Archived August 20 2008 - may contain information of historical interest (some links may not work)

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Medicare Enhanced Primary Care (EPC) Discharge Items - Information Kit

[You can download the Information Kit - including this page - as a

Word document ( 258KB) or
PDF format ( 118KB)

The Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council (AHMAC) raised concerns earlier this year regarding the low uptake of the EPC MBS items for discharge care planning and case conferencing, and the difficulties in implementing these services. One strategy to address these concerns and increase uptake is the preparation of guidance for practitioners, hospital staff and allied health and care providers on using the EPC MBS discharge services.

An 'Exposure Draft' of such guidance has now been prepared and a copy is attached for your information and use - see above for download instructions. This Exposure Draft draws on comments and suggestions from a range of stakeholders and is being released in a simple format (booklet, fact sheets and proformas) for ease of dissemination and flexibility in use. The kit will be widely distributed for use in consultation and development work and as a supporting document for local forums and demonstration projects on use of the EPC discharge items.

The information kit contains:

• a booklet with general information and case studies;
• 10 Fact Sheets designed to provide information targeted to the needs of specific users, including general practitioners, patients and carers, hospitals and allied health professionals, and to explain different aspects of EPC discharge services; and
• proformas for an EPC discharge care plan and for a summary of an EPC discharge case conference (the fact sheets and proformas have been consolidated into one document for ease of transmission).

The kit can be used either as provided or adapted to local needs and local circumstances. Users of the kit are encouraged to integrate it into their local practices.

The information kit is presented as an Exposure Draft with the purpose of generating comments and suggestions based on actual experience in using EPC discharge services, which will be used to develop final EPC discharge guidance in mid-2002. Any comments and suggestions regarding this information kit should be made to the EPC Implementation Team, Department of Health and Ageing (contact Martin Mullane on 02 6289 7184 or Phoebe Baker on 02 6289 8735). Comments can be made at any time up to 15 March 2002, when detailed preparation of final guidance will commence.

Please contact Phoebe Baker by COB Friday 17 December if you need hard copies of the documents. Please let her know if there are any other people whom you think would benefit from receiving this information.