Best Practice Software

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Best Practice Software Announces Newly Forged Partnership with Lyrebird Health

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Lyrebird Health Partnership Blog Graphic

New partnership between Best Practice and Lyrebird Health provides practitioners with increased efficiencies and productivity.

Best Practice Software has partnered with Lyrebird Health; the creators of Lyrebird Scribe, an artificial intelligence (AI) transcription tool specifically designed for healthcare. The partnership will see Bp Premier, Best Practice’s market leading practice management system, be the first to offer a fully integrated generative AI tool to their Australian practitioners.

Co-Founders of Lyrebird Health, Kai Van Lieshout and Linus Talacko said:

“The demand on healthcare has never been higher in Australia and many General Practitioners across the country are stretched to the point of burnout. Through our partnership with Best Practice Software, practitioners across Australia will now have Lyrebird Scribe directly embedded into their software, allowing them to see more patients and deliver a level of care that was previously not possible.”

Lyrebird Scribe works by automatically generating relevant medical documentation during the consultation process, allowing clinicians to spend more time with their patients and less time completing administrative duties.

Doctor and Founder of Best Practice Software, Dr Frank Pyefinch said:

“It’s always been our goal to find new ways to support our practitioners. The Lyrebird Health integration achieves this by allowing practitioners to increase administrative efficiencies and reduce their time spent recording patient notes, both during and post consult”.

By listening to your consult Lyrebird Scribe can automatically generate your patient notes, filtering out all irrelevant information. From there, comprehensive letters and referrals can then be generated from the patient notes and be sent within minutes. Lyrebird Scribe learns from the practitioner’s edits and feedback, so as they continue to use the tool, notes and letters will sound more like them.

Doctor and Clinical Advisor of Best Practice Software, Dr Fabrina Hossain said:

“While AI will never replace the practitioner in making clinical decisions, it can be useful in increasing efficiencies and reducing time spent on administration. Anything that allows practitioners to spend more time providing patient care is appreciated.”

Given the sensitive nature of healthcare information, Lyrebird Scribe utilises AES-256 bit encryption, all information is stored de-identified on Australian based servers, and data is only available to the practitioner.

To find out more about Best Practice Software or Lyrebird Health please visit us online.

For all media enquires please contact:

Danielle Bancroft
Chief of Product, Best Practice Software
danielle.bancroft@bpsoftware.net

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1 November 2023 Fee Update – Triple Incentives and MyMedicare

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From 1 November 2023, higher bulk billing incentives for Commonwealth concession card holders and patients under 16 years of age will be introduced and may be co claimed with the following consultation items:

  • MBS Levels B, C, D, and E face-to-face general attendance consultations (and out of rooms, residential aged care facilities and after-hours equivalents),
  • MBS Level B telehealth (video and telephone) general attendance consultations,
  • MBS Levels C, and D telehealth (video and telephone) general attendance consultations, where a patient is registered with a general practice through MyMedicare and receives the service through the practice where they are registered,
  • Level E telehealth (video only) general attendance consultations, where a patient is registered with their general practice through MyMedicare and receives the service through the practice where they are registered.

Please see the MBS Online Fact Sheet for Bulk Billing in General Practice for further information.

What Do I Need To Know?

The new MBS Item numbers that are being released on 1 November to support the triple incentive items will be made available as part of our planned November Data Update. This update will also include the logic changes that are required to automatically apply the incentives based on the applicable billing workflow, with an exception to the Video and Phone Telehealth consultations.

We are currently unable to automatically add the relevant incentives to the 91801, 91802 and 91920 Video Telehealth, and the 91900 and 91910 Phone Telehealth items as this incentive is reliant on the patient being registered at their practice through MyMedicare. At this stage, a patient’s MyMedicare registration is not stored in Bp and therefore unable to be verified as part of this billing workflow.

For MyMedicare patients eligible for these new incentives:

For Video Telehealth Consultations:

  • The standard 10990 (or regional variant) incentive will automatically be added to the account when created with any of these item numbers which will be unable to be removed,
  • The 75880 incentive item will then need to be manually added to the account,
  • Account to be submitted to Medicare with both incentive items included and then managed using the standard Medicare exception process.

