting your blog posts on your social channels.

5. Your Practice Website

And finally, the big one – your practice website!

Having a website for your medical practice serves more than one purpose. It is the most concrete and customisable version of your online presence and can supplement how you care for your patients. Your website can be set up to highlight your teams’ areas of expertise and niches, provide patient resources, and streamline the scheduling of patient appointments.

Can your patients book an appointment at 10pm when they feel a sore throat developing? Including an online booking widget on your website will allow you the capture appointment bookings long after your reception staff have signed off for the evening. 

Building a practice website can seem like a big task, but it is well worth it in the long run. You can hire a professional to create your website or do it yourself. 

Whether the patient has recently moved to a new area or is switching practices for other reasons, people will naturally look online to see their options. If your practice does not have a website, you may be missing out on a precious opportunity to attract new patients.

Authored by:

Lucy Saul
Marketing & Communications Specialist at Best Practice Software

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Bp Premier Orchid Release is Now Available!

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The inspiration for many of the Orchid release features came from your suggestions and ideas. So, keep those suggestions and ideas coming!

Record Multiple Sets of Daily Observations 

Orchid introduces the ability to record Primary and Additional observations. You can include multiple sets of observations when generating graphs, when viewing past BMI and blood pressure data, using the search utility or subpoena tool, and when inserting observations into correspondence in the letter writer.

Selecting the Primary observation and recording multiple observations enables better clinical outcomes

Improvements to Outgoing Emails

We’ve enhanced the outgoing email functionality in a few ways:

  • You can now email invoices and payment receipts directly from the billing history screens and send emails from the word processor. 
  • You can send PDF files as large as 3MB without affecting Bp Premier’s performance.
  • You can also set the outgoing email body for all emails sent out of Bp Premier.

Updates to AIR Functionality 

The direct integration of AIR into the patient clinical record, one of Saffron SP3’s most popular features, is expanded upon in Orchid.

  • Medical exemptions and natural immunities details can now be instantly uploaded to a patient’s AIR record from Bp Premier.
  • You can also filter Immunisations by Disease. 

Along with the major enhancements, there are more exciting new additions in Orchid.

  • We’ve increased the number of parameters you can use to search for patients.
  • You can now search and sort internal messages
  • We’ve introduced a range of new sexuality preferences that can be recorded for patients.
  • Improvements have been made to the ‘Restore missing notes functionality.’
  • We’ve strengthened password security in Orchid.
  • We’ve fixed several bugs.
  • And more…! 

For a complete list of changes, please refer to the Orchid Release notes. Orchid is available now for download from the Resources page on the Best Practice Software website.

Check Out Our Brand-New Orchid Knowledge Base

Our Content Creation team has been hard at work, and we’re excited to launch the all-new Orchid Knowledge Base. It is packed with a bunch of improvements so that you can find the answers to your questions quickly and easily. 

If you’re using Saffron, you can access the Orchid Knowledge Base by selecting Help > Online from inside Bp Premier to open the online knowledge base and search for ‘orchid’.

If you have already upgraded to Orchid, you can access the Knowledge Base by selecting Help > Online from inside Bp Premier.

Watch the Bp Premier Orchid Masterclass

The Orchid Masterclass recording is a fantastic way to familiarise yourself with the new Orchid Release. Watch the Bp Premier Orchid Masterclass below.

As always, Help is available! If you need assistance with anything related to Orchid or any other enquiries, our Support team are available via phone or email, so please get in touch! 

Our support hours for Bp Premier are 7 am – 6 pm AEST, Monday to Friday. You can contact our Software Support team on 1300 40 1111 (Australia) or 0800 40 1111 (New Zealand) and selecting Bp General Products (Option 1/1) on the menu or by emailing us at support@bpsoftware.net.

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TeamBp Spotlight: Danielle Bancroft

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Welcome to our Employee Spotlight series, where we introduce you to the hardworking and talented individuals who make up TeamBp!

If you have recently been to an industry-based panel discussion, you may have heard the name Danielle Bancroft. Danielle is the Chief Product Officer at Best Practice Software, a Non-Executive Director at Halo Connect, a Co-Chair at the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, and a practising Pharmacist.

