Education

Integrated Team Care (ITC) program

The Integrated Team Care (ITC) Program is a service that contributes to improving health outcomes for First Nations people with chronic health conditions through access to care coordination, multidisciplinary care and support for self-management.

It improves access to culturally appropriate, mainstream primary care services, including but not limited to, general practice, allied health and specialists.

Almost half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live with at least one chronic condition. Heart disease and diabetes are the two leading causes of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Chronic conditions require complex health care across various types of health services. This program provides support to help patients understand and manage their conditions.

The program funds Primary Health Networks (PHNs) to engage health organisations, which provide individual support to clients of the program by:

• Making sure clients can access the right care when they need it, including specialist and allied health care
• Linking health care across various services
• Ensuring quicker access to health services
• Setting clear care pathways
• Helping mainstream health services provide culturally appropriate care

More information on the program and the organisations delivering the program is available through the links below. Health professionals can access the referral form and patient consent form via our HealthPathways sites.

Practice Incentives Program Indigenous Health Incentive (PIP IHI) & Chronic Disease Management

The Practice Incentives Program (PIP) Indigenous Health Incentive supports general practices and Indigenous health services (practices) to provide better health care for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients. This includes best practice management of chronic disease.

This incentive is a key part of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap: Tackling Indigenous Chronic Disease.

The PBS Co-payment Measure implemented on 1 July 2010 promotes greater access to PBS medicines by reducing the co-payment for eligible Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander patients.

Practices must get patient consent to register their eligible patients for this measure and annotate PBS prescriptions.

Practices should note that patients registered only for the PBS Co-payment Measure won’t attract a patient registration payment.

PIP IHI guidelines and information

Patient Registration processes for CTG PBS Co-payment Measure & PIP Indigenous Health Incentive - Mastermind - Primary Health Network (thephn.com.au)

RACGP - Five steps towards excellent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare

Chronic Disease Management (CDM)

Chronic disease is one of the main factors behind the gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians. If a client has a chronic disease, they may be eligible for services under a General Practitioner Management Plan (GPMP) or Team Care Arrangement (TCA).

A chronic medical condition is one that is likely to be present for 6 months or longer, for example:

• Diabetes (type 1 or type 2)
• Asthma
• Cancer
• Cardiovascular disease
• Kidney Disease
• Musculoskeletal conditions
• Stroke

From November 2021 new MBS item numbers are available for Allied Health participation in case conferencing. The new item numbers are intended for:

• Chronic disease management under the care of a General Practitioner (GP) in either community or residential aged care settings.
• Early diagnosis and treatment for children under 13 years with, or suspected of having, a pervasive developmental disorder (including autism) or an eligible disability, under the care of a specialist, consultant physician or GP.

Cultural Awareness Training and Education

Our First Nations Health Access Team can provide free cultural awareness support with an email, phone call or a practice visit. First Nations health can be complex, it is a sensitive area that requires cultural understanding and this is where we can help.

These are the topics we can provide free training on:

• Integrated Team Care (ITC) Program
• MBS 715 Health Check
• CTG PBS Co-Payment
• Practice Incentive Program (PIP) Indigenous Health Incentive (IHI)
• Asking the Question (Indigenous Identification)
• Allied Health
• Cultural Safety in Primary Care
• Close the Gap Initiative

Contact the First Nations Health Access Team directly to organise a visit in your practice.

Click on the following link to view accredited Cultural Awareness training and education – RACGP accredited cultural awareness training

Online Cultural Awareness Training

• Centre for Cultural Competence
• Evolve Communities
• AIATSIS (Australian Institute of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Studies)
• Arrilla

Register of Cultural Awareness Training Providers

The PHN encourages primary care providers to participate in ongoing First Nations Cultural Awareness training. These programs can occur online, in the work place, or in a community setting where learning First Nations culture takes place on Aboriginal country.

The PHN is developing a Register of Cultural Awareness Training Providers that lists online and Hunter New England and Central Coast training providers. All principal presenters are First Nations people. The register will be updated regularly to ensure information is current and to provide opportunities for emerging First Nations businesses in this area. Please note that the organisations self-nominate for listing and the information included is provided by the training providers.

If you are a provider of cultural awareness training and would like to be included on the register, please complete and submit the application form.

A member of the First Nations Health Access team will then contact you to confirm your details and add your organisation to the register.