For Phone Telehealth Consultations:

  • The new incentives will not automatically be added to the account, and will need to be manually added by practice staff. (Please note: in this scenario, the 10990 (or regional variant) incentive will not be applied, and will therefore not need to be managed using the standard Medicare exception process.)

The addition of a patient’s MyMedicare registration status is planned to be made available in the next release of our Bp Premier product scheduled for the coming months. The introduction of patients’ MyMedicare status in Bp Premier will remove the need to manually manage these incentives.

Further information regarding these changes can be accessed via the Bp Premier Knowledge Base and via the MBS Online website.

Authored by:

Jessica White
Head of Commercial and Government at Best Practice Software

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March 2024 Changes to Reporting Vaccination Encounters to AIR

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The Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) is a national, lifelong immunisation register that records the vaccines administered to all Australians, including:

  • COVID-19 vaccines
  • Vaccines given under the National Immunisation Program (NIP)
  • Privately given vaccines, such as for seasonal influenza or travel.

Reporting detailed vaccination information to AIR enables the register to contain a complete and reliable dataset for monitoring immunisation coverage and administration.

From 1 March 2024, AIR will introduce new mandatory reporting requirements to improve the data currently held. The following information will be required to upload an encounter to AIR from 1 March 2024.

Selecting the Vaccine Type will be Mandatory for Selected Vaccines

If a vaccination provider is both the immunisation and the information provider, and the vaccine was administered on or after 1 March 2024, specifying vaccine type will be mandatory for selected vaccines when uploading an encounter to AIR. Vaccine type could be Antenatal, NIP/Commonwealth, private or state program.

Route of Administration will be Mandatory for Selected Vaccines

If a vaccination provider is both the immunisation and the information provider, and the vaccine was administered on or after 1 March 2024, specifying the Route of Administration will be mandatory for selected vaccines when uploading an encounter to AIR.

Batch Numbers will be Mandatory for Selected Vaccines

If a vaccination provider is both the immunisation and the information provider, and the vaccine was administered on or after 1 March 2024, specifying the Batch Number will be mandatory for selected vaccines when uploading an encounter to AIR.

More information regarding these changes will be made available in the near future. These mandatory changes will be included in the next version of Bp Premier, Orchid SP2. We recommend upgrading to Orchid SP2 as soon as it is available so your practice may continue to meet the mandatory AIR reporting requirements.

Authored by:

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Suzi Eley
Training and Deployment Team Leader at Best Practice Software

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Data Accuracy in Real Time Prescription Monitoring

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Blog graphic RTPM

Real Time Prescription Monitoring (RTPM) is a clinical tool available in most states to practices running Bp Premier that assists healthcare providers and pharmacists in making safer prescribing decisions for certain high-risk medicines. See Real Time Prescription Monitoring availability for more information.

To maintain the highest levels of patient safety, healthcare providers can take key steps within Bp Premier to support and enhance the data quality of the Real Time Prescription Monitoring system.

Validate the Patient's Individual Healthcare Identifier (IHI)

One of the most important steps in ensuring data accuracy is validating the patient’s Individual Healthcare Identifier (IHI) in Bp Premier. Validating the IHI ensures that the correct medical information links with the correct individual. Incorrect or missing IHIs can result in duplicate patient records, risking patient safety and potentially leading to incorrect diagnoses, inappropriate medications, and medical errors.

To assist healthcare providers in improving data quality and patient safety, Bp Premier has several functions that simplify validating patient IHI numbers. In Bp Premier version Orchid, we added functionality to automatically validate a patient’s IHI number when opening the patient record. When saving patient demographic information, a prompt will also display if the IHI number is invalid against the new identifying information.

Patient IHI numbers can also be manually validated for a single patient from the patient demographics screen or validated in a bulk lookup for multiple patients from the appointment book.

You can find more information about Validating Health Identifiers in Bp Premier in our knowledge base.