Having worked on multiple large-scale digital transformation projects, including the implementation of real-time prescription monitoring and the national ePrescribing rollout. It’s no wonder why she has now found herself with a vested interest in interoperability and the ecosystem of health tech here in Australia.

The Australian Digital Health Agency describes interoperability as ‘information that has a consistent meaning and how we move it between people, organisations and systems.’ The challenge we face here in Australia is that our healthcare system has evolved over decades without the forward planning of interoperability. Different clinicians, professions and jurisdictions have developed their own ways of working and different technological solutions to support them. This can make it hard when patients move across different parts of the system or when a clinician wants to understand a patient’s history better.

Recently, I sat down with Danielle to learn more about her as a person and chat about all things interoperability.

If you had to pick a song that would play every time you entered a room, what would it be?

Rick Rolling. It started as an April Fool joke in a 4chan chat and became a viral sensation. So basically, you get sent something and think it’s one thing, but when you click on it, it’s actually Rick Astley singing ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’.

One of my previous colleagues also owned a pharmacy. He was one of our beta testers, and we loved ‘Rick Rolling’ him. We sent out a news link through the news channel, and when he clicked on it, it would take him to Rick Astley singing ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’. There’s a whole bunch of these videos on Instagram at the moment. They’re hilarious.

It’s not the actual song that matters. That’s irrelevant. You think you’re going to get one thing, but when you click on it, you get something totally different. 

How do you like to spend your weekends? Do you have any hobbies or special interests?

It depends on how much time I have, but I do like to go mountain biking. I tend to mountain bike in the summer, and in winter, I like to go skiing if I can get up to the mountains. I always go to the gym. The first thing I do on Saturdays is my workout. I’ve been doing a little bit of powerlifting lately. And other than that, I’m just very into food. If there’s stuff on, we try different restaurants, lunches, and dinners.

What drew you to want to work here at Bp?

I like to challenge myself to learn new things and grow. I’m fortunate to have worked with someone previously who can come up with an idea and make it a reality. But to meet someone who can do it twice, who knows the customer, that can go and build a product that matches what the customers need twice and makes it successful is someone that I want to learn from. That core aspect of Frank (Pyefinch) is just who he is. He’s so ingrained in understanding his customer.

Balancing that with both Frank and Lorraine in the time that I’ve interacted and worked with them on various projects, they’re the kind of people you want to work for. They’re very honest and down to earth. They care about their customer, but they equally care about their staff.

When did you discover that there was an interoperability problem to be solved here in Australia?

My mother was quite young when she was diagnosed with cerebellar ataxia. It’s been a really interesting journey supporting her from the family side. She has to go to the physio, she gets speech pathology, she goes to her specialist, she has a GP, and none of her records are available across the sectors. So, a lot of the time, my dad has to remember, write it out or get printouts. There are delays in getting the data across to the other professionals. It’s far more complicated than it needs to be.

After working on the ePrescribing side, it baffles me. It’s never been a technology problem. It could be built tomorrow. There’s a collective of issues that stop interoperability from happening, but we’re getting to a critical turning point where we need to get it done. Because ultimately, what is suffering at the moment is the patient.

Where does your passion for interoperability come from?

A need for timeliness and accuracy of patient care. From a clinician’s side, the frustration, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to at least see the data in real time.

Hospital admissions is a key one. The delays are caused when you don’t know what medications your patient is taking. Let’s say that they’re unconscious when they come in, you can’t ask them the questions. You don’t know. Sometimes all you get is a dump of what was in the medicine cabinet from the ambulance. It causes critical delays that could impact the outcome for the patient.

I would like to see it resolved in my lifetime, and I think that it can be done. Fundamentally for me, it’s not about competition or competitive advantage. Collectively, if we all put effort into making interoperability work and having data that we can freely exchange for the patient, we all end up better off, commercially and clinically.

