The Northern Queensland Primary Health Network is deploying a shared care platform to GPs in North Queensland. 

The care planning platform, INCA, developed by the health IT company Precedence Health Care, enables health professionals to manage patient health data, create and monitor care plans, and share information digitally. 

This system allows the creation of Medicare-compliant GP management plans and team care arrangements, which can be automatically shared with the care team. It also enables GPs to allocate tasks and send automatic reminders for actions needing completion, track and monitor adherence to a plan, and store all approved and shared documentation in one record.

Moreover, INCA enables third-party services to participate in team care arrangements without installing the system; they can gain access to shared documents by receiving an encrypted link.

NQPHN have already acquired 12-month licenses to use the system on behalf of participating GPs. Given new funding, early adopters of INCA last year will still be supported for another year while non-participating GPs are given the option to try out the system this year as part of the Primary Care Digital and Technology Enhancement Project.

WHY IT MATTERS

The INCA rollout is part of NQPHN's First Nations Continuous Quality Improvement programme, which seeks to improve the access to culturally safe health assessments for First Nations people. 

NQPHN CEO Robin Whyte expects the technology to "improve the health situation, enhance clinical care and management, and reduce the health burden and preventable hospitalisation of First Nations people."

THE LARGER TREND

Last year, two PHNs in New South Wales started deploying the INCA platform to support their GPs. 

The Sydney Local Health District is trying out the care planning platform as part of its Shared Health Arrangements Research and Development project, which aims to enhance patient engagement in primary care while implementing shared care processes for primary care and mental health practitioners. Coordinare, the PHN in southeastern NSW, also secured licenses to use the system on behalf of GPs across the region.