Maintain Accurate Patient Demographic Information

Real Time Prescription Monitoring does not rely solely on prescription and dispensing records; it also gathers patient information from other sections of Bp Premier. To reduce the risk of data inconsistencies, ensure that patient details such as last name, first name, address, date of birth, gender, and Medicare/DVA number are recorded and kept up to date.

Record the Patient's Date of Birth

When prescribing or dispensing medication, healthcare providers and pharmacists must record the patient’s date of birth. For prescriptions containing Schedule 4 and Schedule 8 medicines, the patient’s date of birth is a required data element. Recording the patient’s date of birth also helps ensure that accurate data is retained in real-time prescription monitoring systems and reduces the chance of duplicate patient records.

Enter Medicine Information Correctly

Medicines prescribed as free text are more difficult to match in the RTPM system. Healthcare providers should take care when selecting medicines, accurately record dosage and quantity information, and avoid free text entries whenever possible. Real Time Prescription Monitoring relies on the accuracy of this information to generate alerts and notifications regarding at-risk patients.

Real-time prescription monitoring is essential for improving patient safety in the healthcare system. Healthcare providers help improve this tool’s accuracy and effectiveness by actively participating in efforts to improve data quality. Validating IHIs, keeping patient information up to date, and correctly recording prescription information are essential steps in ensuring system quality. By implementing these measures, healthcare providers can uphold the highest patient safety standards while providing more reliable and consistent care to their communities.

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Cybersecurity Revisited – Education for Your Practices

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This time last year, we posted an article highlighting the dangers of cybersecurity attacks in the healthcare industry, with some practical suggestions for minimising the risk of an attack on your practice around staff training and behaviour. As we approach October again, the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NSCAM), we look at what’s changed in the last year, and the work our training team have done to help you introduce your staff to cybersecurity and develop your own practice policies in this critical space.

Healthcare Still The Prime Target

The Notifiable Data Breaches report from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) for the last half of 2022 still numbers Health Service Providers as the most affected industry sector for notifying data breaches.

Chart from the Notifiable Data Breaches Report

With healthcare still the leader for data breach notifications, it remains more important than ever to consider the value of training your staff on cybersecurity concepts like phishing (and now ‘smishing’), social engineering, password strength, and remote login, as well as updating your practice policies to reflect best practices.

The Australian Competitions and Consumer Corporation’s 2023 report Targeting Scams also highlights some trends in scam-related contacts over the last year. The top contact method for scam attempts is now SMS text message, or ‘smishing’, where scammers attempt to impersonate a government agency, like Medicare or the ATO, or a private company such as Amazon or the tolling company Linkt, with a hyperlink to a scam site to enter credential information and potential access to bank account details or personal data.

With SMS messaging a standard practice-patient communications method, and healthcare a prime target for cybercriminals, it’s inevitable that cyberattacks by SMS will become more and more frequent and both practices and patients will need education on how to spot a scam text message as much as a phishing email attempt.

Partnering With You Legal

To help guide your practice in forming its policies around key concepts and processes, Best Practice Software recently partnered with Sarah Bartholomeusz of You Legal to present a webinar titled Cybersecurity at Your Practice.

Sarah went through You Legal’s five-step process for preparing your practice for a cyberattack event, reducing the chances of an attack, and understanding your legal obligations that constitute your response to an attack, including assessment, remedial action, and notification to the OAIC. This is critical information that your practice must be aware of as key targets of cybercriminal activity.

Also presented in the webinar were demonstrations of the Bp Premier features you can use to implement some of the strategies discussed in the first half, such as the use of the backup schedule for disaster recovery, the comprehensive password management options now on offer, fine-tuning lockdown of the clinical record, and using the audit history tool as part of an incident assessment.

An Introductory eLearning Course For Your Practice

The Bp training team are proud to announce a free education resource for all of our practices, called Practicalities of Cybersecurity at Your Practices.

This is an introductory course that will explain some of the terminology and concepts in cybersecurity that are relevant to medical practices. The course also introduces some best practices around staff training on cybersecurity, including how to spot a phishing email, what a social engineering phone call might sound like, and the importance of due diligence around third party integrations.

