A new program of national data
collection in general practice, to be launched on Thursday by the
Minister for Health and Family Services, Dr Michael Wooldridge, is
expected to fill the 'black hole' in health data.
The program, called BEACH (Bettering
the Evaluation And Care of Health), is being undertaken by a
newly-established Unit at the University of Sydney in collaboration
with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The Program
concentrates on collecting information about why people visit their
GP, the health problems that GPs manage, and what types of
treatments general practice patients receive.
General practice is often referred to
as the 'black hole' in health data. Every year about 85% of
Australians visit a GP. So there are over 100 million GP
consultations per year costing more than 2.5 billion dollars a
year. Then there are other costs which result from our visits to
the GP, such as drug prescriptions, tests and investigations, and
specialist visits. These add up to more than 7 billion dollars. Yet
we know very little about the sorts of problems the money's being
spent on.
The BEACH program is supported by a
consortium of organisations representing government and industry
including the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family
Services, Astra Pharmaceuticals, the Department of Veterans'
Affairs, Roche Products and the National Occupational Health and
Safety Commission. The program's Advisory Board includes the Royal
Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian
Medical Association, the Consumers' Health Forum and the Divisions
of General Practice.
General practitioners play a very
important role in the provision of health care to the vast majority
of Australians. The Director of the new unit, Dr Helena Britt, said
"We are delighted that the BEACH program is being supported by such
a wide range of stakeholders. It demonstrates the common need of
government, industry, researchers and the profession of general
practice for quality information about the primary care provided by
GPs to the Australian population.
"I believe the support for BEACH
demonstrates increasing recognition of the important role GPs play
in caring for our health. Their role is changing as they become
more involved in our post-hospital care and take more
responsibility for coordinating the care given to their patients by
other health care providers. This program will help us understand
more about current general practice."
The media are invited to the launch at
Burwood Health Care, 400 Burwood Highway (Cnr Burwood and
Middleborough Roads), Burwood, Vic. at 10.30am on Thursday 19
March. (Parking is available opposite in Safeways car park off
Middleborough Road.)
19 March 1998
Further information: Dr Helena Britt, Family
Medicine Research Unit, University of Sydney at Westmead Hospital,
ph. 02 9845 8150, 02 9747 1221 (ah) or 04 1119 7938 (mobile).
Media contact: Nigel Harding, Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare, ph. 02 6244 1025 or 014 688 834
(mobile).