Category Archives:Uncategorized

The rise and rise of the chronic care coordinator

The people at Mt Barker/Balhannah Medical Clinic in South Australia were part of the second wave of the Collaborative back in 2005. They remind us that “care redesign” is one of the pillars of effective chronic care. That is you can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results!
What [...]

The Smartpen

The Smartpen

Up until now, I thought my Fisher space pen was the ultimate in pen geek, especially when combined with the hipsterPDA.
But, alas, it has been usurped by the Smartpen. (http://smartpen.com.au) – A computer in a pen!
With the Smartpen , you can take notes, like an ordinary pen. (the Smartpen requires special paper, which you can [...]

PREDICTing Heart Attacks – the 9 billion dollar question.

PREDICTing Heart Attacks – the 9 billion dollar question.

What could you do with $9 billion dollars!
Australians will have 90,000 heart attacks in 2009. 10,000 of us will die as a result – the majority before they reach hospital. According to a recent Access Economics report, it is projected that this will cost the economy $17.9 billion dollars!
As Dr Annete Katelaris writes in her [...]

Don’t eat the marshmallow – yet

How would you go in this experiment?
The capacity for delayed gratification is an important predictor of ’success’.
In this short presentation, Joachim de Posada reports on a longitudinal experiment involving 4 year old children, a marshmallow, and fifteen minutes!
Joachim de Posada says, Don’t eat the marshmallow yet:
(Via TED talks Riveting talks by remarkable people)

PocketMod: The Free Recyclable Personal Organizer

PocketMod: The Free Recyclable Personal Organizer

Here at practiceimprovement.com.au we’re on the constant lookout for an improved hipsterPDA
Ken Whyte has been using a folder up piece of paper for years. Thanks to Anton for pointing us to the 2009 version –
PocketMod: The Free Recyclable Personal Organizer
Customise, print out and fold your own groovy hipsterPDA notebook.
What do you think?

Presentation Zen: Always ask: What’s it like from their point of view?

Presentation Zen: Always ask: What’s it like from their point of view?:
I always read the Presentation Zen postings, and highly recommend the book of the same name by Garr Reynold’s.
The key to good presentations is the same as the key to good design.
One of these principles is to:
always look at things from the [...]

Poor Communication in Hospital Readmissions

Hospital readmissions: physician awareness and communication practices:
Reported (and comments) in: Journal Watch:
When patients are readmitted to the same hospital within two weeks under the care of different physicians, it was more likely than not that there would be no communication between the two teams.
In fact, half the time the team that first treated the patient [...]

Health Reform and the Medical Home

Health Reform and the Medical Home

“The better the primary care, the greater the cost savings, the better the health outcomes, and the greater the reduction in health and health care disparities.” 1
Australia, through the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, is seeking the best way to deliver health services into the future.
In the collaborative program, practices have been challenged to [...]

Diabetes in the Big Apple

Diabetes in the Big Apple

New York has 500,000 diagnosed people with diabetes, and is considered pro-active in diabetes care.
How are they going?
Not so well, according to a recent study. 90% are not meeting their targets for HbA1C, Cholesterol and Blood Pressure.
…many of New York City’s medical institutions are failing to meet nationally recognized standards for managing diabetes.
The new study [...]

The Institute of Healthcare Improvement

The Institute of Healthcare Improvement

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a champion of practice improvement.
The IHI developed the original ‘breakthrough collaborative’ model from which the APCC has been developed.
About 10,000 delegates (including Dale Ford) attended the recent 20th Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care in Nashville. How was it, Dale?
Only a few thousand attend [...]