In Episode 10, we speak with Gary Smith about the principles of information management for practice management. A new handbook titled 'Principles of Healthcare Practice Management', Gary Smith, and co-author Colleen Sullivan, meticulously explore the intricate landscape of modern healthcare practice management. We dive a little deeper into one of the essential principles: Information Management. From the importance of digital and data literacy to monitoring digital health maturity as part of continuous quality improvement, Gary makes it very clear how important technology planning and investment is in building and maintaining a sustainable healthcare practice.

General practices collect a range of data such as patient diagnoses, medications prescribed, results of pathology tests ordered and even administrative data. Practices are increasingly using clinical information systems and data extraction tools to help tell a story and hopefully identify possible quality improvement activities. LUMOS in particular is a unique reporting and data-linkage tool for GPs in NSW. The Lumos program links de-identified patient records from general practices with NSW Health records, to map patient journeys across the NSW health system. We speak with Dr Walid Jamal about how he uses data for continuous quality improvement practices, with a specific look at Lumos. We explore how his team benefits from linking his patient data set with the "system" to reveal new insights in how to be better at care delivery.

In this episode, we chat with Delwyn Gates, General Manager of the Royal Freemasons' Benevolent Institution (RFBI) Dubbo Masonic Village, an aged care home in Dubbo, NSW. In February 2024, they announced the rollout of new telehealth 2.0 technology to improve the quality of virtual care for their residents. The all-in-one Visionflex telehealth cart enhances the way nurse staff can examine, diagnose, monitor, and treat patients when needing to consult in real-time with clinical professionals, no matter where they are located in the country. Delwyn walks us through their journey to date as they transition to a more mature digital health operation, providing safe and reliable access to care for all. Podcast produced by Martin Franklin / East Coast Studio

Meet Dr Sonia Henry. From Brewarrina NSW to the remote towns of the Pilbara in WA, Dr Henry has the dirt of what it's really like to deliver healthcare for communities in rural Australia. She's also a successful author, and her new book, 'Put your feet in the dirt, girl' highlights some of the adventures a rural GP can face when forced to do things differently. We ask Sonia about her experiences and how digital health technologies have impacted on the delivery of patient care. Podcast produced by Martin Franklin / East Coast Studio

Katrina Otto, Principal & Owner of Train IT Medical, has been in the trenches working closely with medical and administration staff in primary care for over 30 years. She shares with us some valuable insights into how practices can embrace digital health education at a time of great change and disruption. Podcast produced by Martin Franklin / East Coast Studio

A quick update on developments and improvements in digital health. This month we focus on changes to electronic ordering of pathology and My Health Record. Podcast produced by Martin Franklin / East Coast Studio

Dr Paresh Dawda shares his experience and learnings on the importance of leadership in primary care. One of the first four foundational building blocks to higher performing primary care, engaged leadership sets the tone and improvement stakes for all future change endeavors. We discuss some great examples of how to achieve small, incremental improvements in engaged leadership to empower teams to embrace and get involved in digital health transformation projects. Engaged leadership is constantly finding ways to inspire people to believe they can benefit from the improvements the team is trying to achieve, by focusing on the why. Podcast produced by Martin Franklin / East Coast Studio

We talk to Tim Blake, Director of Semantic Consulting, about the value and importance of data literacy. It is perhaps the essential ingredient, the foundational block, to understanding why digital health tools and practices can be of value for healthcare teams and their patients. We discuss why access to, and understanding the role, data plays in quality improvement, why coded data is so important, and what you can do to start engaging with data. Podcast produced by Martin Franklin / East Coast Studio

In this episode, we update you on some developments in digital health since July 2023. We reference the second round of grants for Residential Aged Care Facilities to adopt and use a Electronic National Residential Medication Chart solution. My Aged Care has now axed the fax, pushing HealthLink SmartForm technology. MyMedicare delegation reminder for staff responsible for reviewing and accepting registration requests in HPOS. SafeScript NSW now giving interstate access to patient prescriptions and NSW Health Pathology looking to develop standardised approach to reporting of results. Live captioning also now available to users of the Healthdirect Video Conferencing platform. Podcast produced by Martin Franklin / East Coast Studio

There's no doubt that digital innovation is transforming the landscape of health care. We'll feature regular short 10 to 20 minute news episodes, designed to quickly inform you of what's sitting on the digital health horizon plus longer form deep dive episodes themed around particular subjects of interest. These will feature insightful interviews with experts in the field, and passionate individuals who have first hand experience in implementing and utilising digital health solutions. We'll discuss the latest advancements in telehealth, remote patient monitoring, My Health Record, electronic prescribing provider, and much much more. Whether you're a doctor, nurse, allied health professional or healthcare administrator, living and working in rural and remote Australia, this podcast is for you. So join us and discover how digital enablers can help transform the way it work. And heal. Hosted by Brenton Jones, a Senior Digital Health Officer at the Western New South Wales Primary Health Network. The information provided in this podcast is of general educational nature only. While the Australian government has contributed funding support for this podcast. The information contained within it does not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Australian Government and has not been endorsed by the Australian Government. Podcast produced by Martin Franklin / East Coast Studio