We’ve provided plenty of up to date Australian government and peak body resources to start creating and updating your own practice policies on privacy and cybersecurity.

 

If you are interested in your staff undertaking this short elearning course, you can email training@bpsoftware.net for the link to get started!

Authored by:

Jay Rose Author Image

Jay Rose
Lead Content Developer at Best Practice Software

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Preparing Your Practice for MyMedicare

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MyMedicare is the new voluntary patient registration initiative recently announced by the Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC). Registration in MyMedicare is voluntary for patients, practices, and providers, and aims to strengthen the relationships between patients and their primary care teams.

MyMedicare is a hot topic, and information on items like patient eligibility criteria, and workflows for registration is expected to be available soon from DoHAC. Bp Software is closely monitoring this space, and we are committed to keeping you informed along this journey.

What Does MyMedicare Mean For Your Practice?

MyMedicare is progressing with staggered phasing for availability of benefits for your practice and your registered patients. Some key milestones that have been shared are:

  • Practice registrations commenced 1st July 2023,
  • Patient registration commences 1st October 2023,
  • New MBS funding for registered patients for longer telehealth consults commences 1st November 2023,
  • Restructured aged care incentives, chronic disease management, and funding for frequent hospital from mid-2024 onwards.

What Can I Do Now?

While some information is still to come, there are things that you can do today. You can confirm your practice’s eligibility, register providers for MyMedicare, and prepare for questions that patients may have right now.

Practices do not have to actively register with MyMedicare. A practice will be available for selection as the regular practice for a registering patient if some simple eligibility criteria available on DoHAC’s MyMedicare information page are met. If your practice fits the criteria, no other action is necessary.

Providers must be linked to your practice in the Organisation Register for patients to register with them. This Services Australia checklist walks you through the steps to ensure both your practice and providers are registered correctly in preparation for patient enrolments.

Patient eligibility criteria, and instructions for patient registration will be released by DoHAC closer to the 1st October date for registration commencement. It’s expected that to register with your practice, a patient must have visited two times in the last two years and hold a Medicare or DVA card.

In preparation for MyMedicare in October, you may wish to generate lists of patients who would benefit from MyMedicare registration, such as aged care residents, long telehealth consult users, frequent hospital visitors, and patients with chronic and complex conditions.

How Will Registration Work?

Patient registration commences on 1st October 2023, and is a key area where further information is expected to come soon. So far, it’s known that:

  • Patients will be able to register through MyGov,
  • Practices will be able to invite a patient to register through PRODA via the Medicare App,
  • Paper registration forms will be available for patients to complete, and practices to submit through PRODA and retain,
  • Confirmation of a patient’s registration will be visible as a document in My Health Record.

All registration methods will require consent from both parties: a practice must agree to the patient’s request, and the patient must agree to any invitation sent from a practice to register.

For More Information

We understand that MyMedicare is a very new initiative, and that new information and announcements can naturally bring questions. While there may be questions that we are unable to answer at this stage, Bp Software is committed to keeping you up to date with information, and resources that we create to support our practices as they are made available. Access the Bp Premier Knowledge Base, and search for ‘MyMedicare’ to find our resources at any time.

The following Department of Health and Aged Care resources provide more information about MyMedicare, and the upcoming changes regarding telehealth, aged care incentives, and chronic condition items:

Department of Health and Aged Care MyMedicare information page and eligibility

MyMedicare and Practice Registration Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)

Services Australia MyMedicare Overview multimedia (go to eLearning > MyMedicare – Overview)

DOHAC Checklist of Steps to Register for MyMedicare in the Organisation Register (PDF)

Authored by:

Jay Rose Author Image

Jay Rose
Lead Content Developer at Best Practice Software

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The National Prescription Delivery Service is here! What does it mean for you?

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The Australian electronic prescribing ecosystem has evolved significantly over the last decade. From the introduction barcodes for paper prescriptions, Real Time Prescription Monitoring, token-based electronic prescriptions, and all the way to the new My Script List functionality in Bp Premier Orchid SP1, the positive innovation has been continuous.

