Eastern Palliative Care (EPC) has provided specialist palliative care to Melbourne’s eastern suburbs for more than 25 years. Traditionally, all care was provided in clients’ homes (including residential aged care facilities) but increasing demands, capped block funding and changing community needs including higher complexity and acuity, meant EPC needed to transform into a modern organisation with multiple modes of care delivery.
EPC had one model of care for all clients, despite different needs, settings and disease trajectories. There was no shared language between the different disciplines, limiting interprofessional teamwork. Clinicians and consumers had limited engagement in improvement work and planning. The use of technology was minimal, with clinicians writing paper notes before transcribing into the electronic medical record in the office and all meetings held in person. Care delivery varied across geographic teams with little standardisation.
Value based health care (VBHC) was used as a framework to modernise all aspects of the organisation. In 2023, a taskforce was convened, including executives, clinicians and consumers, VBHC principles defined, and a framework developed. This framework ensures all aspects of the business are considered in any change activity, reducing traditional silos, and that consumers and clinicians were engaged wherever possible.
The Taskforce guided the development of the 2024-27 Strategic Plan and associated implementation plan and projects. EPC is on a transformative journey encompassing all aspects of clinical and corporate services.
