Program

The 2012 Organising Committee have developed an outstanding program featuring industry recognised experts speaking on topics based around the Conference theme of "Allied Health: Strengthening Health Outcomes."

Please click here to view the Preliminary National Allied Health Conference 2012 Program.

Program Outline

Invited keynote address: Dr. Robert Fitzgerald AM

Community Wellbeing driving Human Services Reforms: The policy and practice challenges for consumers, workers, providers and community.

Australia is experiencing profound changes in human services including health, aged care and disability support. The new emphasis on well-being and wellness underpins much of those reforms giving consumers greater choice and control and creating more responsive services. But such reforms pose challenges to all stake holders and have many impacts, some perhaps unintended. What are the policy and service implications? How will they affect allied health workers, consumers, carers and the community? What are the implications for NGOs and other providers? This presentation will seek to provide an insight into the current context within which reforms are being pursued and some exciting implications for allied health care professionals, and the systems they work within.

Invited speakers and panel discussions: Health reform

There has been a number significant health reform initiatives over the past four years, including the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, the establishment of Medicare Locals and the soon to be released Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records. Invited presenters from the Department of Health and Ageing, Consumer Health Forum and Allied Health Professions Australia will provide an overview of the reforms to date and discuss their implications for allied health practitioners. This will be a valuable forum for all those interested in knowing how macro level Government policies affect the work of practitioners at a community and individual level, and what actions individuals can take to be part of the cutting edge of change and health reform.

Workshop outlines - Monday 2 April 2012

A1: How to work with Medicare Locals?

Medicare Locals are new entities established by the Australian Government to coordinate primary health care services and to improve health outcomes for local communities. They build on the existing networks of Divisions of General Practice, but will also include participation from other key stakeholders such as local community health centres, hospitals and private allied health practitioners. This workshop will provide an overview of Medicare Locals, their role in the health reform agenda, and to provide some insights to assist allied health professionals develop a better understanding of the objectives of Medicare Locals. Practical suggestions will be discussed on how allied health professionals can participate and play critical roles in the effective functioning of Medicare Locals, and steps they can take to engage with and become involved in these new organisations.

B1: Supervision and managing staff for optimal performance

Supervision and staff management are vital to job satisfaction, performance and career progression of allied health professionals. This workshop will examine various facets of supervision and management, including:

Self appraisal and peer review;
Workforce development;
Group supervision; and
Evaluation and continuous improvement.

This workshop is aimed at practitioners with supervision and management responsibilities, and those wishing to improve and enhance their skills.

C1: Getting started with Medicare

This workshop will focus on the Department of Human Services—Medicare eHealth initiatives designed to support practices and providers including:

electronic claiming channels and Heath Professional Online Services (HPOS)
online education resources
Healthcare Identifiers and Provider numbers, and
Compliance requirements.

The workshop is aimed at providers new to the Medicare system as well as users of the Medicare system wishing to improve or streamline their interactions with Medicare.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) is responsible for the development of service delivery policy, and provides access to social, health and other payments and services. On 1 July 2011, legislative amendments integrated Medicare Australia into DHS.

A progressive and rapid move to online servicing was made by Medicare Australia, and is continuing under DHS. Experience is showing that choosing a Medicare electronic claiming channel can make a big impact on a practice’s productivity, cash flow and patient service. The variety of claiming channels we offer recognises business practices across the health sector vary significantly. Our approach is to offer flexible services that meet the needs of the users.

Medicare electronic patient claiming—transmitted through either Medicare Online or Medicare Easyclaim—offers practices better cash flow, less paperwork and a higher level of service for their patients.

DHS also offers Health Professional Online Services (HPOS) on its website. HPOS provides quick and easy real-time access to online services for health professionals through a single entry point. This includes services for Medicare, Pharmaceutical Benefits, Practice Incentives Program and a range of other health programs. It also includes the recently introduced Practice Nurse Incentive Program, which provides incentive payments to practices to support an expanded and enhanced role for nurses working in general practice.

