Driving health care efficiencies and patient care outcomes by improving communication in acute to primary transitions of care. Communication problems are a major contributor to poor outcomes for patients transferring from acute to primary care, accounting for 41 per cent of preventable hospital readmissions. This project aims to identify risk factors for readmission and barriers to successful transitions of care for high-risk patient groups (including the elderly, paediatric and mental health pa ....Driving health care efficiencies and patient care outcomes by improving communication in acute to primary transitions of care. Communication problems are a major contributor to poor outcomes for patients transferring from acute to primary care, accounting for 41 per cent of preventable hospital readmissions. This project aims to identify risk factors for readmission and barriers to successful transitions of care for high-risk patient groups (including the elderly, paediatric and mental health patients), it will then apply these findings to provide effective, measurable and cost-efficient protocols to improve discharge transition outcomes for patients, carers and health service providers. Research outcomes will have general relevance to Australian healthcare settings and include the development of ‘The Safe Transition Communications Tool.’Read moreRead less
Increasing the rural medical workforce: investigating personal traits to enhance our understanding and improve training of rural registrars. This project will research new methodologies for increasing the number of rural doctors in Australia. A better understanding of those individuals best suited for rural practice will provide value for money to the Government by making the most efficient use of initiatives to increase recruitment and retention of the rural workforce.