Print this page | Close this window
Logo: Hawkesbury Hills DGP

Clinical Audit

Data Extraction - Measuring Improvement

You might be aware that the Division encourages Practices to data extract. You may even be aware that there are some benefits in analysing your data for improved patient population management.
 
But why does the Division put so much emphasis on data extraction? The reason is two fold: benefits for the Community and benefits for the Practice. In other words, the Practices that are using Data Extraction tools to improve quality in delivering patient care are also improving the health in the Community. The Practice benefits also by improving its business performance in terms of efficiency and income generation.
 
In addition, the Division collects data to comply with its National Performance Indicators (NPIs) set by the Department of Health and Ageing. These indicators are in relation to Diabetes, CHD and Pap Smear screening. Summary data derived from the practices is aggregated to provide information for Division, State and National levels to facilitate improved population health planning. No identifiable practice data will leave the practice at any stage.
 
If you are willing to take on Data Extraction and the work that comes with it, the first step is to identify any “shortcomings” of your patient data. You could look at the initial stage of Data Extraction as an opportunity to “cleanse” patient data as well as analyse clinical and demographic information. It might seem frustrating at first that the process is slow and involves data cleansing and retrospective data entry – but once you have gotten through that, the real gains begin.
 
If you are wary of this process, be assured that data extraction tools do not interfere with your medical software, nor does your practice need to be “off-line” in order to view or work with the data. The Division works with two data extraction tools – the Canning Tool and the Pen CAT tool. Both are safe and quick to install and take up relatively little hard drive space. The Canning Tool is written specifically for Chronic Disease Management. The Pen CAT tool is a more sophisticated software that can search on most criteria contained in discreet fields within your medical software.
 
The Division is running several Quality Improvement programs, one of which is sure to meet your practice needs. If you would like to implement a Quality Improvement program in your practice please contact your Practice Support Officer. If you would like to know more about how Clinical Audit Tools can help you manage your Chronic Disease Patients more effectively please contact Helena/Wendy at the Division on 8884 9444.
 

PEN CAT

What is CAT?
The PCS Clinical Audit Tool (CAT) is a population reporting enhancement that allows practice staff to look at their data in new ways for the achievement of best practice and data quality.  The Tool identifies patient Demographics and Clinical Cohorts and produces pie and bar charts according to the criteria you have selected. By clicking on a wedge or bar of the chart you can view a list of patient names that can then be either printed or exported as an Excel spreadsheet or a PDF File.  This allows Practice staff to produce lists of patients who fall into selected population ‘target groups’ making population health and quality care initiatives simple to act upon and measure.
For example, do you know which is the drug treatment profile for your patients with Coronary Heart Disease?  Which patients with CVD or Diabetes have BMIs greater than 30?  What is the Disease Prevalence in the Practice population?  Who are the diabetics that are overdue for foot and retinal examinations?  Which care items do you need to complete to claim your Diabetes Practice Incentive Payments?  CAT can answer all these questions by a click of a mouse.
In addition, the CAT is a great tool for Clinical Data Quality as it allows you to analyse your data highlighting areas where improvements are needed, for example recording patients’ Allergy and Smoking Status or where data cleansing is needed (where no DOB or gender is recorded).  Furthermore, you can use CAT for pro-active patient population health care, Meeting Accreditation requirements, team based care, Clinical performance monitoring and business systems development. 
 
The Hawkesbury-Hills Division offers the CAT FREE of charge to all our practices. Your Practice Support Officer or a member of the IM Team will install the Tool for you and provide you with training and support. Installing CAT takes just minutes and the tool is ready to use. Currently CAT operates with Zedmed, MD3, MD2, Best Practice and Genie GP desktop Solutions. So far we have not come across a Practice, who was not enthusiastic about the information CAT provides!
For more information, please contact Helena/Wendy, or your Practice Support Officer at the Division on 8884 9444.

CAT FACTS # 1
CAT can help you with generating Income for your Practice:
  • Identify outstanding Diabetes Cycle of Care items for each of your diabetic patients
  • Identify your eligible female patients who have not had a Pap Smear in 4 years or more
  • Identify which patients are appropriate for immunisations enabling you to call them into the practice and generate revenue
  • Create a list of patients who are eligible for the 45-49 year old health check and recall them month by month
  • By exploring your practice population you can identify the tasks that might be completed by an additional practice nurse. CAT is a ready-made business case!
 

CAT FACTS # 2
You can easily identify patients in High Risk target groups:
  • Identify who your patients are that are NOT diagnosed with Diabetes or CHD, yet... are 45 years and over, and are smokers, and are overweight, and have an elevated BP
  • Identify which of your patients with diabetes and CHD are smokers and overweight
  • Instantly produce your Diabetes and CHD registers
  • Quickly and easily undertake population searches to identify undiagnosed chronic disease patients with significant or multiple risk factors
  • Identify patients with specific medication and condition co-morbidities (e.g. who my CHD patients are taking Warfarin and Aspirin)
 

CAT FACTS # 3:
CAT will help you provide high quality patient care:
  • Identify your patients with incomplete information eg those with no allergy or smoking status recorded
  • Identify your patients who have either not had a pap smear recorded, or no pap smear in the last 4 years
  • Identify the drug treatment profile of CHD patients within the practice population, those CHD patients with high blood pressure or those who have not had a BP reading in the last 12 months
  • Identify your diabetic patients with a HbA1c > 7% or who have not had a HbA1c in the last 12 months
  • Target your patients on more than 5 medications to offer a home medicines review.
 

 Please click on the following links to read more about the PEN Clinical Audit Tool.  

Back to Top

   The Canning Tool

The Canning Tool can extract from 6 different Medical Software packages, including Medical Director and Best Practice. You will see at a glance all patients:
    
1. with diabetes plus their clinical indicators: BP, HbA1c & cholesterol results;
2. with CHD plus BP results & whether they are on aspirin, statins & beta-blockers after MI;
3. with asthma plus their smoking status; and
4. females aged 20-69 years who have, or have not had a pap smear in the past 1, 2 or 4 years.

The Canning Tool also has a Income Estimator that demonstrates potential income from various Medicare items and incentives.
Click here to download a flyer
 

 Back to Information Management

 

Published Date: September 2, 2009
Printed from http://www.hhdgp.com.au/page/Programs/Information_Management_1/Clinical_Audit/
© Hawkesbury Hills Division of General Practice

Tel: 02 8884 9444 Fax: 02 8824 7488 Email: info@hhdgp.com.au