Primary Health Branch policy and funding guidelines

Primary Health Branch policy and funding guidelines––2006–07 to 2008–09 (2008–09 update) 19
Cooperative arrangements between the education sector,
agencies and DHSV mean that undergraduate students can
undertake clinical placements in community health services.
3.10 Funding directions
Dental Health Program Funding Review
This initiative aimed to review and refine the funding
arrangements for the Dental Health Program with a view to
achieving better alignment between funding, service delivery,
policy objectives and value for money.
The review and evaluation aimed to provide
recommendations on:
• ways the current funding arrangements could be
streamlined to support service integration, workforce
strategies, demand management and oral health
promotion
• options for how three-year funding could be provided to
agencies consistent with department policy
• improving the effectiveness and efficiency of budget
allocation and payment processes and performance
measures
• aligning re-imbursement processes for services delivered
by agencies and private sector providers with department
and industry best practice
• whether overhead/operational costs are reasonable
relative to industry standards.
The review is now complete. The department is considering
the findings and will consult with the sector regarding the
development of a new model in 2008–09, for implementation
in 2009–10.
Dental Health Program service integration
The department lead a staged project to integrate the School
Dental Service and Community Dental Program into one
public dental service. A pilot of service integration at three
sites was undertaken. An action evaluation of the pilot
revealed that service integration was experienced positively.
A publication based on the evaluation findings, Integration
oral health services: a step in the right direction, has been
disseminated to all community health services and hospitals
that operate dental clinics to inform integration across all
public dental services.
Service integration will provide a more streamlined public
dental service and will allow families to access dental and
other primary health services together.
Dental Health Program Common Data
Set Project
In 2005–06, Primary Health Branch conducted a review of
data reporting requirements of DHSV for the Dental Health
Program. The review found that the reporting approach was
ad-hoc and provided a mix of high level and aggregated data
that did not always meet the needs of program
accountability and service planning.
Subsequently, a dental data set has been developed to meet
the requirements of the department and the sector. The
proposed data set has been reviewed by national
representatives and stakeholders and will be implemented in
July 2009.
New department funded activities
The department funded new activities from 2006, including
the Aboriginal Health Promotion and Chronic Care
Partnership, the Early Intervention in Chronic Disease,
Primary Care Partnerships Integrated Chronic Disease
Management and Diabetes Self-Management initiatives.
Refer to specific program guidelines in chapter 4.
Additional funding announced in the State Budget 2008–09
included:
• Expansion of the Early Intervention in Chronic Disease
program by $4.3 million per annum to allow 3,000 more
Victorians with chronic disease access to the program
across 18 municipalities.
• Expansion of the Aboriginal Health Promotion and Chronic
Care Partnership program by $0.5 million.
• Introduction of the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies
initiative with $8 million over four years to improve
antenatal and perinatal care for vulnerable mothers in
growth areas of Melbourne. Details of this program will be
made available early in 2008–09.
• Expansion of the Refugee Health Nurse program by
$0.6 million.