Improve recording of risk factors to enable CVD assessment
This quality improvement activity supports practices improve their recording of CVD risk factors, directly related to Quality Improvement Measure # 8 in the practice incentives program (PIPQI) – Proportion of eligible regular clients with a record of the necessary risk factors in their GP record for CVD risk assessment
Goal
Improve recording of risk factors to enable CVD risk assessment.
Measure of success
Percentage of patients with necessary risk factors assessed and recorded to enable CVD assessments.
Actions
- Use Pen CAT cardiovascular risk recipe to identify the proportion of regular clients aged 45 to 74 years who have all of the following information recorded:
- Tobacco smoking
- Diabetes
- Diabetes status: type 1 or type 2 diabetes
- Diabetes risk: fasting glucose test result, or a screening for glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c test result)
- Systolic blood pressure
- Total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels
- Age
- Sex
- Review and analyse current practice processes in recording and maintaining data quality with the team.
- How is clinical data currently being collected?
- What are the common barriers to capturing and managing clinical data?
- How could we overcome these barriers and improve the process?
- Outline the process for clinical data collection
- Place software recording instructions in an accessible place for any person who enters data and ensure all staff are trained on the process.
Tools and resouces
These resources are designed to assist you through the process.
- View Absolute Risk and What it Means in General Practice by Professor Rod Jackson (5:22).
- Read Healthpathways Absolute Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment (CVRA) page.
- See Absolute Cardiovascular Disease Risk Quick Reference Guide.
- Utilise the Heart Foundation’s Heart Health Check Toolkit. Brainstorm a sustainable approach with the team to recall eligible patients.