The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's (AIHW) report Australia's health 2010 that was released reconfirmed that general practitioners are increasingly involved in the long-term care of more patients with complex multiple medical problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol disorders.

Dr Chris Mitchell, RACGP President, said that this report was important and points towards long-term trends in healthcare for all Australians.

"The majority of Australians' health services are provided by GPs and this must be addressed through better recognition of the work of GPs.

"While the continued development of multidisciplinary care teams is also essential in the management of this increasing clinical workload, GPs must remain as the front line of primary health care offering whole person, comprehensive and coordinated care to the community," he said.

Dr Mitchell also highlighted that one way to help manage chronic conditions and complex care needs is e-health and that investments in e-health are fundamental.

"With the Healthcare Identifiers Bill 2010 yet to be passed by the Senate, this report is a timely reminder that e-health investments should no longer be delayed.

"Without improvements in e-health and medical information management systems, we will continue to expose patients to unnecessary risks, including adverse events and medication errors. Every person in Australia should receive care that is informed by an electronic health summary. The passing of the Healthcare Identifiers Bill 2010 is paving the path for the future. Healthcare identifiers are an important building block to enable a national Individual Electronic Health Record (IEHR) system," Dr Mitchell concluded.

The AIHW Australia's health 2010 report is available here.

Source:
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners