The Virtual Integrated Practice (VIP) Program
The Virtual Integrated Practice (VIP) Program
Western Queensland Primary Health Network (WQPHN), Health Workforce Queensland (HWQ) and the Centre for Health System Reform and Integration to develop the VIP Program, where a General Practitioner (GP) joins a rural to patients remotely via telehealth.
About the Program
The VIP Program provides rural general practices with a skilled workforce otherwise non-accessible. A Vocationally Registered GP based in an urban or regional location is recruited to a rural general practice and becomes part of the practice team, providing ongoing care to rural patients via telehealth.
View the flyer here
Aims of the Partnership Program
- A co-creation partnership
- Quality training and service deliverables
- Ongoing data collection related to implementation and outcomes of the VIP program (patient/provider experience, service/administrative data, billing data/costs, VIP GP demographics)
- A minimum 18-month VIP GP commitment, to ensure continuity of care is provided
- Defray financial risk involved in participation for practices in the first 12 months
- Health Workforce Queensland, CHSRI and the general practice involved in the recruitment process for the VIP GPs
- The VIP Program doesn’t impact the existing rural GP workforce (ie. VIP GP recruited from urban centres)
- Willing to be involved in the scale up of the program in the respective primary health network area.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What is the vip program?
- The VIP Program was developed in partnership with the Western Queensland Primary Health Network (WQPHN), Health Workforce Queensland (HWQ) and three general practices in rural/remote Queensland, to support rural GP workforce and build practice sustainability.
- An urban GP joins a rural general practice to provide ongoing care to patients one or two days per week remotely via secure telehealth. The VIP GP joins the practice for a minimum of 12 months and works onsite for a short period (3-5 days) every 6-months. Participating practices offer telehealth appointments with the VIP GP to known patients, and patients are encouraged to attend these appointments from the practice. The VIP GP is provided with secure, remote access to the practice software/medical records to enable comprehensive, quality primary care.
- VIP GPs are recruited from urban locations by the research team and are experienced fellows.
- This pilot study will provide an understanding of the ability of virtual integrated practice support to improve patient access to GP services and continuity of care.
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q. what are the requirements of a practice to be involved?
- High level digital literacy including video telehealth connectivity
- Established practice with organisational and governance structures in place to support the pilot study
- Practice team with an understanding of change management process, MBS and service delivery reform, and commitment to an 18-month pilot including regular feedback and data collection
- A room available for patients to attend appointments with VIP GP.
- Nursing and administration support available as required.
The practice will be responsible for any formal onboarding processes and the contractual agreement with the GP. The role of the UQ/MRI team is to provide ongoing support with program implementation and to conduct the research (evaluation).
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q. what are the costs for the practice?
Initial (set-up) costs include IT infrastructure (e.g., video conferencing software), though total costs will depend on what is required and existing infrastructure. Ongoing costs might include salaries, accommodation and travel for the on-site visits, training, marketing, and engagement events. VIP GPs are generally sub-contracted and are paid in line with current rural locum rates ($1600 per day).
Your local Primary Health Network (PHN) may have financial, or other support available for your practice, to defray financial risk. In addition, Health Workforce Queensland will provide the practice with financial support for the GP locum visits, including travel and accommodation.
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q. what does project evaluation include?
The practice will be responsible for any formal onboarding processes and the contractual agreement with the GP. The role of the UQ/MRI team is to provide ongoing support with program implementation and to conduct the research (evaluation). The data collected as part of the VIP Program will provide important insight to patient and provider experiences, cost-efficiency, safety and quality of the program and barriers and enablers to implementation. This data will inform improvements to the VIP Program prior to scaling up.
Data collection includes:
- Patient experience survey
- Service and administrative data
- Billing and cost data
- Provider experience interviews.
The research team will provide you with an orientation session, including an introduction to data collection conducted as part of the program. We will provide you with template spreadsheets to collect the data. Each quarter, a member of the research team will request service and administrative, billing and cost data from each practice.
Credits
The WQPHN website was developed and is maintained by Michael R.G. Hughes of Extremely Geeky.
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