MedicineInsight

MedicineInsight is a quality improvement program developed and managed by NPS MedicineWise with funding from the Australian Government Department of Health to support quality improvement in Australian primary care and the post-market surveillance of medicines. MedicineInsight allows GPs to reflect on their own patterns of prescribing and patient care and compare these with other GPs in their practice. These may be benchmarked at local, regional and national levels. Participating practices are offered customised quality improvement recommendations that support alignment with best practice and identify key areas for improvement which benefit patients.

Insights from primary care are drawn from the patient records drawn from all participating general practices. These insights do not rely on individuals being identified, but once the data are combined, they can be used by policy makers, researchers, health systems and health professionals. By identifying evidence gaps in primary health care, MedicineInsight aims to improve clinical practice.

MedicineInsight gives general practices the confidence to share information in the best interests of patients. Sharing information for public health research purposes leads to significant benefits to the Australian community. For example, research using MedicineInsight data has provided valuable evidence on the impact of the Australian bushfires, the COVID-19 pandemic, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and many other important health issues that affect Australians.

All practices participating in MedicineInsight must display the patient poster in their waiting room and provide patients with an information sheet if they request more information.

Information on MedicineInsight has been translated into 12 languages. Download the translated patient information sheets.

Practices must also share the health professional information sheet with their staff, as it contains important information about privacy. GPs who would like the MedicineInsight practice clinical activity reports to identify them by name can complete the consent form at the end of the information sheet.

All approved projects including research outputs from the use of MedicineInsight data can be found at the link below. Project information is updated on a regular basis, and approval of MedicineInsight data access applications takes a rigorous approach to assessment.

Approved projects and research outputs

For the past three years, the General Practice Insights Reports (commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Health) have provided an overview of the care provided in general practice.

This year’s report looks at the deidentified data of around 2.9 million patients, to explore who they are, why they visit their GPs, and aspects of the clinical management they receive. As in previous years, it shows that chronic illnesses are commonly managed by GPs.

This year, for the first time, the report provides information on the patient prevalence of certain childhood illnesses, dementia and serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

We hope that these documents provide patients, GPs, policy makers and researchers with an accurate picture of the enormous amount of work undertaken in primary care.

Accessibility: these reports are currently not 'AA' accessible. If you need help to access the report, please contact us on: +61 2 8217 8700.

NPS MedicineWise takes its role as Data Custodian seriously. We collect, use and store MedicineInsight information strictly in line with Australian privacy laws, 

Find out more about MedicineInsight privacy, security and governance.

For more information about MedicineInsight, please contact us:

• Call 1300 721 726
  
• Email medicineinsight@nps.org.au