At its core, electronic prescribing in all its forms aims to benefit patients, prescribers, and dispensers alike. Just some of the many ways that this is achieved is through reductions in errors, and improvements in efficiency for prescribing and dispensing medicines, and by providing more modern and secure options for patients to better manage their prescriptions.

The National Prescription Delivery Service Is Available Now

In May this year, the Department of Health and Aged Care announced that Fred IT’s eRx Script Exchange (eRx) was engaged as the single provider for the National Prescription Delivery Service (NPDS). The intention of moving to a single NPDS is to provide streamlined prescription delivery management, and to continue to keep the transfers of prescription information cost-neutral for prescribers and practices, pharmacists, and patients alike into the future.

The NPDS commenced on 1st July 2023, and the deadline of 30th September 2023 for prescribers in your practice to connect to this is rapidly approaching.

What Does the National PDS Mean for my Practice?

To continue prescribing PBS medications, all prescribers in your practice must be registered with eRx Script Exchange, and be configured to use eRx in Bp Premier before the 30th September 2023 deadline.

This advice applies to all prescriptions created in Bp Premier, whether they be:

  • A traditional paper-based prescription that contains a barcode,
  • An end-to-end electronic prescription sent as a QR code via the Best Health App, an SMS or email to your patient, or printed as a paper token.

If prescribers in your practice are yet to register for eRx, you can begin the process today by visiting this website.

It’s also vital that you install the upgrade to Bp Premier Orchid SP1 in time for the 30th September deadline. The new NPDS also includes ongoing funding for providing electronic prescriptions to patients via SMS delivery, with the current funding arrangements set to cease alongside the deadline.

Orchid SP1 contains the necessary changes to switch to this new funding arrangement, so ensure that you upgrade before 30th September to continue to offer SMS delivery of electronic prescriptions at no cost. From 1st October onwards, if you’ve not upgraded to Orchid SP1, each SMS for an electronic prescription will be charged at 4c, and will be deducted from your Bp Comms balance.

What are my next steps?

To be prepared for the 30th September deadline, you should complete the following steps:

  1. Register all prescribers in your clinic with eRx as soon as possible,
  2. Configure all prescribers to use eRx in Bp Premier,
  3. Upgrade to Orchid SP1 to avoid fees for sending electronic prescriptions via SMS.

For More Information

Help, and any further information that you may require is available.

You can access the Bp Premier Knowledge Base at any time by clicking Help, then Online, or by hitting the F1 shortcut key. Simply search for the keyword ‘eRx’ and you’ll find detailed instructions on configuring each of your prescribers in Bp Premier to use eRx, or search ‘upgrade’ to find instructions on installing the upgrade to Orchid SP1. Bp’s Support team are also available to assist on 1300 401 111.

For questions around the NPDS in general, the transition process and timeframe, or anything further in relation to this topic, you can reach the Department of Health and Aged Care directly via EPtransitions@health.gov.au for assistance.

 

Authored by:

Lais Miyasava
Training & Deployment Specialist at Best Practice Software

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Introducing Bp Omni

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Bp Omni

Beta testing is underway for Best Practice Software’s new cloud-based solution.

The highly anticipated cloud-based practice management and clinical solution from Best Practice Software is now live in beta testing in New Zealand.

Bp Omni, previously known as Project Titanium, is an all-in-one solution which supports seamless integration between providers. The solution is designed to streamline and simplify the daily operations of healthcare providers; creating efficiencies in the management of patient records, scheduling appointments and billing.

“We are thrilled to be live in beta testing in New Zealand,” said Dr Frank Pyefinch, Founder and CEO of Best Practice Software. “We have spent time to understand the needs of health professionals and have developed a solution that is both powerful and user-friendly.”

The all-in-one solution is currently live in testing with a physiotherapy practice and is soon to be rolled out to beta with five additional practices over the coming months.

For Best Practice Software, who is Australia’s market-leading provider of medical software, this is the first step in Bp Omni’s release to market after six years of design and development.

