Welcome to Practice Connect, a fortnightly update for practice managers, principals, nurses and administration staff on relevant issues, upcoming events and education.
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WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) has a range of publications for different audiences providing up to date information.
- Practice Connect – for practice managers, principals, nurses and administration
- GP Connect – keeping GPs informed in the changing primary health landscape
- Aged Care Connect – up to date across WAPHAs Aged Care Program initiatives and latest aged care news.
- Primary Health Connect – information on all things primary health care in Western Australia.
- Tender Notifications – receive notifications of upcoming tender opportunities.
Edition 241
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- New GP-NRA MBS items must be bulk billed from 1 March 2026
- MyMedicare Minute from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
- Supporting culturally responsive care in general practice
- eNRMC medication management systems update for general practices servicing aged care homes
- WA Government launches Access Health WA campaign and website
- Empowering communities with increased confidence and knowledge around end-of-life planning
- National Advance Care Planning (ACP) Week 16-22 March 2026
- Quality improvement activity – Enhancing cultural safety in advance care planning (ACP)
- EOI for HESA accredited Immunisation Course – ’Understanding Vaccines and the National Immunisation Program’
- Infanrix Hexa expiry dates
- Ask a Respiratory Physician about the NLCSP
- Winter is coming! Protecting your patients through immunisation
- WA Health Influenza Update: Revised date
- Education and events
Edition 240
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- MyMedicare quick reference guide
- MyMedicare Minute from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
- Australian Warning System: What general practices need to know this cyclone season
- Coordinated action needed to achieve Closing the Gap targets in WA
- Care finders improving access to aged care
- Nurse Re-entry Program – Looking to add a practice nurse to your team?
- Online Orientation Sessions for new GPs in rural WA
- Making Healthcare Accessible for Multicultural Communities
- Supporting Refugee Health in General Practice
- Free multilingual telephone hotline for people affected by overseas conflicts
- Winter Strategy plan for immunisation
- Cold Chain Audits for 2026
- NEW Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine fridge labels
- Declining adolescent immunisation rates
- Cervical Screening Test (CST): Understanding Updated Screening Intervals
- Ask a Respiratory Physician about the NLCSP
- WA Health Influenza Update
- Juvenile Arthritis Week (JAW) is 16 to 22 March 2026
- Education and events
Edition 239
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- BBPIP Payments for Quarter 1 – 1 November 2025 to 31 January 2026
- MBS changes for 1 March 2026
- Resources and training to support caring for people with Autism
- Help DVA clients connect with health care services through the National Health Services Directory
- DVA updated fees for compensation claim medical assessments and reports
- Final call for entries: $3,500 prize pool up for grabs as Live and Work Rural Competition Closes 1 March 2026
- Event Summaries in My Health Record – More Than Meeting ePIP Requirements
- Quality improvement webinars
- Provider online digital access (PRODA) and Health Professional Online Services (HPOS)
- Provider Connect Australia™ is transforming business information management and service provider connectivity
- What are Childhood Asthma Action Plans and why are they so important?
- Notification of additional measles cases in Metropolitan Perth
- Australian Immunisation Handbook Chapters Updated
- Tools and tips for tackling vaccine misinformation in your practice
- New quality improvement activity: Identify eligible patients for the National Lung Cancer Screening Program
- Save the date: World Kidney Day 12 March 2026
- Education and events
Edition 238
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- New public campaign launched: Bulk Billing for all Australians
- Organisational change guidance update
- Practice Assist news and updates
- Referrals to WACHS Midwest Specialist Outpatient Services transitioning to CRS
- Maintain benzathine benzylpenicillin stock in your doctors bag
- Royal Perth Bentley Group – new HealthLink address for direct-to-site (non-CRS) referrals
- Royal Perth Hospital Breast Clinic referral update
- My Health app has now transitioned to 1800MEDICARE app
- NASH certificate renewals to maintain access to digital services
- My Health Record – Better Faster Access
- Healthcare Providers – Accessing My Health Record via the National Provider Portal
- Starting School – Immunisations
- Measles advice from the Chief Medical Officer
- WA Immunisation Schedule and WA Aboriginal Immunisation Schedule updated
- 2026 Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Immunisation Program information session
- Invitation to participate: Immunisation resource survey
- Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
- Education and events
Edition 237
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- MyMedicare maintenance for the New Year
- Tips on managing the General Practice in Aged Care Incentive
- 1800 Medicare health information and advice
- Medicare Mental Health – 1800 595 212
- Practice Assist news and updates
- Don’t miss out on funding opportunities for your practice!