I’m very wary of anyone who enters into a marketplace and calls themselves a disruptor. Genuine disruptors don’t need to tell people that’s what they are. Because health is an interesting one, where you need balance, yes, we want to move forward, and interoperability should be successful. There’s no reason why we can’t make it happen, but that shouldn’t be at all costs. You can’t do that and not make sure that you have adequate security and privacy in place for the patient to ensure that they’re still in control of their privacy to make sure that there’s a certain degree of quality in the applications being offered and that there’s some governance there. I think that’s why it’s always been put in the ‘too hard’ basket because you can’t just simply make it happen. You need structure and framework to make sure it’s being done in the best interest of the patient.

What drew you to want to work with Halo Connect?

The reality is Best Practice has an on-premises product that services a large percentage of the Australian market. It’s no secret that we’re also in the process of re-platforming our products for long-term modernisation. Part of that (modernisation) is how you provide an environment for your third parties. Putting in an API that services all of our products really helps us continue to build our future products while supporting our current existing products and supports our partners in all aspects.

The alignment with Halo Connect purely comes down to why they were doing it and what they were offering. It’s a true partnership in terms of working with Chris (Smeed). His reasons for doing it are about the practice as well as the patient.

Minimising the impact on the on-premise software, there’s all this stuff that you have on the server, all these integrations, how can we make that better so that the clinic can function and focus on the patient and not worry about hardware having pressures and supporting all that kind of stuff.

But also, how do you support the partners to ensure that new market entrants can enter? I think often there’s a high cost to have to connect to every on-premises clinic in Australia. You have to deploy and adapt to each one and have a support desk; it’s a lot of resources. Some small companies might have some really fantastic ideas but not enough funding to enter a market of on-premises software.

Being able to provide a central platform that provides an open marketplace that allows anyone to connect and securely provide information. Halo will offer security and privacy management as it’s an extra layer away from the clinic. It can provide throttling and all kinds of things that actually help the clinic keep their database performance and abstract that layer away. But also provides the ability for partners to connect at a lower cost than having to build their own adapters and deploy them.

It was really about the alignment; they were after the same end goal that we were and for the same reason.

Thank you, Danielle, for this wonderfully insightful chat. From a patient perspective, I look forward to seeing the remarkable work that you are doing in this space and what is to come next.

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TeamBp Spotlight: Lindy

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Team Bp Spotlight Image Lindy

Welcome back for another edition of our Employee Spotlight series, where we introduce you to the hardworking and talented individuals who make up TeamBp! 

 

Today, we’re featuring Lindy Johns. In addition to being a long-term Bp team member (she’s been here for eight years!) and an integral part of our Business Improvements Team, Lindy is also a TeamBp culture leader. Organising and promoting a diverse range of charity drives throughout the year. Thanks to Lindy’s coordination, TeamBp has contributed to office morning teas, lunches, awareness initiatives and, most recently, Share the Dignity’s #ItsInTheBag campaign.

 

Share the Dignity is a women’s charity in Australia that works to make a real difference in the lives of those experiencing homelessness, fleeing domestic violence, or doing it tough. They distribute period products to women, girls, and anyone who menstruates and needs support. When someone is doing it tough, the last thing on their mind should be dealing with their period. In 2018, they helped ‘axe the period tax’. After nearly two decades of campaigning, state and federal governments finally agreed to abolish the $30 million a year tax on tampons and sanitary products after Share the Dignity’s Founder, Rochelle Courtenay, decided to lobby for real parliamentary change. They are now working on ensuring that all Australian public hospitals offer free sanitary items to those who need them through #PadUpThePublic.

 

This year marks the second year that TeamBp have rallied together to collect items and donations in November. #ItsInTheBag is a Christmas appeal where every day Australians are encouraged to put together bags filled with essential items to donate to someone in need for Christmas. Bags can be dropped to any Bunnings store nationwide between 18-27 November 2022 and are distributed to over 3,000 charities nationwide. Ensuring women, girls and those who menstruate, who are waking up in a domestic violence refuge or homeless shelter on Christmas feel a little bit of love and hope.

 

For the past two years, Lindy (along with her Bp Brisbane office friend, Jessica White) has been responsible for fundraising, collecting item donations, purchasing additional items, assembling the bags, and dropping them off at the Bunnings collection point.

