WA Health Excellence Award Finalists: Aboriginal Acute Care Coordination Program

At EMHS we are committed to supporting cultural diversity, including working collaboratively to improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal people and communities in WA to improve their healthcare journey.

Recently two EMHS projects that are committed to achieving better health outcomes for Aboriginal people were recognised as finalists in the 2019 WA Health Excellence Awards.

The Aboriginal Acute Care Coordination Program (AACCP) is available when patients are admitted to RPH, registered into the program and are discharged with an acute condition into the Perth metropolitan area or regional Western Australia. The program aims to identify gaps in the Aboriginal patient journey when clients are presenting to hospital with an acute care requirement and are required to return to a follow up outpatient appointment at RPH.

The patient journey for Aboriginal people from hospital admission with an acute condition to care in the community after discharge can be difficult to navigate. In the past this has resulted in readmission, and nonattendance at outpatient clinic follow up appointments.

The AACCP was developed to reduce preventable readmissions by focusing on care requirements after discharge. The program aims to identify gaps in acute care requirements for Aboriginal patients healthcare journey, facilitate access to primary health services relevant to patient needs and assist patients to attend their outpatient appointments to improve clinic attendance rates.

From the program’s launch in March 2018 until June 2019, there have been 3,485 recorded Occasions of Service with significant positive outcomes noted for a number of patients that needed regular support and follow up care after discharge.

Congratulations to the Aboriginal Acute Care Coordination Program team!