Best Practice Software

Opinion: Supporting GPs & Health Professionals During Disasters

Aussies and Kiwis have endured a very challenging and distressing summer with the extremes of widespread drought, bushfire, volcanoes and flooding causing havoc and heartache to many communities.  We have witnessed greats acts of heroism and outpouring of support to those affected.  While debate rages about why our climate is changing, it is increasingly obvious that our community must prepare and learn to cope and recover from the inevitable and intensifying natural disasters.

Affected individuals and communities will need ongoing support for many years. I am in full support of RACGP President, Dr Harry Nespolon’s recent lobbying for health professionals to be involved in emergency planning and response at both state and federal levels, and to receive better support during the long recovery phase as they provide support to those impacted by disasters.

Here at Best Practice Software, we have a long history of helping where we can during the disaster recovery phase of major events.  For example, immediately following the 2013 major floods in Bundaberg, we loaned laptops and software to a local GP who was assisting local residents through the provision of healthcare to more than 2000 residents who had been evacuated from north Bundaberg.  This enabled the GP to send electronic summaries of consultations to the evacuees’ regular doctor to ensure a safe clinical handover of information.

But it is the long-term impact of disasters that cannot be understated.  And everyone in the healthcare industry will at one point interact with someone who has been impacted. 

It is welcome news that the Department of Human Services recently announced several new Medicare item numbers specifically for providing mental health services to individuals affected by the bushfires. These new item numbers have been added to the February Data Update for Bp Premier which will be available in the next week.

 Our partner Train IT Medical has also developed some timely and relevant FREE training, aimed at helping medical receptionists support patients affected by bushfires. 

These events are a timely reminder to all practices to ensure disaster management plans are up to date, and that all team members understand what to do to ensure the practice, team and most importantly, your patient’s precious health data is safe and protected. 

For more information, the RACGP has a range of relevant guides, or consult our Bp Knowledge Base for additional help.

       
Lorraine Pyefinch | Director
Best Practice Software

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Physitrack: Engaging Patients Through Smart Technology

Physitrack

Home exercise programs often form a fundamental part of patient treatment plans for good reason. Studies show they can help increase muscle strength, improve physical function and prevent the need for surgical intervention. They’ve also been shown to improve patients’ quality of life, glycemic control and weight. Yet the effectiveness of the programs, and the impact they have on treatment outcomes, is almost wholly dependent on how well patients adhere to them. 

Until recently, to prescribe home exercise programs, allied health practitioners had no choice other than to give patients paper handouts carrying printed instructions and either stick figures, or at best, grainy photos.

While these can be adequate for explaining basic exercises, they’re limited in their ability to explain the correct technique for more complex exercises. They also frequently prove inadequate where patients have a limited understanding of exercise techniques in general.

Exercise drawings

Another significant drawback of these traditional home exercise prescription methods is the lack of insight into patient adherence, progress, pain experienced during exercises or other, more specific feedback.

Not having this insight prevents practitioners from being able to adjust a patient’s exercise program should it be proving too easy or hard, or collect valuable outcomes data for payers like WorkCover or the TAC.

Physitrack, one of Bp Allied’s latest integration partners, is changing this with their comprehensive patient engagement solution.

Already used by 40,000+ practitioners and over 4 million patients, Physitrack lets practitioners prescribe crystal-clear exercise programs, track patient outcomes in real-time, educate patients and have secure Telehealth video calls.

Exercise Prescription: Choose from over 4,300 clinically validated, fully narrated exercise videos recorded in Ultra HD to build your own exercise program in seconds. Alternatively, upload your own exercise videos or photos to make your Physitrack library your own.

Outcomes Tracking: Track your patients’ compliance and pain scores / RPE in real-time thanks to the free PhysiApp patient app. Always know how your patients are tracking to have more meaningful conversation with them and keep them on track. Choose from 60+ clinical outcome measures and assign them to your patients. Reminders keep your patients on track and motivated.

Patient Education: Educate your patients and help them manage their condition with clear and engaging educational content. Upload your own patient leaflets or other content and share with your patients through the PhysiApp patient app, great for marketing purposes as well.

Secure Telehealth: Schedule consultations via Telehealth video calls and engage your patients remotely. Includes secure messaging and crystal-clear video calling powered by Dolby. Includes screen sharing and live exercise video streaming to educate patients remotely about correct exercise technique.