The launch of Bp Omni to the allied health market in New Zealand was a conscious choice by the software developer; who has an existing customer base.

“The way in which we are developing Bp Omni means that the solution is perfect for initial release to allied health professionals, and it offers our existing customers a new cloud platform to move onto.” said Dr Pyefinch.

Further development of features and integrations will see Bp Omni become available to other allied health disciplines, general practitioners, and specialists both within New Zealand and Australia in the future.

Bp Software is moving forward with a singular focus of promoting a united front for Australasian healthcare providers. Bp Omni aims to provide a better future for healthcare providers and patients alike.

The future is one solution. The future is Bp Omni.

For more information on Bp Omni, please visit www.bpomni.co.nz

Media enquiries:

Danielle Bancroft
Chief Product Officer
Best Practice Software

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New Data Tools to Improve Your Patient Health Outcomes

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Tools to improve your patient health outcomes blog graphic

In a busy practice, things sometimes get missed with the potential to cause harm to our patient.

We can now manage that risk. For instance, finding the patient where a significant test result has not been followed up, a patient who has not acted on a referral for a life-threatening condition, or who should be considered for different treatment.

At last, we can now improve the outcomes of patients by rapidly searching through practice clinical records using a data analysis tool.

The outcome of the care we provide a patient is limited by our patient’s willingness to listen and act as they have been advised in their best interests. The question is how do we mitigate the risks in a time-efficient manner? Are there tools that allow for a broad review of clinical risk? Importantly, can we link patient demographics and observations, diagnoses, medications, pathology or any other clinical metric? Can we also link this to income?

The answer to all these questions is yes.

At our practice we use Clinimetrix, an analytics platform, to analyse a full range of clinical data as well as detailed financial data. The outcomes for our patients and for the business have been nothing short of spectacular.

Clinimetrix works with free text entries in the reasons for encounter and diagnosis fields as well as coded records, a feature that is not available in other practice software.

From there you can make linkages that provide answers to clinical questions that you could never get easily before.

In our large practice, we can ask questions of Clinimetrix that have never been considered previously and then act on those findings to enhance our patients’ health.

For instance, you might be concerned that males with an elevated PSA have not been followed up. The question is – how many males aged 40 and over with a PSA greater than 3 have not been referred to a urologist in the previous 2 years? The answer – about 18. Of the 18, 2 had PSA results that suggested possible neoplasm but had not been referred.

Clinimetrix allows us to do this because it can link pathology results with communications to specialists or allied health professionals have been sent or received.

Or you might wonder how many patients had untreated hypertension? The question – how many people who visited in the last year had a systolic BP greater than 150 but were not prescribed any antihypertensive medication? The answer – 41 with some not followed up nor was their BP measured at the next visit.

You may have noticed a few patients with gonorrhoea in the past few months. The question is – how many were prescribed drugs according to guidelines? The answer – all of them.

The time taken to access the answers in each case was a few minutes.

At our practice, the benefits of this approach to using our clinical data have been clearly demonstrated by the recent Lumos* report where mortality rates for our patients 65 or older are nearly 50% lower than the state average.

In addition, results for diabetes, COPD, ED attendances and mental health issues are all more than 50% lower than the state average.

Analytics is also used to explore demographics and the incidence of disease groups, identifying unmet need in the community. It enables us to develop training and resources to better manage the scale of care.

Clinimetrix has become the mainstay for our preventative health team.

In essence Clinimetrix allows you to find those patients at risk AND shows you, easily, quickly and accurately where care delivery can be rewarding.

It also explains the finances of the business, to collate information required for the PIP Quality Improvement Incentive, track patient attendances for 75+ and 45-49 health assessments, and much more.

The mining of data has become a critical part of the success of our business over the past 7 years and as a practitioner and owner, I have found it to be one of the most valuable assets we have. Clinimetrix has enabled us to manage clinical risk and enhance health outcomes for our patients.

Authored by Dr Ron Tomlins.

*Lumos is a state-wide study involving more than 500 general practices conducted by NSW Health and WentWest and other PHNs.