 

In November 2021, across both the Brisbane and Bundaberg offices, TeamBp managed to drop off 24 bags for women in need. This generous outcome certainly gave a little cheer over the holiday period.

This week, Lindy and TeamBp raised enough money to put together 36 bags, each containing around $60 worth of products. Needless to say, Lindy filled up the Bundaberg Bunnings drop-off box with her donations alone!

To learn more about how you can contribute to #ItsInTheBag, click here – It’s in the Bag (sharethedignity.org.au)

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How Video Telehealth Can Help Practice Sustainability

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Practices are feeling the pressure of increased costs and flat Medicare rebates. This year’s General Practice Health of the Nation report by the RACGP found that only 3% of GPs stated that the current Medicare rebate is sufficient to cover the cost of care.

Using technology to deliver health care has several advantages, including cost savings, convenience, and the ability to provide care to people with mobility limitations or those in rural areas who do not have easy access to a clinic. Medicare data indicates that approximately 20% of GP consultations are conducted using telehealth, and patients still have an appetite for telehealth consults post-pandemic.

There are many upsides for a patient to use select telehealth appointments as their preferred method of consultations. But why should your practice offer telehealth?

Well, there are a few reasons to consider.

Flexibility for Doctors

Firstly, telehealth can offer flexibility to your doctors. They can simply login from home to see patients. This is particularly useful if they, or their family, are sick.

Reduced Cancellations

Because of how easy and accessible telehealth appointments are, your practice will likely notice a reduction of cancellations and no-shows. With enough notice, appointments can be converted to video telehealth appointments which still allow a rich clinical interaction. 

Efficiency

Some telehealth booking platforms can seamlessly integrate with your Best Practice appointment book. This two-way communication between the telehealth platform and Bp greatly reduces the risk of double booking an appointment time slot.

Reduce Practice Costs

Delivering consultations via telehealth can reduce overhead costs for your practice. You can streamline your reception by reducing bottlenecking and busy periods, as telehealth can reduce the number of consults booked over the phone. It also removes the need to verify patient details and in-person check-in upon arrival, as this is all done through the telehealth platform.

Grow Your Radius of Care

Your patients no longer need to live within driving distance of your practice. This can also mean that you can offer consults to people living in rural and remote areas who may not have a local GP.

Stay Competitive

And, of course, the convenience it offers to your patients. Appointments can be easily booked through the telehealth platform. Patients no longer need to organise time away from their regular duties to sit in busy waiting rooms. With more and more practices offering telehealth, you could be losing out on consultations by not offering this service.

Dr Jared Dart, practice owner and GP advocate, recommends that practices do whatever they can to reduce costs and increase revenue and suggests that private billing Video Telehealth may be one such way. 

Welio, a doctor-focused telehealth platform, takes a novel approach to improving practice sustainability by charging the patient and not the practice. This minimal $2 charge per patient telehealth video consult means that there is no out-of-pocket cost to the practice and no lock-in subscription.

Created by Dr Jared Dart, GP and practice owner of iHealth Centre Indooroopilly, Welio provides privately billed telehealth consults through seamless access to secure payments, informed patient financial consent, and flexible post-consult billing options. Dr Dart commented that data shows 20% of iHealth Centre revenue is generated by telehealth.

The platform is private and secure with end-to-end encryption. Any personal data stored by Welio is kept in their secure Microsoft Azure cloud platform. The simple user interface means patients can use their Face ID, fingerprint, or passcode to enter the Welio app, and within three clicks, they are in the virtual waiting room. Using the app means that patients don’t have to click a link to open their video consult – something patients are becoming more wary of.

Payments are taken through the app using the PCI-compliant and highly secure Stripe payment platform. Doctors can choose to charge the expected fee to which the patient has already agreed, an increased or decreased fee, or a $0 charge which effectively allows them to bulk bill. If the patient is bulk billed, Welio does not charge them a fee.

For more information about Welio visit their website – www.welio.com

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Calling Australian GPs and General Practice Staff – Join the Discussion on NBCSP!

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Bp Blog_Daffodil Centre

The MAIL, GP & SCALE project aims to help the Australian population and reduce the burden of bowel cancer. The Daffodil Centre are conducting a co-design with general practitioners and practice staff of an intervention to increase National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) participation.