Thanks to the integration with Physitrack, BP Allied users can open their patient information from their Bp Allied screen directly into Physitrack. Uploading an exercise program from Physitrack into Bp Allied is extremely easy as well.

For more details see http://kb.bpsoftware.net/bpallied/physitrack_integration.htm.

Bp Allied users subscribe to Physitrack at only $8.99p/m (normally $13.99).

Note: does your clinic have 10+ users? Contact us for a group account.

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How 2020 Updates to Australian MBS Items May Impact Bp Premier Customers

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

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

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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Best Practice announces growth in HealthShare Referrals uptake

Best Practice Software has announced that, since integrating the HealthShare referrals functionality earlier this year in Bp Premier’s Indigo SP1 release, there has been consistent growth, with over 50% of Bp Premier subscribers now using the HealthShare Referrals directory on a monthly basis.

 Dr Frank Pyefinch, CEO of Best Practice, said it was pleasing to see many Bp Premier users now using the Referrals Directory.  “We originally decided to offer our subscribers access to HealthShare’s directory because it had been one of our most requested additions to the product. It is very pleasing to see the most recent results, reinforcing the value the directory provides to GPs and Practice admin staff.”

 HealthShare CEO, Rami Weiss, said, “We are thrilled to hear Best Practice Software’s news about the strong uptake from Bp Premier users, reinforcing the anecdotal feedback we consistently receive from GPs and practices. We are proud to partner with Best Practice to offer our directory to support GPs in their referral-making decision process.”

 Available for free to Bp Premier subscribers, the integrated Referrals directory provides GPs with comprehensive and up-to-date information about private practising specialists and allied health professionals, and includes detailed information about a health professional’s specialty, sub-specialties, special interest areas, practice locations, hospital affiliations, languages spoken and bio.

 In addition, the directory allows GPs to search for specialists who participate in “No Gap” and “Known Gap” arrangements, with 29 private health insurers including HCF, nib and the member funds of the Australian Health Service Alliance and the Australian Regional Health Group.

 As part of the integration, GPs are prompted to make the Referrals directory their default address book for writing referrals inside Bp Premier. The seamless integration simplifies the referral process for GPs, freeing up time for the delivery of care.

 Since the Indigo SP1 release, Best Practice has developed further enhancements in its Bp Premier GP software, with JADE SP2 currently in development. For more details on Bp Premier visit here. More details on HealthShare integration in Bp Premier can be found here.

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Best Practice named a Finalist in the ACS Digital Disruptors Awards

Best Practice Software has been announced as a Finalist in the 2019 Skills Transformation of Work Teams (Small) Category in the Australian Computer Society Digital Disruptors Awards.

The ACS Digital Disruptors Awards showcase the leadership, creativity and innovation of Australia’s ICT sector and has witnessed a 32% increase in nominations since 2017.

Best Practice Software’s General Manager of Innovation and Development, John Rayfield said he was delighted that the Best Practice Team who have been working on the Best Health App have been recognised for their efforts to date.

“We have been told that one of the ACS’ key priorities as the professional association for the ICT sector is to recognise excellence and to raise the standards and professionalism across the industry, so we’re delighted that our Best Health App team have been named Finalists” said John.  “We have some big plans for the future of our Best Health App, so to be recognised at this early stage by the ACS only encourages us to continue to innovate and deliver leading health care experiences to our Bp Premier customers and their patients”.

The Digital Disruptors Awards will be announced at the conclusion of the Reimagination Thought Leaders’ Summit in Melbourne on 4th December 2019.   “We are very proud of our Development Team who have worked so hard on our Best Health App and have fingers crossed for a positive result at the Awards”.

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Bp Partner Network welcomes health start-up ‘Cubiko’

Best Practice Software has announced that Brisbane health start-up ‘Cubiko’ has joined its Bp Partner Network as a Gold Partner.

Best Practice CEO Dr Frank Pyefinch said it was perfect timing. “With Cubiko launching its revolutionary new tool at the AAPM Conference it’s timely that they have become a Gold Partner in our Bp Partner Network” said Dr Pyefinch. “By joining the Bp Partner Network they are a recognised and approved integrator with Best Practice”.

Cubiko is the first business insights tool that harnesses fragmented streams of practice information to improve performance. The platform displays data in easy-to-understand dashboards, providing visual representations of practice data alongside selected metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs).

