Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title Australia’s tidal wave of chronic disease is growing, but GPs’ ability to deal with it is hamstrung by funding, experts say Degree of recognition National Media name/outlet News GP Media type Web Country/Territory Australia Date 2/07/19 Description Associate Professor Mark Morgan, Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – Quality Care (REC–QC), told newsGP that general practice is the ‘cornerstone’ of preventive health and chronic disease management.
‘The RACGP sets the agenda with its flagship publication, the Red Book, outlining the evidence-based recommendations for prevention across the lifespan. GPs are doing a remarkable job in prevention of disease and prevention of consequences of having a chronic disease,’ he said.
‘General practice has shifted from a focus on acute needs to add a focus on chronic disease management and prevention.
‘Recently, there has been a further shift towards the management of multimorbidity. GPs recognise that most patients with a chronic disease have more than one. The complexity of multimorbidity is why there needs to be a seismic shift in policy to recognise the value of generalists in our system and to recognise the value of personal continuity of care.
‘I see great potential to make a significant investment in general practice through payments for voluntary enrolment. I see great possibilities for general practice teams to become experts at social prescribing to manage isolation and to assist with patient-activation.
‘I see a future where the most valuable asset of a general practice is their high-quality database that can be used to streamline the right care to the right person at the right time.
‘As a profession we need to be very careful that our data is used for the right purposes, that our central role in primary and secondary prevention is recognised, funded and supported.
‘We need to be very careful that care does not get fragmented to multiple single-organ specialist providers and single-modality therapy providers. Generalism is the only way to manage multimorbidity to address the quadruple aim of good healthcare.’Producer/Author Doug Hendrie, RACGP URL https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/experts-back-calls-for-preventive-action-on-chroni Persons Mark Morgan