Primary Sense
Primary Sense – a population health management, clinical decision support and data extraction tool
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
Please contact support@bsphn.org.au for more information, support or training.
What is included in the Primary Sense software?
Primary Sense’s four components work together to provide real time reports, medical alerts or prompts. These include:
1. A data extractor tool
2. A desktop app
3. A database
4. The Johns Hopkins University ACG® System – the world’s leading population health analytics software
How Primary Sense works
Data extractor
- The tool extracts de-identified general practice data from a practice every three to five minutes.
Database
- This data is securely transferred to a central database where analytics – like The Johns Hopkins University ACG® System – run over the data regularly.
- The data is stored in a highly secure data store that is only accessible to that practice’s PHN, where PHN staff can run further analysis to support quality improvement initiatives and inform population health research or plan and commission services, like mental health care, to improve community health across the country.
- All data extracted from Primary Sense is privacy protected and securely stored and managed in Australia.
Desktop app
- The processed data is presented back to GPs, practice managers and practice nurses as reports, medical alerts or prompts, either on demand or triggered during a patient visit.
Training and resources
For learning manuals, important documents and ‘how to’ videos, click here.
What is Primary Sense, the benefits and how to make the switch.
How to use Primary Sense from a quality improvement perspective
Primary Sense and PIP QI requirements
Winter Wellness and Primary Sense
Winter Wellness — Pneumococcal Vaccination guide for Primary Sense
Health Assessments guide using Primary Sense
Benefits of Primary Sense
There are many benefits to utilising Primary Sense in general practice:
- Tired and tested – developed by GP’s for GP’s
- The right care at the right time – real time medication alerts & prompts to support clinical decisions
- On demand reports to proactively plan care that can be used by practice managers, GPs and nurses
- Access to the Johns Hopkins University ACG® System – the world’s leading population health analytics software – that identifies high risk groups and predicts future health needs to improve patient’s care plan
- Secure and reliable – Data is de-identified, privacy protected and securely stored and managed in Australia.
Installation, technical requirements and specifications
Best Practice installation instructions
Medical Director installation instructions
Before installing Primary Sense, please take note of the following information:
- The Extractor is installed once on the server only.
- The Desktop application can be installed on all workstations that have Best Practice/Medical Director running and are utilised by practice staff.
- The Desktop installation only needs to occur once per workstation (or once onto terminal server).
- The Desktop application will not be functional until first extract of the practice data is completed.
- Primary Sense Desktop Software is supported on Windows 11, 10 and 8.2 operating systems
- Primary Sense Extractor Software is supported on the following Microsoft Windows operating systems: Windows Server 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012 R2 and 2012
- Server RAM and diskspace minimum requirements are 8GB RAM and 200MB diskspace
- For Medical Director users – creation of a read only user account to access database (instructions provided at install) is required
- Google Chrome, Edge or Firefox will need to be set as default browser on all computers
Best Practice | Medical Director |
Confirm the practice has installed the October 2022 Data Update, and that “Primary Sense” access is enabled in 3rd Party Integrations | Download a SQL script to set up a read-only user account which will be used when configuring Primary Sense services. |
For Best Practice users with November 2022 data update or older – ensure your follow these instructions PRIOR to Primary Sense installation. | |
For Best Practice users – confirm, is “Primary Sense” access enabled in 3rd Party Integrations |
Contact us
For further information contact the Primary Health Team on:
Email: support@bsphn.org.au
Phone: 07 3864 7555