Project Overview
With more people going to emergency departments with conditions that could be treated in the community, our aim was to help people get the right level of care closer to home by knowing the local alternatives at the click of a button. This simple-to-use, real-time health app shows what medical care is open 'right now' and accepting new patients, along with information on whether a clinic bulk bills, can suture a wound, run pathology tests or X-ray a sporting injury, and how far it is to drive or walk there – all the information people told us would influence their decision to go to hospital or not.
Organisation
Team
Bayside Medicare Local team — Rose Burrell, Jo James, Sandra McKay, Terry Murphy
Development — Night & Day Communications
Project Brief
The Bayside Medicare Local (BML) catchment has a high proportion of potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH) (2,477 per 100,000 people according to the National Health Performance Authority’s latest peer group results). In 2011–12, 12% of adults in our catchment were admitted to hospital, with complications from Type 2 diabetes being a significant cause of PPH.
The lack of consumer information about how, where and when to access urgent after hours primary health care was identified as a key gap in BML's health service planning. Early and extensive consultation with health professionals and consumers identified a real need for an online service with 'real time' information about services open after hours, and availability of pharmacy, X-ray and other services nearby.
From this analysis, Bayside MediSeek was developed, initially covering general practice, pharmacies and relevant helplines, such as Nurse on call, After Hours GP helpline and mental health helplines.
All providers on Bayside Mediseek have been given log-in details, so they can maintain their listing in Bayside Mediseek, ensuring up-to-the-minute information about services and opening hours is available to users. Self-authoring provides sustainability, enabling local health services to be involved in this community awareness initiative. A coordinated approach using a range of organisations across sectors and government areas is providing the base to market Bayside Mediseek.
Project Need
BML involved local residents who had all been to emergency departments in the last 12 months with low-acuity conditions, and local GPs, nurses, paramedics and practice managers, in the design and development of Mediseek.
Six focus groups were held with local mothers and seniors who had all attended or taken dependents to Emergency in the previous six months for conditions that could have been treated by a local GP. Consumers told us that they would need better information to act differently next time.
GPs and other health professionals told us not to produce more flyers. "Every week we get a bucket full of pamphlets from well-meaning bodies and they go straight into the bin", said one GP. The ability to find out what service is open at the click of a smart phone, tablet or computer was seen by health professionals and consumers as a much-needed local service.
This is precisely what we have done. Bayside MediSeek adds value by having more local service detail on the types of services needed for urgent after hours health care, including access to X-ray, availability of asthma medicine, and ability to suture wounds. It only lists medical services that are open ‘right now’, and able to accept new patients.
The online tool is being further developed to include information about local dental services, after analysis of local Emergency Department data showing a high number of low-acuity patients seen in the after-hours period are for dental issues.
User Experience
A local mother of two, Lisa Grima, has already found the new app useful: “When your children are really sick, you sometimes panic about where to go, and then you get on to this site and there are many more options than you knew of, and it is reassuring. I can see how this will be useful for families,” she said.
Mediseek has information on 64 general practices and 150 pharmacies that are open outside normal business hours, including 20 general practices open on a Sunday as well as home-visiting doctors, helplines, hospital emergency and mental health triage services. This is all the information that local residents told us they would like to know before making a decision to go to hospital or not.
Grandparents and retirees were also involved in the site’s development, and found it most useful as a planning tool. “This is the information you need to know ahead of a crisis,” said one.
Reactions from patients, GPs, pharmacists, hospitals services and local government workers makes us believe it is a highly-valued tool that will encourage better use of the region’s primary healthcare services. The enthusiasm of Ambulance Victoria and the National Health Service Directory to use Mediseek as a model for national expansion of low-acuity referral services suggests we have hit the mark.
Project Marketing
The original focus groups that identified a need for the app were reconvened to introduce Bayside Mediseek, and to review their response to the app. Comments on the name were noted, and we have not promoted the “Bayside” aspect as this was seen as too limiting geographically given the current area of coverage is south east Melbourne. Mediseek was launched in March 2014 and BML are working with organisations to distribute resources such as fridge magnets, key rings & posters to their clients. The fridge magnet and the Mediseek app. were identified in response to consumer focus groups as the preferred way of having and displaying after hours information. The magnet includes the 1800 022 222 After Hours GP Helpline number which is managed by Health Direct, who also coordinates the National Health Service Directory (NHSD).
BML is working with neighbouring Medicare Locals and NHSD to extend the range of Mediseek and possible expansion across the state. Mediseek has been a great pilot, proving to be an easy to use tool for our community. A range of stakeholders across a number of sectors are involved in increasing community awareness of Mediseek including those from education, local government services, and community-based organisations.
Project Privacy
No login is required for the public, so no user information is recorded in Bayside Mediseek. Information detailing the general practices, pharmacies, helplines and other services is all publicly available material.
Medical
This category relates to applications that provide or promote a medical service or information.
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