The Cancer Council Australia recognises the key role that GPs and other primary health professionals play in the success of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP). As a health professional, you are integral to the success of the program. Evidence shows that a recommendation by a primary health care provider is a key motivator for participants to screen.

Currently, only 44% of eligible Australians complete the free NBCSP home screening test. Following a comprehensive review of the evidence and the publication of the Clinical Practice Guidelines for the prevention, early detection and management of Colorectal Cancer, immunochemical faecal occult blood testing (iFOBT) every 2 years from age 50-74 was recommended for population screening in Australia. Modelling has shown that with current levels of participation, the NBCSP is expected to prevent 59,000 deaths over the period 2015-2040; an additional 16,800 and 24,800 deaths would be prevented if participation was increased to 50% and 60%, respectively.[1]

Modelling has shown that with current levels of participation, the NBCSP is expected to prevent 59,000 deaths over the period 2015-2040; an additional 16,800 and 24,800 deaths would be prevented if participation was increased to 50% and 60%, respectively.

The Daffodil Centre – a partnership between the Cancer Council NSW and the University of Sydney, is inviting GPs and practice staff to take part in a new study that aims to co-design a general practice led intervention to increase NBCSP participation. Specifically, this study aims to:

  1. Co-design a general practice led intervention to increase National Bowel Cancer Screening Program participation.
  2. Identify potential barriers and enablers that may affect implementation of the intervention.

Focus groups will be held online in late 2022 and early 2023, with reimbursement provided.

What Does the Co-Design Process Involve?
  • Eight focus groups with ~5 participants per group from across Australia, conducted from late 2022 to early 2023.
  • Focus groups will be held online and last approximately 60-90 minutes.
  • Participation is voluntary and there will be reimbursement for participant time.
  • Focus groups will explore participants perspectives of an optimal general practice-led intervention to increase bowel screening participation.
  • Focus group data will be de-identified.
  • After the focus groups, participants are welcome to make further contributions or revisions to design of the intervention, but this is not required.

What Happens Next? 

Findings from these focus groups will support the design of a general practice led intervention. This intervention will be piloted in a trial in within 80 general practices across two Australian states.

Click here to see the Participant Information Statement and indicate your expression of interest or contact bowel@daffodilcentre.org if you would like further information. 

References:

  1. Lew JB, St John DJB, Xu XM, Greuter MJE, Caruana M, Cenin DR, et al. Long-term evaluation of benefits, harms, and cost-effectiveness of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program in Australia: a modelling study. Lancet Public Health 2017 Jul;2(7):e331-e340 Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29253458.

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Retired Doctor Using Skills to Help Homeless

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Bp Blog Article Dr Peter McKain

Our Community Partnership program is designed to discover and enable charitable community benefit through our vision of communities connected through medicine.

Recently, we heard about the fantastic work that now-retired general practitioner, Dr Peter McKain, is doing within his local community. Dr McKain works with Beddown and The Vacseen Project, both based in Central Brisbane. These organisations provide a safe, comfortable bed to sleep in and free medical care for homeless people in Brisbane and surrounding areas.

The 2016 census reported 5813 people homeless in Brisbane¹. This figure is based on a broad definition of the term ‘homeless’ and includes rough sleepers, people who are couch surfing and people living in cars, crisis accommodation and boarding houses. Now, living in a post-pandemic world, we can only imagine that this number has drastically increased due to the reduced amount of rental homes available and the overall increased cost of living.

The Role of Beddown

Beddown aims to take bustling spaces during the day and is left vacant upon nightfall as a repurposed space for pop-up accommodation. They provide a bed at night for local homeless and those sleeping rough. Halls, offices, parking lots, industrial buildings and a backpacker hostel in Spring Hill are some spaces repurposed into temporary overnight sanctuaries and short-term accommodation.  

Due to the conditions of living on the streets, many of the homeless suffer from sleep deprivation. This can lead to many severe physical and mental health conditions, including depression, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, memory loss and impaired cognitive function, leading to alcohol and drug use. Not to mention the impact of the fear of being attacked or robbed whilst asleep. By providing a safe, secure, and comfortable bed for the night, Beddown is helping restore health, dignity, and respect for its guests. Beddown also works with other charitable organisations to provide complimentary laundry, showers, clothing, food and beverage, and health and well-being care at their pop-up accommodation locations.

