The Australian healthcare sector is experiencing some of the most radical changes of any industry as an ageing population, advances in technology and shifting consumer demand shape the future of patient care.

While such change can be daunting, general practitioner and owner of Strive Health, Ron Malpas, firmly believes it presents an opportunity for healthy growth.

Ron recently re-launched Strive Health, a fast-growing regional practice that brings together general practice, physiotherapy and allied health providers in one facility.

Team environment

Since its re-launch in July 2017 Strive Health has experienced a surge in new patients and a positive reception from the local community. Pivotal to this success is Ron’s vision to break with the tradition of cold, sterile practices and instead, design a facility where patients could feel comfortable and staff could do their best work.

“I wanted to create a team environment with good clinical workflows within a visually appealing building that has great human spaces for patients and staff,” Ron says. “We saw value in getting input from nurses, physios and administration staff, who play a critical role in delivering all aspects of quality care.”

Patient care

Ron also looked to technology to streamline the booking of appointments, manage workflows and ultimately free up staff to focus on patient care.

“We developed an app to make bookings and are planning to provide access to patient’s MyHealth Records [1] and monitoring of medications, automatic check-in on arrival and mobile payment solutions. We also use Best Practice, the Rolls-Royce of software, to manage patient care and practice efficiencies,” says Ron.

[1] The My Health Record is an electronic health summary established by the Australian Government. See My Health Record [RML1] for more information.