COORDINATION OF HEALTH CARE


The coordination of a person's health care is an important factor in ensuring the best possible health outcomes. This is particularly true for those people who have seen several health professionals for the same health condition. Ensuring the correct information is passed between health professionals will serve to minimise errors and limit the possibility for symptoms to be overlooked. The coordination of health care enables a person to access the full range of services they need to treat their health condition.

In 2013–14, one in six people aged 15 years and over (16.1%) saw three or more health professionals for the same condition. Females were more likely than males to have seen three or more health professionals for the same condition (18.2% compared with 14.0%). (Table 21.2)

The proportion of people who saw three or more health professionals for the same condition generally increased with age. Almost one in four people (22.9%) aged 65 years and over had seen three or more health professionals for the same condition, compared with one in seven (14.7%) people aged 15–64 years. Those with a long term health condition were more likely to have seen three or more health professionals for the same condition than those without a long term health condition (26.0% compared with 6.9%). (Tables 21.1 and 22.2)

Of those who saw three or more health professionals for the same condition, 69.3% reported that a health professional helped coordinate their care. Of this group, the health professional most likely to coordinate the care was a GP (57.7%), followed by a medical specialist (25.8%) and then a nurse (6.2%). The coordination of care helped to a large extent for 70.1% of people, while a further 25.4% reported that it helped to some extent. (Table 22.2).

Among those who saw three or more health professionals for the same condition, 14.3% reported that there were issues caused by a lack of communication between the health professionals. Those with a long term health condition were more likely than those without a long term health condition to report that there were issues caused by a lack of communication between health professionals (15.2% compared with 10.5%). (Tables 21.2 and 22.2).

Those living in outer regional, remote or very remote areas of Australia were more likely to report that there were issues caused by a lack of communication between health professionals compared with those living in major cities of Australia (18.6% compared with 13.2%). (Table 22.2)