Beddown Image 1

Beddown volunteers preparing beds in a vacant parking lot. 

The Role of The Vacseen Project

One of the organisations partnering with Beddown is The Vacseen Project. An initiative of University Queensland students, The Vacseen Project was initially created to break down the cost and accessibility barriers in helping vulnerable populations access flu vaccines. Today, this GP lead organisation offers health advice and delivers flu and COVID vaccines in homeless shelters, hostels, social housing, and pop-up Beddown locations.

In May 2022, The Vacseen Project launched its first regular health clinic, run entirely by a team of medical students with the support and supervision of Dr Peter McKain. They provide weekly, comprehensive health clinics at the Spring Hill backpacker hotel to guests at no cost. A vast majority of the patients the team assists do not have a regular GP due to constant relocation. Dr McKain cannot bulk bill the treatment he provides to Medicare as many of the patients he sees do not have or have lost their Medicare cards. Often, he also provides free medication to patients who are unable to have their prescriptions filled.

Dr McKain commented, “We are now regularly seeing 4-6 people each session with students seeing patients, taking histories, and examining as required, usually in pairs. We are recording in Best Practice, and I will then sit with the students while they present the patient’s concerns.” The team will then discuss and organise appropriate care for the patient.

“We are now regularly seeing 4-6 people each session with students seeing patients, taking histories, and examining as required, usually in pairs. We are recording in Best Practice, and I will then sit with the students while they present the patient’s concerns.”

When speaking on the benefits of medical students volunteering, Dr McKain said, “The service provides an opportunity for the students to be exposed to a clinical side of medicine that they may not see in their training.” He has been very impressed by their enthusiasm and knowledge.

The team plan to develop two additional clinics across different locations to broaden their reach, plus mental health plans with Brisbane North Mental Health Unit in the new year.

The Vacseen Project Image 1

Dr Peter McKain and medical student Evi with a patient.

The Vacseen Project Image 2

Dr Peter McKain and medical students Norm, Lara, Evi, Suki, Nipun and Aidan.

Poor health is a significant contributor to, and resultant of, homelessness. With less and less GPs providing bulk billed health care, people experiencing disadvantage are priced out of preventative care. All too often, hospital emergency departments are the entry point into the healthcare system for people from vulnerable groups. These presentations are usually entirely preventable with early intervention and regular touchpoint primary care.

Both Beddown and The Vacseen Project rely on volunteers, nurses, medical students, and GPs, like Dr McKain, who are ready to roll up their sleeves and make a difference.

Best Practice Software provides software licensing to Dr McKain to support his charitable volunteer work, enabling him to record his patient contact details, medical history, investigations, and script writing. The team are slowly developing a database with demographics that will help inform their future planning.

To learn more or get involved, please visit Beddown and The Vacseen Project’s websites.

 

¹ Source: Census of Population and Housing, 2016

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Bp VIP.net Tips & Tricks

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VIP.net Tips and Tricks

Our Bp VIP.net Training and Deployment Specialist, Johanna Monson, has five handy tips and tricks to share with you to help you become more efficient using Bp VIP.net.

1. The Email Search

Our first tip looks at using the new, convenient email search functionality that was made available in the Bp VIP.net Topaz release. The Email Search lets you quickly link emails in your Inbox to the corresponding patient in Bp VIP.net. Type the @ symbol before the email address to quickly activate the email search function or select the Email Address (@) radio button.

VIP.net Tips & Tricks Image 1
2. Using the Window Menu

Did you know that the Window menu drop-down lets you see all the screens you currently have open in Bp VIP.net?

The ticked screen title identifies which screen you currently have in focus, and you can select another open screen by clicking on the various titles listed. This is particularly handy if you have accidentally clicked outside of the Bp VIP.net screen and lose the screen that you were working on. Simply click on the screen title you need and resume your task.

