This funding is to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who access mainstream general practice.
Care Coordination and Supplementary Services (CCSS) and Aboriginal Outreach Worker program are components of the Integrated Team Care Activity.
Care Coordination and Supplementary Services
Care Coordination is provided by qualified health workers, which include nurses and Aboriginal Health Workers, to support eligible patients to access the services they need to treat their chronic disease according to the General Practitioner (GP) care plan. The work of a Care Coordinator can include providing clinical care, arranging the services in patients’ care-plans and assisting patients to participate in regular reviews by their primary care providers.
Care Coordinators have access to a Supplementary Services Funding Pool when they need to expedite a patient’s access to an urgent and essential allied health or specialist service, or the necessary transport to access the service, where this is not publicly available in a clinically acceptable timeframe. The Supplementary Services Funding Pool can also be used to assist patients to access GP-approved medical aids.
Aboriginal Outreach Worker Program
Outreach Workers encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to access health services and help to ensure that services are culturally appropriate. They have strong links to the community they work in. Outreach Workers carry out non-clinical tasks, such as helping patients travel to medical appointments, translating medical jargon and distributing information to the community about services available to them.