practice visits

Practice Visits Project

Overview

Following the successful pilot in 2005/06 the College obtained funding to run the Practice Visits Project in 2009 at rural sites thoughout Australia.

Practice Visits provide collegial peer review of specialists within their work environment. This type of review consists of a preliminary surgical audit, patient satisfaction questionnaire, practice profile survey, observation of major and minor surgery, a peer visit with two outside O&G’s, interviews with colleagues, and record review.

Practice visits aim to identify the strengths and assess relative risks within a practice which if modified may lead to improved patient satisfaction and outcomes as well as a reduction in medico legal issues for the Fellow concerned. The project provides an excellent opportunity for rural and regional fellows to gain collegiate support and feedback from colleagues who understand the context and challenges of working in regional practice.

An overview and summary of recommendations is made at the end of the practice visit, which is formalised through a letter sanctioned by the committee. Dr Philip Hall was the Project Champion leading the Practice Visit Project in 2009.

The 2009 Project

The project has now come to an end with all site visits now completed and funding concluding on 31 December, 2009. In total, 22 Fellows were involved in the project either by acting as a Visitor, receiving a visit or both.

There were 12 Fellows who received a visit at 6 sites, however due to logistics, two of these sites were visited twice (8 visits in total).

Feedback from Fellows involved (both visited and visitors) was uniformly positive.

Who was Involved?

Collaborators

The project is managed by The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG).

A Steering Group was set up to oversee the project, chaired by Dr Philip Hall and involving Dr Diane Mohen (Provincial Fellow, WA), Associate Professor Glyn Teale (Provincial Fellow, VIC), Dr Mark Insull (NZ Practice Visits), Mrs Valerie Jenkins (RANZCOG), Ms Holly Coppen (RANZCOG) and Ms Kristy Jansz (RANZCOG).

What was Involved in the Process?

What was involved

Before the visit took place each Fellow was required to complete:

• a memorandum of understanding in relation to the visit
• a practice profile questionnaire
• part one of the RANZCOG patient satisfaction questionnaire
• a surgical audit (logbook) of the last three months' worth of procedures
• a self assessment survey

During the visit each Fellow:

• was interviewed by two Fellows
• was observed carrying out one major and one minor procedure in theatre
• received feedback about the visit and be given initial findings

The reviewers also interviewed a number of key people who work closely with the visited obstetrician and gynaecologist, about the context of care provided in the organisation and systems issues.

After the visit:

• the results of the visit were discussed confidentially by the Practice Visits Working Party
• the visited Fellow was provided with a report outlining positive aspects of his/her practice and areas of vulnerability with suggestions on practice improvement

Training and Development Event

31 July 2009

A training event was held at RANZCOG College House in Melbourne on Friday 31 July 2009 for individuals participating in the Practice Visits Project as practice visitors.

This event was designed to train and develop a group of obstetricians and gynaecologists to improve and hone their skills as practice visitors, including looking at different aspects of practice as well as interviewing multidisciplinary teams and understanding what to look for on a practice visit.

The event was attended by 12 obstetrician / gynaecologists with Dr Mark Insull and Dr John Tait on hand to share their experience of the Practice Visits Project in New Zealand.

Practice Visits Working Party Meetings

On completion of each site visit, a practice visits Working Party meeting was held. This meeting involved the practice visitors who had participated in recent visits. The purpose of the meetings was to discuss the practice visits that had taken place and the associated reports to visited Fellows, as well as issues and challenges encountered during the visit. Feedback about the process and documentation was also discussed.

The Working Party then endorsed the reports from the Visitors allowing a more transparent process.

Participating in the Project

The Benefits of Participation

As a visited Fellow:

• gained valuable feedback on how their practice is progressing
• identified areas of vunerability in order to reduce risk
• received a confidential report on their performance
• compared their practice and outcomes with that of their colleagues
• earned CPD points in PR&CRM

As a practice visitor:

• saw how other practices operate
• gained training and development in how to conduct peer review
• earned CPD points in PR&CRM

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Points

Earning CPD points

Those Fellows who participated in the project are eligible to claim CPD points.

Download PR&CRM points information flyer -Fellows Audited ( 337KB )
Download PR&CRM points information flyer - Audit Facilitators( 498KB )

Qualified Privilege

Safeguarding information and practitioners

This project is covered under the Commonwealth Qualified Privilege Scheme. This encourages health professionals to undertake efficient quality assurance activities in connection with the provision of certain health services. The Scheme has been designed to provide important safeguards by protecting certain information from disclosure and protecting persons involved in the activity from civil liability.

The Commonwealth Qualified Privilege Scheme under Part VC of the Health Insurance Act 1973 is designed to remove these fears and encourage health care professionals to participate in quality assurance activities by providing:

• for the confidentiality of most information that identifies individuals and which becomes known as a result of declared quality assurance activities
• protection from civil proceedings (apart from those relating to the rules of procedural fairness) for members of committees that assess or evaluate the quality of health services provided by others.

New Zealand Experience

A successful program in NZ

Practice visits have been running successfully in New Zealand for some years.

Read more ( 164KB) about the New Zealand experience from the September 2003 issue of O&G.

For Further Information

For further information please contact:

Valerie Jenkins

Manager Fellowship Services

© RANZCOG