VIP.net Tips & Tricks Image 2
3. Advanced Formatting Tools

The formatting of Templates in Bp VIP.net can be enhanced by using your right-click on the Template screen. When you right-click at the top or bottom of a template, you will get an advanced option to set up Margins and Paper, Headers and Footers, and Columns and Borders.

When you right-click in the template’s body, you will see the advanced option to set Paragraph-Formatting and Indents, and Frame and Page Breaks.

The pagination settings are similar to the tools that you would be familiar with using in Microsoft Word and are handy in ensuring your letters are well formatted over multiple pages.

When you right-click within a table, you can open the Table Properties to change cell margins, borders, cell colours, and alignment.

When creating new templates, it’s advantageous to keep the formatting symbol turned on to make your current formatting visible. This conveniently identifies any hidden extra spaces, font size variations, line breaks, and other pesky hidden formatting that may be wreaking havoc in your template.

4. Accessing MIMS

Have you ever wanted to check the MIMS database in Bp VIP.net without starting the prescribing process? Clinical users can click the Help menu, then MIMS to open and view the MIMS database.

VIP.net Tips & Tricks Image 3

 5. Faster Prescribing in Bp VIP.net

When creating a script for a commonly prescribed medication in Bp VIP.net, the Save button at the top of the details section allows you to save the directions included in the orange section of the Prescription Item Details. This feature will save your clinicians time when prescribing a regular medication as they can conveniently select from the saved default.

Likewise, you can create a prescription, complete the directions, and enter the first dose. Then, click save in the Saved Default section, alter the Dose and click Save again. You will now have all the regular doses for the selected medication pre-saved.

VIP.net Tips & Tricks Image 4

The saved default list can also be deleted in the clinician’s Provider Screen. Select Setup, then Internal Providers, select the provider record and click on the Internal tab. Click the Doses button to manage the list of the provider’s pre-saved doses.

If you have one provider you prefer to maintain the list of saved Doses, other providers can access their list by entering the provider’s name in the Use Dose Entries From field.

 

For more tips and tricks, check out our recent Be In The Know webinar recording covering Advanced Prescribing in Bp VIP.net. Now accessible from the Knowledge Base!

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TeamBp Spotlight: Cath

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Cath Phibben Blog Image

Welcome to our Employee Spotlight series, where we’re introducing you to the hardworking and talented individuals who make up TeamBp! 

 

Today, we’re featuring Cath Phibben. In addition to being one of our Partnership Specialists, she was also recently nominated for the Australasian Institute of Digital Health (AIDH) Queensland committee seat. AIDH is Australasia’s peak body for digital health representing a united and influential single voice for health informatics and digital health leaders and practitioners.

 

Under the current healthcare system, information about patients is not recorded efficiently or effectively, clinicians can’t easily share information and there are numerous adverse events (a preventable medical error is the third leading cause of death). The Institute’s purpose is to create a connected health system and a digitally competent health workforce.

 

There is growing acknowledgement that digital health is the key to realising high-quality, safe and efficient care that delivers improved health outcomes. The AIDH’s Leadership and Advocacy strategy provides high-level, organisation-wide strategic direction and guidance to the Institute’s policy and advocacy priorities, and to the engagement of experts across the health sector. 

 

Part of this strategy is the establishment of Expert Advisory Groups (EAGs), which will be the driving force behind further development, continual refinement, and delivery.

 

Cath joined the AIDH in 2019 and particularly enjoys attending networking events in Queensland as well as national events such as the summit. She is also a Certified Health Informatician Australasia (CHIA) graduate. 

 

As a member of the Best Practice Partnerships team, Cath has an excellent understanding of the digital health landscape in Australia as she works with these vendors on a daily basis. She is a strong advocate for digital health, and believes that it, “has the potential to transform the way we provide and receive care”. 

 

Prior to joining Best Practice, Cath also held similar roles in the UK, which has given her a well-rounded understanding of health informatics issues in different markets.

 

Cath is passionate about, “using her skills to make a difference in the healthcare system” and is looking forward to the opportunity to work with other members to help progress the digital health agenda both locally and nationally.


Stay tuned for future posts in this series, where we’ll introduce you to more members of our team.

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