Characteristics of patients receiving health assessments, care plans or case conferences by general practitioners, as part of the Enhanced Primary Care program between November 1999 and October 2001

Abstract

We aimed to describe the characteristics of patients receiving health assessments (HA), care plans (CP) or case conferences (CC) through the Enhanced Primary Care (EPC) program between November 1999 and October 2001. The Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing provided data. In all, 43%of non-Indigenous people who had a HA were aged 75-79 years and 32%were aged 80-84 years. Those having a HA at home were older (30.3% aged 85 years and above) than those having a HA in GP's rooms (20.2%85 years and above). For Indigenous people, between 12 and 17%of all HAs were done among each five-year age group between 55 and 84 years. As a group, CPs were mostly done among older people, with a higher proportion done among older women (74.2%among those 55 years and above) than older men (66.4%). Most CCs were also done among older people (60.4%55 years and above). Of the 286,250 people that had at least one EPC service, most (219,210; 76.6%)had only one. Of these, 153,624 (70.1%)had a HA. Of those having at least one EPC service, 95.7%had two services (most often a HA plus a CP). To date EPC activity has been concentrated among the elderly, gender patterns are similar, and few patients have received more than a single EPC service, which is usually a HA.