HealthPathways SA (HPSA) has been upgraded with a new look and feel, providing the same local clinical guidance for General Practitioners (GPs) and health professionals to support patients at the point of care, in an easy-to-read responsive mobile format.
“It can be a challenge for us as health professionals to keep up with changing guidelines, practices and referral information,” GP and CALHN GP Liaison Officer, Dr Jackie Yeoh, said.
HealthPathways is a free mobile-friendly tool with easily accessible evidence-based clinical, management and referral care information at your fingertips.
“It has clear details about the referral process and requirements, if that’s what the patient needs, and valuable information on how patients could be managed in the community,” Dr Yeoh said.
Pathways on the site are developed by a clinical team including GPs and health professionals such as medical specialists, nurses, allied health staff, pharmacists and paramedics.
CALHN Head of the Rheumatology Unit, Professor Susanna Proudman, has led and reviewed the development of a number of resources, including a pathway for osteoarthritis.
“Osteoarthritis is a disease that’s really important from a GP’s perspective because it is really common, but there aren’t necessarily suitable treatment options in a tertiary setting,” Prof Proudman said.
“HealthPathways allows us to provide some really important guidance on how to care for osteoarthritis sufferers with measures like weight loss and exercise, for which there is good evidence that they are the mainstay for therapy.
“It was quite a good experience to look at guidelines and create an easy-to-follow resource to help with the common problems GPs would frequently encounter and advise on the best referral paths.”
Engaging with specialists, as well as other health professionals across primary and acute sectors, is vital in developing the resources.
“When developing pathways, we work closely with specialists who have a good knowledge and local expertise on a particular pathway in South Australia,” Dr Chris Moy, GP Clinical Editor HealthPathways SA, said.
HealthPathways is an evolving resource with new pathways being added and existing pathways updated.
In the last month, the HealthPathways team have updated acute and non-acute adult mental health assessment, mental health respite care and carer support, acute child and youth mental health assessment and alcohol and drug treatment and support.
New pathways currently being localised to South Australian context include:
- Codeine – Chronic Use and Deprescribing
- Heart Murmurs in Children
- Tuberculosis
- Diabetes Dietary Information
- Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes & Resource Page Diabetes Dietary Information
- Ongoing Management of Type 2 Diabetes
- Diabetes Medications
- Gambling Harm
- Glycaemic Control
- Rheumatic Fever
- Failure to Thrive
- Unsettled Infant.
Consultation occurs for each clinical stream, with each pathway scheduled for review and consultation up to every three years. See upcoming pathway reviews on the HPSA website and register your interest in participating in consultations by sending an email to their project team.
HPSA is a partnership between SA Health, Local Health Networks including CALHN, Adelaide Primary Health Network and Country SA Primary Health Network.
You can access the HPSA portal or the project site for an up to date listing of recently published and updated pathways.
View the Introduction to HealthPathways South Australia video for a demonstration.
