Commissioning priorities and projects
NQPHN does not provide health services, but rather commissions them and supports service providers to work in a coordinated and connected way that makes it easier for consumers to navigate the service system.
Health care commissioning is defined as the process of 'planning and purchasing health services to meet the health needs of a local population'. It is a continual cycle that involves planning, designing, procuring, monitoring, and evaluating health services to make sure they are improving the health of communities.
NQPHN’s approach to commissioning involves an ongoing collaborative relationship with service providers, clinicians, consumers, and other stakeholders so that services are designed and delivered to meet community needs as identified in NQPHN’s Health Needs Assessment. NQPHN’s Commissioning Framework outlines this approach. NQPHN's commissioning cycle is presented in the diagram below.
All commissioning activity aligns with NQPHN's Strategic Plan.
NQPHN Commissioning Cycle
The Framework includes NQPHN’s commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of First Nations communities and identifies the importance of First Nations involvement in all parts of the commissioning cycle. + This Commissioning Framework outlines Northern Queensland Primary Health Network’s (NQPHN) approach to commissioning.
It communicates our commitment to codesign with our partners and provides a set of principles for making decisions. It also guides consistent and best practice commissioning across the organisation.
Consultation for the development of the Framework was undertaken in early 2022 through a range of approaches, including focus groups and surveys. Stakeholders who participated were member organisations, primary care providers, commissioned service providers, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs), and peak bodies.
Click on the links below to read more about:
Our objective aims to help people to receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time in an integrated and digitally enabled health system.
We work with partners to jointly plan, co-commission and deliver innovative models of service delivery to address key health priority areas.
It involves integrating and streamlining information, resources and processes to ensure efficient and effective healthcare delivery.
Our key focus areas include data integration, care coordination, resource optimisation, quality and safety, patient engagement, and population health management.
A selection of our System Integration projects are highlighted below.
What is HealthPathways?
HealthPathways is a web-based, location specific information portal designed by clinicians to help you navigate your patient through the primary, tertiary, and community healthcare systems. Each pathway is evidence-based and helps you identify a streamlined care plan and referral process, whilst reserving clinical autonomy and patient preference.
HealthPathways aims to:
- encourage collaboration
- improve the health experience
- identify appropriate referral pathways
- ensure correct pre-referral tests are completed
- reduce the time patients spend on waiting lists
- enhance the quality of referrals to minimise rejection
- enhance clinical knowledge and promote best practice
- ensure the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
Visit your region’s HealthPathways:
- HealthPathways Far North Queensland For further enquiries email FNQhealthpathways@health.qld.gov.au
- HealthPathways Townsville For further enquiries email healthpathwaysTSV@health.qld.gov.au
- HealthPathways Mackay For further enquiries email MackayHealthPathways@health.qld.gov.au
CQI is an activity undertaken with the purpose of reviewing, monitoring, evaluating, and improving the quality of services, processes, or experiences delivered at your practice.
NQPHN is dedicated to assisting providers in engaging in quality improvement activities. The toolkit provides the information required to successfully carry out quality improvement by guiding you through a process of:
- ensuring quality data
- identifying areas for improvement
- planning QI activities
- implementing QI activities
- evaluating QI activities.
Undertaking QI allows your practice to deliver improved care and health outcomes to people in your community, as well as improving staff wellbeing and increasing the sustainability of your business by reducing costs or finding new revenue streams.
Find out more here.
Overall, our Primary Care Engagement, Workforce Development, Disaster and Preparedness, and Integration and Partnership teams are dedicated to supporting primary care providers in delivering high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care by:
- delivering capacity and capability-building activities to ensure change and reform readiness, and the adoption of reform policy in primary care
- aligning digital health, data analytics, and system intelligence to work closely with GPs, primary care professionals, and the broader health service sector
- driving the facilitation, integration, and innovation in primary healthcare delivery models using evidence-based and person-centred approaches, with our team committed to working with our strategic partners to broker innovative, place-based models of care to keep people well and out of hospital
- assist primary care providers to maintain highly effective and sustainable practices
- equipping the primary care workforce to effectively address the demands in preparing for and responding to disasters such as floods, cyclones, COVID-19, or any other business interruption.
A selection of our GP and other Primary Care Professionals commissioning priorities are highlighted below:
Commissioning priorities for 2024 are:
- Rural Integrated Team Care
- Primary Care Build Back Better GP and AMS program
- CQI - Chronic Care
Commissioning priorities for 2023 were:
- Primary Care Build Back Better GP and AMS program
- Digital and technology grants program
- Child and maternal workforce development uplift
- Strengthening Medicare - GP grants program
Find out more about workforce development here.
As part of this initiative, NQPHN and Health Workforce Queensland have launched an innovative First Nations workforce development program with a particular focus on upskilling and growing the First Nations health workforce, in alignment with the First 1,000 days framework.
Our partnership has resulted in a comprehensive workforce training and education uplift program, focused on maternal and child health workforce development, which is aligned with our key priorities. We worked closely with subject matter experts to design and develop this program, with the aim of uplifting the skills and development of the entire maternal and child health workforce in the region.
Population Health
NQPHN has developed a five-year Chronic Conditions Strategy (the Strategy) to support the commissioning of services that improve primary care prevention, early intervention, and management of chronic conditions. In addition to informing commissioning priorities, the Strategy will support system integration and innovation, workforce development, and primary care engagement for more effective chronic condition primary care service delivery.
The Strategy prioritises population groups with the greatest need for services, and chronic conditions that cause the highest burden for communities. Priority populations include First Nations peoples, those living in rural and remote localities, older persons, and those who experience socioeconomic disadvantage.
The NQPHN Primary Care Commissioning Panel (PCCP) will undertake co-design sessions around the Strategy. If you would like to be involved in the PCCP, please click here.
By addressing the needs of North Queensland communities, and focusing on prevention and early intervention activities, there will be fewer preventable hospitalisations in the NQPHN region for people with chronic and vaccine preventable diseases.
Combined, these activities will contribute to improved health outcomes for all population groups in the NQPHN region.
A selection of our Population Health projects are highlighted below:
- Medicare Urgent Care Clinic
- Covid-19
- Chronic Conditions
If you are a contracted service provider, NQPHN makes the following commitments to you:
- work with you openly and honestly in a spirit of partnership
- develop an understanding of providers and the contributions they make to delivering the outcomes
- share population health and performance data with you
- consider investing in capacity building and sector development
- engage with you or your peak body, to design outcome-focused solutions
- seek your feedback and input when evaluating services.
In working with NQPHN, we would appreciate the following from our contracted service providers:
- You are required to acknowledge NQPHN’s support in key written documents and at certain events. We have a logo use and branding guidelines document to help.
- Sharing good news stories is a great way of communicating with NQPHN and our funders the impacts your services are having in our communities. Please share good news stories with your NQPHN contract manager who will involve the NQPHN Communications and Marketing Team to develop a story, or submit a story idea here.
NQPHN has adopted the Quintuple Aim Framework to guide evaluation and monitoring at an outcomes level, considering the range of stakeholders involved in delivering services. NQPHN has committed to a strong focus on outcomes, whereby all five domains of the Quintuple Aim are used to develop, monitor, review, and evaluate service provision. The domains are:
- improve patient outcomes
- improved population health outcomes
- improved health equity
- improved provider experience
- value for money.
Receptionist
Community Registered Nurse
Expression of interest: NQPHN Clinical Governance Committee External Member