DHS is committed to contributing to the national eHealth initiatives. Among many initiatives, it includes operating the Healthcare Identifiers Service (a national capability to accurately and uniquely identify individuals, healthcare providers, and healthcare organisations using a 16-digit healthcare identifier) and implementing incentives to encourage health professionals to incorporate telehealth services into their practices. For more information go to www.medicare.gov.au

D1: A Systematic Approach to Patient Adherence, Rehabilitation and Self-management Support in Clinical Practice: The HCA model

This mini-workshop presents a clinical practice framework for integrating client-centred communication and behaviour change principles and processes into clinical practice and programs. It provides practitioners with a time-efficient health behaviour change clinical pathway to complement usual clinical pathways for prevention and treatment of health conditions.

Caroline Bills has worked closely with HCA to embed the principles and processes of the model into her own clinical practice. She is able to draw on colleagues' case examples from dietetics, exercise physiology, diabetes education, psychology, occupational therapy and other allied health and nursing backgrounds. The workshop will include useful tips and strategies for use with patients, video footage, a group technique demonstration, and an opportunity for participants to practice some of the core skills from the model.

Invited speakers and panel discussions: e-health

The Australian Government, through the National E-Health Transition Authority (NETHA), is undertaking a series of initiatives to ensure that the right health information is provided to the right practitioner at the right time, in a secure electronic environment to ensure optimal health outcomes to consumers. This has involved extensive engagement and consultation from a range of stakeholders, including consumers, policy makers, software developers and healthcare providers. As integral members of the healthcare team across all health settings, allied health professionals must be ready and engaged with their peers, colleagues and clients in eHealth developments. This panel presentation and forum will provide delegates with the most up-to-date information on the national eHealth agenda, as well as views from the allied health perspective. Current eHealth solutions and tips for allied health will also be highlighted.

Workshop outlines - Tuesday 3 April 2012

A2: Integrating e-health into your practice

The adoption of electronic and computing components to assist the management of health information is beginning to happen in the Australian community. The important foundations of secure messaging, consumer and provider authentication are well under way in preparation of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR). This workshop will review the major aspects of e-health by utilising the model health community display provided by the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) as a demonstration of e-health in clinical practice. A five module online workshop on e-health developed specifically for allied health professionals will also be demonstrated.

B2: Prescribing rights: competencies and pitfalls

As allied health professionals expand their scopes of practice, the issue of prescribing becomes increasingly important. There are a number of advantages for advanced practitioners to be able to prescribe to clients, including enhanced health outcomes. However, there are also a number of pitfalls and considerations before one embarks on this journey. More importantly, there are a number of ethical and practical factors, both from a practitioner and a professional point of view that must be addressed. This workshop will hear from three perspectives on the issue of prescribing rights for allied health and its associated competencies and pitfalls from both individual and macro policy levels. This workshop will be suited to advanced practitioners and those in management and policy development positions wishing to pursue this for their profession.

C2: Social media and health: where to start and what to avoid

Are you in a Twitter about Facebook and don’t know how to get LinkedIn to YouTube? Do you want to engage and interact with your peers and the online public in your work? Then this interactive workshop may just help you to navigate through the highlights and potential pitfalls of social media. Presenters will show how allied health professionals can use social media to reach out to consumers and colleagues to improve their work. Come and hear about the experiences of allied health professionals and on-line journalists with tips on engagement, development, and getting the right mix of content, exposure and privacy. Attendees are welcome to Tweet during the session to the hash tag #nahc2012. New users can create an account at www.twitter.com, along with a photo and a bio so that delegates can network with each other more effectively during the workshop and throughout the conference.

D2: How to work with disadvantaged communities

Working with disadvantaged communities can be both difficult and rewarding. Allied health professionals often play critical roles as clinicians, facilitators and change agents, working with vulnerable groups to overcome their disadvantage. This can often involve working with other providers and organisations to engage with and empower local communities in order to bring about long term desired outcomes. This workshop will showcase some of the current work being undertaken to build effective partnerships between communities and providers, and to hear from health professionals working with and in various disadvantaged communities. The workshop will inspire and challenge all attendees to critically analyse and reflect on their existing and future professional practices.

Key Dates

Registration Opens
Now Open

Author Notification
Mid December 2011

Conference Opens
Sunday 1 April 2012

Address for Communications

AHPA 2012 Conference Managers
arinex pty limited
Phone: +61 2 9265 0700
Fax: +61 2 9267 5443
Email: alliedhealth@arinex.com.au