- Preparing for the wet season and flooding
- Immediate (urgent) referrals to Sir Charles Gairdner and Osborne Park Hospitals (SCGOPHCG)
- IBD in practice: A survey on knowledge and management in primary care
- Cold chain breaches
- Counterfeit rabies vaccine in India
- Increased influenza activity and guidance for the holiday season
- National Cancer Screening Register integration
- Education & Events
Edition 236
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- Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program
- Practice Assist news and updates
- Practice Assist Digital Health Tool Kit and webpage updated
- Advance Care Planning (ACP) Tool Kit now on Practice Assist
- Start the new year safe and aware
- New trauma-informed care resource for general practice teams
- Decommission of the NPS MedicineWise and Doctor’s Bag mobile applications
- Maintain benzathine benzylpenicillin stock in your Doctors Bag
- More measles cases detected
- New ATAGI statement on the importance and safety of Hepatitis B vaccine at birth
- Immunisation requirements for childcare services, kindergarten and schools
- The AIR “Planned catch-up for overdue vaccines” tick box
- ABRYSVO – Shelf life extension
- Immunisation Coalition webinars
- National lung screening campaign
- Bowel cancer screening education
- WACCPP – Out and about in WA
- Help improve team-based primary health care
- Registered Nurse Prescribing Endorsement – Consultation Opportunity
- Education & Events
Edition 235
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- New eligibility assessments for the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program
- Summary of the 2025 Medicare changes
- Happy Holidays from the Practice Assist Team
- 2026 Practice Assist Year Planner
- Booragoon Medicare UCC launching in 2026
- Clinic using grant to support those experiencing or at risk of homelessness
- National Guidelines for Presentation of Electronic Discharge Summaries
- Updated sick day management principles for adults with diabetes
- Beforeplay – Sexually transmissible (STI) campaign
- WA joins the Single Employer Model trial for Rural Generalist training in 2026
- Caring for patients using alcohol and other drugs during the festive season
- Keep safe this holiday period
- Supporting women and children affected by Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence
- Consideration of dTpa vaccine rather than dT vaccine for tetanus prone wounds for increasing pertussis protection
- Updated HPV FAQs for providers and communities
- Australian health leaders reaffirm vaccine safety
- WA Immunisation Schedule changes – webinar recording now available
- Education and events
Edition 234
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- Year in Review 2024-2025: Strategic alignment, data-driven decision and collaborative partnerships
- Medicare updates from November 2025
- Cheaper cancer and chronic conditions medicines now on PBS
- Workshop on futureproofing your general practice
- View your My Practice Data Reports
- Practice Assist looking forward to 2026
- The new Aged Care Act and DVA funded care
- New quick guide about DVA funded supports for veterans with cognitive concerns
- Annual payment available to patients for incontinence products
- Support older people to record preferences for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander assessment organisations
- New resources to support children and families with attention, regulation and ADHD challenges
- New resources to support children and families with attention, regulation and ADHD challenges
- Supporting patients with changing their legal gender
- Supporting your practice to be LGBTIQA+ inclusive
- Safer Options resources for inclusive care
- Free accredited training in disaster preparedness for general practice
- Bidi Wungen Kaat – St James Transitional Care Unit Prevention and Recovery Program now open to patients state-wide
- Connected care: digital health across aged care
- Secure messaging improves referrals
- Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) policy: update to childhood pneumococcal schedule rule changes
- New and improved Immunisation Handbook app now available
- Reminder: free Japanese encephalitis vaccine available for those at risk
- Introduction of the New Aged Care Act: key messages for COVID-19 vaccination
- COVID-19 vaccines in Australia poster updated
- Immunisation education opportunities
- Webinar Recordings for NCIRS
- World Cervical Cancer Elimination Day
- National Cervical Screening Program monitoring report 2025
- WAPHA Palliative Care Champions Project – Request for Proposal (RFP) opening early December 2025
- Don’t ignore the black puppy: Why small signs of depression deserve big attention
- Education and events
Edition 233
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- Medicare updates from November 2025
- Primary Sense in practice: QI bites and clinical insights
- Prepare your practice for the effects of heat waves in your communities
- Transition of WA Diabetes Patients to Adult Services – Primary Care Survey
- Using quality improvement to boost the uptake of eScripts and Active Script Lists
- Connected care: digital health across aged care
- Paid online focus groups on My Health Record
- Get ready for Summer!
- Influenza immunisation program 2026
- Declining adolescent immunisation rates
- Pertussis surge
- Changes to Immunisation Handbook chapters
- November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
- National Cancer Screening Register
- New Learning Management System (LMS) for online immunisation modules
- Eliminating Cervical Cancer Conference 2025
- Shingles update
- Changes to the WA Immunisation Schedule Lunchtime webinar
- Education and events