Primary Sense

Last updated 16 August 2024
Primary Sense

About Primary Sense

Primary Sense – a population health management, clinical decision support and data extraction tool for general practice.

Primary Sense has been developed in conjunction with general practices, universities and representatives from peak bodies. It has been tried and tested among 700 GPs in the Gold Coast PHN region. Primary Sense is:

  • easy to use 

  • can be quickly installed in practices using Medical Director or Best Practice software 

  • provides real time medication safety alerts, patient care prompts and near real time data extractions 

  • remains free for general practices that share data with Brisbane South PHN 

  • all data extracted from Primary Sense is privacy protected, securely stored and managed in Australia 

Features, training and resources

What is included in the Primary Sense software?

How Primary Sense works

The benefits of using Primary Sense

Primary Sense training and resources

Installation, technical requirements and specifications

Primary Sense Secondary Purpose

Under Schedule 1, Item 6 of the Data Sharing and Software License Agreement (Primary Sense), Brisbane South PHN may use shared data for any permitted purpose, including publishing and dissemination of aggregated data to third parties. Permitted purposes include:

  • primary uses (refer to Item 6 of Schedule 1 Particulars); and

  • secondary purposes (refer to Item 6 of Schedule 1 Particulars).

Opting out of sharing Primary Sense data for secondary purposes

To opt out of sharing Primary Sense Data shared with Brisbane South PHN for the secondary purpose use detailed below, click the link to provide your details.

Projects using shared Primary Sense data

Please find below details of current proposed secondary purposes for Shared Data as per Item 6 of the Schedule of Particulars.

Project name

VaxiMums project: Pregnancy loss <24weeks gestation and maternal vaccination

Alignment to Item 6 of the Schedule of Particulars

This study will use Primary Sense (PS) data for a research project conducted in collaboration with University of Queensland (UQ). It aligns with the primary purpose for using PS data to assist in the development of community health promotion and prevention activities, and population health planning. Data shared with UQ will be completely de-identified and will not allow for re-identification of patients or GPs. All analyses will be made at the regional level, and not at the level of individual general practices.

Project/ research rationale

Pregnant women and infants experience higher morbidity and mortality from respiratory infections compared to other groups. This risk is 3-12 times higher in First Nations populations than for non-Indigenous populations. Vaccinating in pregnancy (maternal vaccination) against infectious diseases was introduced to reduce this morbidity and mortality. In Australia, inactivated influenza vaccination (IIV) has been routinely recommended in pregnancy for decades to provide protection against influenza infections in pregnancy and early infancy. Since 2021 COVID-19 booster vaccines have been recommended in pregnancy to provide protection in pregnancy. Even though the vaccines are free, their uptake remains sub-optimal, with the safety of vaccines in pregnancy cited as a major concern by prospective parents. Safety data are encouraging for IIV and COVID-19 vaccines given after 24 weeks gestation, but there are no Australian studies examining pregnancy loss less than 24 weeks gestation (<24w) following maternal vaccination and WHO strongly advocate for these local population safety data. High performing maternal vaccination programs need to be acceptable to consumers, health care professionals and vaccine providers by demonstrating a robust safety and effectiveness profile.

Project benefits to patients and/ or general practice staff

The project aims to demonstrate that there is no increased risk of pregnancy loss <24w gestation following IIV and/or COVID-19 vaccinations in pregnancy, compared to pregnancy loss <24w gestation in unvaccinated pregnancies. Results from this study will contribute to the international safety evidence and increase the acceptability of maternal vaccination.

What is involved for GPs?

The messaging of maternal vaccine safety and effectiveness data back into the community is currently lacking. Vaccine prompts and reminders along with provision of safety and effectiveness data will increase vaccine acceptance and uptake.

What is involved for patients?

This is a data analysis only project with no active prospective patient recruitment.

Ethics approval

Yes. Queensland Health: HREC/2023/MNHA/96960; Evaluating antenatal vaccines and vaccination programs: uptake, safety, effectiveness and the future surveillance of maternal vaccinations in Australia– The VaxiMum evaluation project.

Endorsed by

The Primary Sense Clinical Advisory Group, via the National GP and Clinical Services Lead (12/2023).

Expected timeframe

September 2024 – December 2027, with data collection to take place during September 2024 – December 2024

Date to opt out by

30th August 2024

Support for Primary Sense

For further support, contact Brisbane South PHN's Primary Health team at support@bsphn.org.au or phone 07 3864 7555.