General Practice Encounters

PHN and National/Regional/Metropolitan healthcare services: (ref 1)
– The percentage of people who saw a GP in 2020-2021 was higher is regional areas (87%) compared with Metropolitan areas (84%), however people in metropolitan areas had a higher number of GP services on average compared to regional areas.1
– AIHW report1 provides 2020-2021 (and earlier) data on the use of non-hospital Medicare-subsidised services, such as GP, allied health, specialist, diagnostic imaging, and nursing and Aboriginal health workers, by PHN (primary health network). The data is also provide by PHN group (National, Regional, Metropolitan), and stratified by service type including “Asthma Cycle of Care PIP” and demographic group (age and gender).

To access the data, use the link provided in the Source field, navigate to the Data tab and download the Excel table for the year of interest.

2022-2023: The same report can be accessed for 2022-2023 however asthma cycle of care have been discontinued and are therefore not relevant anymore. (ref 2)

In 2017-2018 the top five chronic conditions patients presented with to general practitioners (GPs) were hypertension, depression, anxiety, asthma and arthritis.

Self-reported GP visits in 2014-15, or other actions taken.

note: data is percentage (%)

Note: table 7 also contains information on:

• consultation with a specialist or other HCP
• asthma action plan
• time away from school, study or work
• hospital and ED visits
• interference with daily activities
• medication use by medications

The aim of this national patient activation survey was to get a better understanding of the level of activation of health care consumers to ascertain how receptive they might be to models of service delivery that require them to be more involved in their own care. Often lack of engagement – or activation – is cited as a barrier to increasing self-management and shared decision-making and hence better experiences of care and health outcomes.

The findings suggest that should health policy and practice systemically incorporate measures designed to improve levels patient activation, the overall health outcomes and experiences of Australians with chronic illnesses could be improved.

Note: this is not a peer-reviewed publication but a survey from a trusted organisation.

– The CARETRACK KIDS study reviewed medical records for 881 children aged 0-15 years receiving care in 2012 and 2013 across Queensland, NSW and South Australia and compared their care to indicators of guideline adherence in community and hospital settings.
– Low adherence to clinical practice guidelines in general practice is contributing to a significant variation in care for children with asthma.
– It found overall adherence was 58.1% with substantial variability across healthcare settings from a low 54.4% in GP practices to 77.7% in paediatricians’ practices, 79.9% in an ED, and 85.1% for hospital inpatients.
– Adherence was low (25.3% overall) regarding review of inhaler technique in children already prescribed asthma medication. Adherence by GPs was 14.6% compared to 40.6% – 53.4% in non-GP settings.