“We’re so pleased to be recognised as a Gold Partner across the Bp Partner Network. Having come from the business of General Practice ourselves, we truly understand the role Bp plays in supporting practices right across the country in delivering optimal patient care. We look forward to continuing to partner with the Bp team as we launch Cubiko, giving practices access to exciting new and powerful data insights,” Cubiko Founder & CEO, Chris Smeed, said.

“The Bp Partner Network is governed by a commercial and technical framework that provides added value for the Partners whilst ensuring they comply with relevant legislation; and that their offering has been assessed for impact or risk to the products and services Best Practice Software provides. The security of our Customers’ data is important to them, their Patients and, in turn, Best Practice and our Partners” said Dr Pyefinch.
After a 12 month trial with leading general practices across Australia, including many Bp Premier users, Cubiko was officially launched this week at the AAPM Conference in Brisbane. Cubiko, a joint venture between data analytics specialist, ‘Aginic’, and award-winning general practice, ‘Inala Primary Care’, will stimulate improvements to productivity, profitability and reduce day-to-day operational challenges facing the general practice community.

“Best Practice was pleased to be part of the 12 month trial and it’s great to see the public launch by our Gold Partner Cubiko” Dr Pyefinch said.

Anyone wanting more information on the Bp Partner Network can call into the Best Practice display at the AAPM Conference (finishing today, Friday 4th October at 3pm at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre) or email Partners@bpsoftware.net

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Talking to the right Team Bp member is now easier

When you phone Best Practice from today you’ll notice some changes designed to get you to the right person quickly and easily.

In Australia, the new Interactive Voice Response recording will begin by asking if you would like to speak to someone in:

  • Software Support (Option 1)
  • Sales and General Enquiries (Option 2)
  • Product Training (Option 3)
  • Commercial Partnership (Option 4)

If you choose Option 1 (Software Support) or Option 2 (Sales and General Enquiries) you will be asked which product you use:

  • Bp Premier (Option 1)
  • Bp Allied (Option 2)
  • Bp VIP.net (Option 3)
  • VIP Gold (Option 4)

If you’re phoning for Bp Premier Software Support, further options will include whether you are calling regarding:

  • an existing enquiry (Option 1)
  • or new enquiry (Option 2).

If you choose Option 3 (Product Training) or Option 4 (Commercial Partnership) it will go straight through to someone who can help you.

Similar options are available for our New Zealand callers.

Please keep this handy and distribute to any of your team members who call us.

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Bp’s Jessica White features on national Panel

At this week’s Health Informatics Conference, presented by the Health Informatics Society of Australia, Best Practice Software’s Jessica White was part of the Panel “You can’t ask that! – Demystifying the digital health industry”.

Emma Hossack, CEO of the Medical Software Industry Association said it was great to have Jessica on the Panel.   “The MSIA gives it thanks to Best Practice for its involvement with the HIC 2019 Panel “You Can’t Ask That!” said Emma.

Lorraine Pyefinch, Secretary of MSIA and Acting COO of Best Practice said it was a great session.  “It was great to have so many of Australia’s health software industry leaders on the one panel explaining why it’s all worthwhile and having a candid discussion about the expenditure, business models, access to data, lessons learned & beauty of health software” Lorraine said.

“Jessica White, Bp’s Manager Commercial & Customer Enablement sat next to CEO of MD and Harry Nespolen President RACGP. Others included the Chair of the ADHA, Elizabeth Deveny and  Paul Naismith CEO of Fred IT. There was no Chatham House Rules and the questions were frank and fearless” Lorraine added.

“Questions posed to the panel included “MyHealth record – what’s the point? Will it ever be useful?”, “Why are the user interfaces of our clinical systems so appalling (cognitive load, difficult to navigate) – to which Dr Nespolen said he liked his Bp Premier system; and other panel members defended the industry and raised the question of more training for practitioners.

Moderator Emma Hossack CEO of MSIA (who will be doing a repeat at the Bp Premier Summit 2020, to be held in May in Brisbane), fielded questions like ‘When the MHR gets hacked, what do I tell my patients?” and “How can we educate clinicians to embrace the efficiencies of technology.”

“All in all the answers showed that, on balance, Australia is punching beyond its weight in digital health, and industry and clinicians are not looking to the government for answers. In the spirit of Best Practice, they are going their own way to make Australia’s health system best in the world” said Lorraine.

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