Recent qualitative research about the Heart Health Check has found that:
Solutions
It is important to have consistent data even in an environment where individual staff members have different processes for recording information.
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TIPS: Contact your local PHN for more information on how to clean up your data.
Many practices don’t recognise that they are already incorporating a preventative approach to patient care e.g. cervical screening and influenza vaccine recalls.
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CVD risk scores must be calculated and recorded to complete the Heart Health Check. For many eligible patients, there is inconsistency in the recording of the key elements required for the calculation e.g. cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes and smoking status.
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There are several health assessment MBS items available which can be confusing. The 699 and 177 were developed to address the age and recall frequency gaps of the other health assessment items which do not have the CVD risk calculation as a requirement.
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TIPS: Contact your local Primary Health Network (PHN) for more information on the PIP QI criteria and eligibility.
Introducing a new process or quality improvement activity may be faced with resistance from staff.
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Identify why this is and address accordingly:
The 2023 Australian guideline and calculator for assessing and managing cardiovascular disease provides up-to-date information and guidance on the process for cardiovascular disease risk assessment and management.
Access the 2023 CVD Risk Guideline here.
View our health professional webinar on Applying the new Aus CVD Risk Calculator.
Explore the list of pages in the Heart Health Check Toolkit for health professionals.
Supporting general practices to integrate Heart Health Checks into routine patient care, with a range of resources and easy-to-use tools in one place.
A full list of ready-to-use resources available in this Toolkit
Last updated10 January 2024