A boost for community-based treatment

The Better, Sooner, More Convenient approach has produced a lot of innovations and it's also given a new lease of life to some existing systems.

One of these, known as Primary Options for Acute Care (POAC), seeks to reduce hospital admissions by allowing a wider range of treatments to be given in the community. In Auckland, the number of people receiving POAC care jumped to 15,000 last year, up 50 percent on the previous 12 months.

'If a condition can be safely managed in the community, then it makes sense to do that,' says Dr Mark Morunga, head clinician at East Care Accident & Medical Clinic in Howick. 'Of the patients we used this approach with last year 87 percent were successfully treated in the community.'

Across Auckland 91 percent of patients who were surveyed said they preferred the POAC approach over being admitted to hospital. 'The system allows us to treat patients who may have conditions like asthma, pneumonia, gastroenteritis-dehydration and cellulitis.

'The patient only pays for the initial GP consultation. Anything we organise for them after that - like ultrasounds to rule out deep vein thrombosis, chest x-rays to check for pneumonia, or lab tests - is at no charge to the patient.' Dr Morunga says the new direction in health policy has raised awareness of POAC and has increased support for this approach from hospital clinicians.

Read more case studies in Better, Sooner, More Convenient Health Care in the Community (PDF, 912KB)