Independent accreditation provider Quality Practice Accreditation (QPA) has launched an online self-assessment tool aimed at helping general practices and other healthcare providers understand the requirements of the RACGP standards for accreditation.
Connect Plus can also be used by practice management consultants or accreditation managers from primary health networks as well as by specialist practices.
It is an enhanced version of the assessment tool used by QPA surveyors during a practice accreditation visit. QPA managing director Paul Mara said accreditation can be challenging or even overwhelming for practices, so the tool is “like having access to the exam before the day.”
The tool allows practice managers to allocate users, including doctors, managers, nurses and support staff, to compare findings within a practice or across a group. All users receive a written report, and administrators can download these individual reports and aggregated data across all standards indicators for further analysis.
Dr Mara said this helps practices identify gaps in understanding of the standards and target education, training and quality improvement activities and compare the findings against their survey visit report.
The tool, which was launched at the Australian Association of Practice Management conference in Canberra last week, can be scaled for small and large practices but is not limited just to general practices.
“Any health service interested in taking their practice to the next step can benefit from Connect Plus,” Dr Mara said. “At the AAPM conference we had significant interest in Connect Plus as a quality improvement tool from general practices and also specialists.”