Best Practice Software

Bp Premier

Sunsetting of Older Versions of Bp Premier

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Sunsetting of Bp Premier version

Bp Support News: For Australian users of Bp Premier

As part of our ongoing commitment to our customers in supporting seamless patient care and the day-to-day operations of Practices, we continue to release newer versions which offer a range of updates related to regulatory requirements, improvements to security, fixes to known issues, newly added features and enhancements.

For your convenience, we have provided an extensive list of updates which can be accessed by clicking here.

With this in mind, as previously advised in April of last year, from 2nd October 2019, we ceased providing support for all versions of Bp Premier prior to LAVA SP3 1.8.8.810. From 1st July 2020, we will be ceasing support for all version of Bp Premier prior to Jade 1.10.0.880.

Sunsetting will be a continuous process, with support for each version ceasing six months after the newest version has been released. Find out more information here.

Ceasing support includes version-specific templates, old reports, minimum software requirements and access to Bp Support Services.

Our Support team is here to help you upgrade to the latest version of Bp Premier.  In addition, check out our Knowledge Base, which will provide you with all the information you need to upgrade. Click here for more about upgrading to Jade SP2.

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SafeScript April 2020 Requirements for Victorian Practices

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Important Information: April 2020 SafeScript Requirements for Victorian Practices

From April 2020 it will be mandatory for all Victorian prescribing clinicians to check SafeScript prior to writing or dispensing a prescription for high-risk medications.

The Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 specifies penalties that can be imposed on clinicians if they do not take all reasonable steps to check SafeScript when prescribing or dispensing a high-risk medicine so it is extremely important that your Practice is prepared and has started using SafeScript prior to the April deadline.

The implementation of SafeScript at your Practice will allow prescribing and dispensing records for certain high-risk medicines to be transmitted in real-time to a centralised database which can then be accessed by doctors and pharmacists during a consultation. SafeScript provides prescribers and pharmacists with a clinical tool to make safer decisions about the prescribing or dispensing of high-risk medicines, and facilitate the early identification, treatment and support for patients who are developing signs of dependence.

What can you do to start preparing now?

For Bp Premier Practices:

  • Ensure each clinician has registered for SafeScript via the SafeScript website
  • Ensure you are using the latest release of Bp Premier
  • Your practice must use eRx or MediSecure as your electronic prescription service
  • Your practice must have at least one location in Victoria defined in Setup > Practice Details
  • Enable the ‘Safe Script’ function via Preferences for each prescribing clinician within your Practice

For Bp VIP.net Practices:

  • Ensure each clinician has registered for SafeScript via the SafeScript website
  • Your practice must use eRx as your electronic prescription service
  • Option 1: An integrated version of SafeScript will be available for BpVIP.net users in March 2020. Once this is made available, we recommend installing and configuring SafeScript as soon as possible
  • Option 2: If you would like to start using SafeScript now, users can download a non-integrated version of SafeScript. Please click here for the Installation Guide provided by SafeScript

For VIP Gold Practices:

There will be no integrated solution available for VIP Gold users, due to this prescribing clinicians will need to login to the SafeScript portal and complete a check prior to prescribing any high-risk medications within VIP Gold.

To support our Victorian Practices through this change, we will soon commence engaging those Practices that have not yet started using SafeScript to provide support and guidance in relation to implementing all requirements prior to April 2020.

In the interim, if you would like to know more about SafeScript please visit the SafeScript website and the SafeScript brochure for Healthcare Professionals. The SafeScript General Enquiries team can be contacted on 03 9096 5633 or via email safescript@dhhs.vic.gov.au. Further information regarding this initiative can also be directed to our Commercial Partnership team on 1300 40 1111, option 4.

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World Health Organisation On the Spread of the Deadly Coronavirus

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On the 11th and 12th of February, the World Health Organisation (WHO) held a two-day summit in Geneva to discuss progress on the development of tests, drugs and vaccines designed to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus. More than 300 scientists from around the world dialed in to discus the virus.

Emerging first in China, the disease (now called 2019-nCoV) has now been reported in 24 other countries and is estimated to have infected more than 43,000 people (the vast majority located in Wuhan province).

According to the Department of Health, the two main criteria in determining which patients are a suspected case include:

  1. Travel to (including transit through) mainland China in the 14 days before the onset of illness, OR close contact in the 14 days before the onset of illness, with a confirmed case of 2019-nCoV
  2. A fever OR acute respiratory infection (e.g. shortness of breath or cough) with or without fever

Specific actions for health workers in managing suspected cases can be found on the Australian Government’s Department of Health website.