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Men’s Health Week 2023 – A Focus on Healthy Habits

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Men's Health Week Blog Image

Men’s Health Week is an annual campaign that runs from the 13th to the 19th of June, and each year focuses on a different topic in an effort to provoke thought and discussion about what can be done to improve male health.

Men’s Health Week was first observed in 1994 as an initiative enacted by the US Congress but has since evolved and is now recognised on a global scale; with the USA, UK, most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Africa all recognising the significance of the event.

In Australia, Men’s Health Week is overseen by the Centre for Male Health at Western Sydney University.

Why is Recognition of Men's Health Important?

Studies show that in Australia, men are far less likely to reach out to a medical professional when facing physical or mental health issues. Men are also less likely to engage or rely on their social networks for support. Furthermore, the health of the average male is, generally speaking, poorer than that of woman in terms of life expectancy, serious accidents, cancer, heart disease, workplace fatalities, learning difficulties and suicides.

Men's Health - By the Numbers

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) publishes regular statistics on the health of Australian males and females. Below are a number of statistics drawn from the AIHW’s most recent reports, highlighting areas of concern for men’s health.

1. Men and boys account for 3 in 5 avoidable deaths
More than 6 out of 10 (roughly 62%) of people who die prematurely in Australia are male. In major cities, 50% of those premature male deaths are potentially avoidable, compared with remote areas where 64% of male deaths are potentially avoidable.

2. Men and boys experience a greater burden of disease
The ‘burden of disease’ is a measure that quantifies the health impact of disease on a population in any given year – both from dying early, or from living with disease and injury. Since 2011, males in Australia experienced a greater share of the total disease burden (54%) than females.

3. The rate of death by heart disease is nearly twice as high in men
Coronary heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in Australians, which is responsible for the deaths of nearly 30 men (29.8) and more than 20 women (22.5) per day. Men are more likely to die from coronary heart disease at a younger age, which translates to the rate of death being nearly twice as high in males than females, when adjusted for differences in the age structure of the populations.

4. 2 in 5 men experience violence in adulthood
Exposure to violence is a known risk factor that may increase the likelihood of poor health. Men are more likely than women to be exposed to violence. More than 1 in 3 women, and more than 2 in 5 men have experienced violence since they turned 15.

5. Suicide is a leading cause of death
While leading causes of death vary by age, as of June 2022 suicide is the leading cause of death for men aged 15-24 and 24-44, with 38% and 22% of deaths, respectively, caused by suicide. Overall, men account for 3 in 4 suicides in Australia, with 6 men taking their own lives every day on average.

Sadly, this statistic is on the rise. Between 2011 and 2021, male suicide rates rose by 13%.

Forming Healthy Habits

The theme for Australia’s 2023 Men’s Health Week is Healthy Habits, with five topics forming the basis of the overarching message:

Eat – With nearly 7 in 10 men in Australia being overweight or obese, there is a focus on examining, and improving, men’s relationship with food.

Sleep – Looking at why proper rest is as important as exercise and nutrition, and how not getting enough sleep creates negative flow-on effects.

Drink – 24% of men in Australia recognise themselves as ‘risky drinkers’, and excessive alcohol consumption is known to be a major risk factor for a variety of health problems. This topic aims to focus in on how alcohol impacts men’s health.

Move – What men should know about exercise, its overall positive correlation to physical and mental health, and how being active is essential for a healthy body and mind.

Connect – Why mateship is essential for good health, and a continuing focus on breaking down the stigma of men talking about their feelings.

More Information & Resources

While men’s health becomes a focus during one week in June, many of the above topics are essential for consideration to ensure strong physical and mental health year-round. Through recognition of the challenges men face, we can strive to better identify men’s health needs, and improve men’s health outcomes.

For more information on this year’s Men’s Health Week and its focus on Healthy Habits, please visit the resources below:

Healthy Male – Men’s Health Week 2023
Australian Men’s Health Forum – Know Your Man Facts
Western Sydney University – Centre for Male Health

Authored by:

Photo of Louis Valenti, blog author.

Louis Valenti
Marketing & Communications Leader at Best Practice Software

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