Inca is being trialled by Sydney Local Health District (SLHD), who have been awarded funding from NSW Health to improve the communication between the patients shared care team, including GPs, patients, and mental health services.
Research has shown that the life expectancy of people with severe mental illness dramatically decreases by at least 15 years with the quality of life also decreased due to diabetes, heart disease and other conditions that can easily be prevented. Life expectancy can be improved with better preventative care for these patients in general practice. The care needed for this population is frequently not received because of the of gaps in the communication and coordination between GPs and mental health services and the absence of access to primary care.
The intention of the SHAReD (Shared Health Arrangements Research and Development) trial using Inca is to improve patient engagement in primary care while implementing shared care processes for primary care and mental health practitioners to provide an effective solution to numerous competing demands.
Currently, the communication between GP, mental health services and patients is via letters, fax, and phone calls, once the trial with commences the communication will be in real time via the Inca platform.
GPs who have a patient in a mental health shared care plan and the patient has consented will be offered to be part of the trial. Inca will complete the installation and provide training to the GPs on the Inca platform, how to access and edit the digital mental health shared care plan.
At the completion of 12 months, the patients who have agreed to be part of the study will have the data from PMS extracted, the data will then be linked to MBS/PBS hospital data and a patient survey.
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