The COVID experience

Working in the current health crisis has forced me into telehealth and also online with Skype. At the same time being able to access the patients preventive care status in DCP has enabled a semblence of maintaining clinical goals for preventive care via electronically alleviating pain points in time constrained patient assessment.

It is easy to be lulled in to the telehealth grind and forget that the patient on the other end of the remote consultation has the usual cross cutting concerns of preventive care requiring our attention.

Implementing comprehensive preventive care requires time. It enhances outcomes for both patients and practitioners.

It would be false to say that practicing to the highest standards of preventive care provision is easy (or easier than not keeping on top of all the dozens of clinical preventive care pathways).

The DCP with its ever present instantaneous assessments of preventive care keeps me honest and honed to the ideals of preventive care provision.

One silver lining during telehealth has been that shorter consult time on average allows focusing on getting the DCP to Go Greener. Often this was not possible remotely however. Both myself and patients were reluctant for patients to attend the medical center to see the nurse to have routine measurements or undergo routine investigations with the pathology service. Keeping the preventive care conversation going was possible and rewarding. Many components of preventive care could be arranged easily with 'modification'. After the peak of COVID risk had passed, I performed drive through BP measurements, immunisations and other items in the car park (wearing basic PPE and after thorough phone screening for COVID symptoms and risk). This kept contact with patients who were otherwise isolated. They were surprisingly appreciative that we were up and running and catering to routine care.

Preventive care is not only vital during normal periods of operation in health practices, but as the current health crisis has revealed, having support solutions available means care can continue, with modification, in times of necessary isolation.

Covid Cases

Very few actual cases turned up in Bentleigh. I did manage four cases remotely, none of which become significantly unwell or required hospitalisation thank goodness.

I was amazed at the lack of coordination from government assigned agencies in following up active cases.

I was dissapointed by authorites that did not instruct asymptomatic and minimally symptomatic family members to undergo covid screening. The theory espoused was since the whole family is in isolation there was no point in testing other members. This however ignores the fact that they will have to be tested before leaving isolation and will have to isolate for a further isolation period when they invariably test positive - ie force them in to undergoing a second period of isolation during which they cannot leave the house.

During the lockdown quiet period

I have finessed some areas of DCP and programmed several new features into the DCP during the lockdown. The time in isolation at least has not been wasted.

The new app-bar mode for DCP is one such feature.

I have also added Campaigns which allow researchers and practices to place prompts on the panel - functional already but hopefully will be completed soon. There are already several researchers pioneering this feature in South Australia.

Questions need to be answered

I would not consider myself politically motivated however I seriously question what brought us this situation not only locally (thanks Teflon Dan) but also internationally (thanks Winnie the Pooh).

Dr Anton Knieriemen, M.B.B.S is a General practitioner and the responsible party for the Doctors Control Panel Software which is used across Australia in hundreds of General Practices