Shared Care - Long Term Conditions
The National Health IT Board (NHITB) is leading the introduction of electronic shared care records, which will see all New Zealanders having access to their core health information by the end of 2014.
Shared care planning pilots are underway in Auckland
The Auckland shared care pilot programme is for people with long-term conditions, such as gout, respiratory disease and heart failure. Those taking part have a shared care plan developed for them, which includes a summary of personal core health information, their health goals, and the treatment and follow up care they receive. It can be accessed electronically by that person and by the health team caring for them.
The programme is running in several GP practices in the Auckland region, and involves community pharmacies and hospitals across Auckland, Counties Manukau and Waitemata DHBs. The pilots, jointly funded by the three Auckland region DHBs and the NHITB, are being led by healthAlliance and will run until December 2011.
Under the pilot, steady numbers of patients are being enrolled and patient centred care plans developed. Feedback from patients has been very positive.
More on the technology
A shared care management software solution (HSAGlobal's CCMS) that is integrated with My Practice/Medtech32 and secondary care systems has been provided free of charge to support care planning and co-ordination and to provide shared access to common information such as medications, notes, assessments and tasks.
A patient portal has been released for acceptance testing and training guides have been prepared for providers to set up access and give training to patients. As well, clinical reference and clinical user groups are being established to assess the clinical risks of any issues that arise, and to prioritise further developments.
Evaluating the pilots
Evaluation of the pilots will focus on whether shared care will be supported and used by clinicians and health care consumers, whether the technology needed for shared care works, whether shared care makes a difference, and how it can be extended in a cost-effective way.
More information is available on the National Shared Care Plan Programme website.
Resources
- Enabling Integrated Healthcare event 30 August 2011, Wellington, Powerpoint presentation (PDF, 1.99MB) - Lead presenter Dr Janine Bycroft and participants
- Case Study (PDF, 560KB)
