Southern DHB and WellSouth launch Health Care Home initiative

More options for appointments – including consultations by phone - easier access to clinical information and better connections with other healthcare services are on the way for the Southern district, with the launch of the Health Care Home initiative.

The Health Care Home programme is a cornerstone of the Primary and Community Care Strategy, unveiled in January by Southern DHB and WellSouth PHO, the goal of which is improving access and better coordinating healthcare services across the district.

This week general practices in the district are being invited to submit Expressions of Interest to become a Health Care Home. The programme is designed to help general practices improve efficiency and sustainability, provide better routine and preventative care, manage acute demand, and provide more support to patients with long-term conditions.

“A Health Care Home is fundamentally about giving patients more choice,” says Lisa Gestro, Executive Director, SDHB Strategy, Primary and Community. “Patients continue to see the doctors they know and trust but they also have more options for receiving care, have better access to information to manage their own care and have improved connections to other health services.”

Among the benefits that patients can expect from a Health Care Home are better access to same day appointments and options for consults by phone, as well as easier access to results and notes via a secure patient portals.

Becoming a Health Care Home is a process of continuous quality improvement supported by WellSouth PHO and Southern DHB that will help general practices increase capability and capacity, and better coordinate care with other health providers, including hospital specialist services.

“The Health Care Home model is design to help general practices to operate more effectively and efficiently and meet the current and future needs of their enrolled patients,” says Ian Macara, Chief Executive, WellSouth. “For some practices becoming a Health Care Home general practice will be a significant transformation for how they operate and provide services, while others are already in a good position to make the transition more easily. In any case, there are options for practices to make changes and experience real improvements.”

All practices in the district are eligible to apply to become a Health Care Home – a process that can take from six months up to three years, depending on how prepared a practice is to implement change. An initial cohort of general practices will be selected to start the HCH process in July and will receive support from WellSouth to transform services to the HCH model of care. Additional cohorts will follow, providing opportunities for the majority of practices to adopt the Health Care Home model as and when they wish to do so.

The Health Care Home programme is already well-establish - operating across much of New Zealand - where it’ helped to make health services better connected and more accessible for hundreds of thousands of patients.

“The Health Care Home initiative is a significant early step in making our vision of primary and community health care a reality,” says Lisa Gestro. “It is critical in helping general practices to improve their capacity and capabilities and in getting healthcare providers to think about change and how we can better work together across the Southern district.”

Want to know more about Health Care Home and its benefits?
Visit http://www.healthcarehome.org.nz/

View the Primary and Community Strategy and Action Plan can be found at https://www.southerndhb.govt.nz/news/media-releases/draft-primary-and-community-strategy-and-action-plan-available-for-viewing/#.WtfsVVtL_IU

About Health Care Home

Health Care Home (HCH)
• General Practices optimized to deliver better services for patients
• More options for appointments, including phone consults
• Stronger connections to community, hospital and specialist services
• Better access to clinical information and health records through secure patient portals
• Might also include additional services such as rehab, rapid response services, some outpatients