In this rapidly evolving situation, everyone has a personal responsibility to take simple precautions to reduce exposure to and transmission of the virus.  These include good hand hygiene, covering sneezes and coughs, avoiding contact with anyone who has a fever or cough, and seeking early medical advice and treatment if unwell.

The WHO public advice can be found here:

Click here

The RACGP also has a range of dedicated fact sheets on their website:

Click here
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Animated and Interactive Healthcare Tools Launched for Bp Premier Customers

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Best Practice has partnered with 3DAnatomica (3DA) to deliver the latest technology in animated and interactive healthcare tools, designed to support the delivery of health information and patient engagement.  

In 2014, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care published a report showing 60% of the Australian population aged 15 to 74 years of age do not achieve an adequate level of health literacy. This report also suggests that health literacy may be a stronger predictor of health status than socio–economic status. There is also now a growing body of research which supports the retention of medical information and health literacy when delivered via animation.  
 

3DA is an accomplished medical media company with over 20 years’ experience in the production of digital media for the communication of complex health information using 3D, AR & 360 technology. 3DA’s interactive content is anatomically accurate and housed in a fully functional self-contained application, covering the human body’s essential anatomy, its functioning organs, with demonstrations of the effects of disease and treatment. 

Alongside the base 3DA application featuring interactive GlassMan and the body systems, the 3DA Clinic offers a subscription version containing interactive tools and common health conditions for download. The program offers a free 14-day evaluation period and subscribers will benefit from best–in–class health animations and interactive tools, designed to engage your patients and simplify the delivery of complex health information.   
 

Application features include: 
•   360º anatomical viewing 
•   Interactive labelling and annotation  
•   Share and save functions 
•   Augmented Reality (AR) 
•   Device agnostic 
•   Online and offline functionality  
•   Regular release of new conditions 
•   Microsoft and iOS functionality  

 Given the increasing demands being placed on clinics for the delivery of health information and services, the 3DA Clinic program is highly applicable to doctors and their practices. The program assists in the delivery of complex health information via easy to understand animation, follow up factsheets and links for patients. Animations are delivered conveniently via a desktop program and iPad.  

3DA Premium will be available at the introductory annual subscription price of $200, which represents a 20% discount, exclusive to Best Practice Bp Premier subscribers. There are also discounted packages for multi–licence practices.  
 
3DAnatomica is a trusted partner for the delivery of animated and interactive healthcare tools supporting patient engagement and health literacy.  
3DAnatomica GlassMan
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How 2020 Updates to Australian MBS Items May Impact Bp Premier Customers

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Bulk Billing Changes - Update to MBS Items in Bp Premier

From 1 January 2020, the rural classification system used to determine eligibility for Bulk Billing Incentives will change, resulting in MBS Item updates in Bp Premier. Bulk Billing Incentives encourage medical practitioners to provide bulk billed services to vulnerable patient groups, such as people with concession cards and children under 16 years of age in rural and remote areas.

The Modified Monash Model (MMM) 2019 has been updated to align with the latest available census data (2016).

The model was developed to better target health workforce programs to attract health professionals to more remote and smaller communities. The MMM classifies metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas according to geographical remoteness, as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and town size.

This may impact practices who use the MBS Bulk Billing Incentives 10991, 64991 and 74991.

If a practice believes their classification may have changed, follow these steps;

1) Open this link: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/health-workforce-locator/health-workforce-locator

2) Click on the Modified Monash Model 2019 box

3) Click on “Find Address and add your practices address” and add your address

4) Search your location.  Information will be visible advising your practices MMM region

Action if Your Practice Has Been Reclassified

If a practice has been reclassified and is not considered Rural or Remote (MMM 2 to 7), they will need to untick the ‘Rural/Remote Area’ checkbox in Setup > Practice details in Bp Premier.

Update to MBS Items in Bp Premier

For further information on the modified Monash Model or Rural Bulk Billing Incentives, please view the attachments below or visit https://www.health.gov.au.

Modified Monash Model
Modified Monash Model Fact Sheet
Rural Bulk Billing Incentives
Bulk Billing Incentive Fact Sheet
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New Dietary Education Sheets Added to Bp Premier by Nutrition Plus

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Dietary Education Sheets Added to Bp Premier

We’re excited to announce that our newest partner, Nutrition Plus Enterprises, has provided Bp Premier users with complimentary access to over 150 new dietary education fact sheets to benefit patients. 

Nutrition Plus is a team of dietitians who specialise in reproductive conditions, fertility, pregnancy, postpartum and paediatrics.

Dietitian and company founder, Melanie McGrice said, “for years the media has been asking health professionals what Australians could be doing about the rising rates of obesity, the diabetes epidemic and the soaring rates of food allergies. Now I have an answer!  Research has found that the food men and women eat leading up to conception, during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and what is fed to their little one in the first few years of life, all impact genetic programming.  By helping people to eat well during this 1000-day period, we can finally start reining in the tsunami of chronic disease.”

Unfortunately, many people eat worse than ever during this important time.  “The stress of trying to conceive or of being pregnant can cause people to turn to emotional eating,” McGrice explains.  Furthermore, lethargy and nausea caused by hormonal fluctuations when taking IVF medications or pregnancy can cause people to turn to highly processed, nutrient-poor junk foods.  “People think that if they’re taking a pregnancy supplement, they’ve got nutrition covered.  Supplements are there to complement a healthy diet, not to replace it”.

As part of their service offering, Nutrition Plus run free quarterly webinars focused on nutrition for fertility, pregnancy and postpartum care.  The next webinar in February 2020 will focus on the management of IBS during pregnancy.  Perth Dietitian, Christie Austine-Hore, who will be presenting the webinar explained, “rates of IBS increase during pregnancy, which can cause expectant mothers to cut out essential food groups and compromise their pregnancy nutrition.”

With over thirty specialised dietitians around Australia and New Zealand (and growing), their dietitians are the most qualified professionals to see when it comes to providing nutritional advice relating to fertility or pregnancy.  Nutrition Plus dietitians provide workshops, online programs and personalised consultations for patients who are trying to conceive, are pregnant or experiencing postpartum.

For more information see www.nutritionplus.com.au or to save a complimentary seat for the upcoming webinar, see www.melaniemcgrice.com/webinar7. Please note that spots are limited, so book early to ensure you don’t miss out.

Dietary Education Sheets Added to Bp Premier - Preview
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Bp Premier Jade Service Pack 2 Update Released

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Bp Premier Jade Service Pack 2 Update

We’re excited to announce that Bp Premier Jade Service Pack 2 has been released, which features numerous fixes and newly added functionality. Downloading and installing this update will help ensure your access to the most up to date program features and user functionality. This important update continues to provide Practices with more security and control over third-party vendor software solutions accessing your Bp Premier database. Third-party vendors are still being onboarded to the Bp Partner Network so Practices can grant access to their database via the configuration screen within Bp Premier.

The following additional improvements were made as part of this update:

  • Resolution of the freezing that occurred when Practices downloaded more than 100 SMS replies
  • Various improvements to reduce fatal memory-related errors throughout the software
  • The Patient Sex field was renamed to Birth Sex and expanded to include Gender Identity and Pronouns fields
  • Clinical enhancements to the INR Manager that shows who entered the information; Cervical screening summary text has more clarity; and Respiratory Function information includes Change reversibility
  • The issue of antenatal notes being removed from Today’s notes has been resolved
  • Improvements to the third-party integrations screen including setup, searching and general performance
  • New Nutrition Plus patient education icon and fact sheets within the Patient Education materials screen
  • Integration with the Best Health App

Action required:

You will need to download this program update in order to apply it to your version of the software. Download the Jade Service Pack 2 Program Update, selecting Resources / Bp Premier Downloads from the top menu. Expand the Program Updates Heading. Click on the Download button to start downloading the Update.
Please note the following prerequisites:

  • Bp Premier Summit or newer
  • July 2019 data update

Update instructions and release notes should be reviewed prior to installation and can be found here.

Please note, versions prior to Jade Service Pack 1 version 1.10.1.886 will be phased out by 30th June 2020. With the public release of Bp Premier Jade Service Pack 2, Best Practice Software will be ceasing support of all versions prior to Jade Service Pack 1 1.10.1.886 from 30th June 2020.

Support is available:
For further information or advice on this notification, contact our Software Support team on 1300 40 1111 (in Australia), or 0800 40 1111 (in New Zealand), selecting Bp General Products at the menu.

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New reporting tool for Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services

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Best Practice has completed the development of a direct load reporting tool for nKPI, HCP, and certain OSR data for our Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services.

The new Bp Premier Reporting Tool is currently being tested by a number of our beta sites and will be available for the December 2018 reporting period.

All  sites will be emailed instructions on installing and using the tool prior to the reporting date for the December 2018 reporting period.

The benefits of this tool include:

  • Reduce the time your staff spend on producing reports for your practice.
  • Send reports directly to the Federal Department of Health’s Health Data Portal.
  • Preview summary and detailed data before submitting the report through the easy-to-use wizard interface.

Sites need to be running Bp Premier Indigo or higher to install and run the reporting tool.

You can find the step-by-step user guide on how to install & use the nKPI tool here.

If you would like any further information about the new reporting tool, you can contact us and request more information.

 

 

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