Primary Sense update

Primary Sense, the population health management tool developed by Gold Coast PHN, is now used by over 160 general practices (with compatible software) across the Gold Coast.

The decision was made to transition further development and management of Primary Sense from GCPHN to Western Australia Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) in 2021, to ensure the ongoing viability of Primary Sense and to support national interest across the PHNs. WAPHA is well-placed to lead this work as the lead agent for Primary Health Insights (the highly secure data storage and analytics platform that supports the security and privacy of population health data shared with PHNs).

An upgrade of Primary Sense has now been released, and to ensure our Gold Coast general practices are accessing the new version of Primary Sense, practices will be required to have their IT provider manually apply the update.

Updating the Primary Sense extractor typically takes IT providers 15 minutes and is done on the practice server during regular business hours or after hours without disrupting the practice’s workflow. The desktop application of Primary Sense (Installed on computers in the practice) will also be required to be updated.

Starting from June 30 2023, GCPHN will no longer provide support for the current version of Primary Sense, and it will be shut down. GCPHN Primary Sense team will support Gold Coast general practices to complete the required upgrade to the latest version of Primary Sense before 30 June 2023. GCPHN staff will continue to provide dedicated helpdesk support and training for Gold Coast general practices using Primary Sense and throughout the update process.

Benefits for practices updating

• Continue to align with best practice data privacy and security.
• Primary Sense is hosted in Primary Health Insights and all data extracted from Primary Sense is privacy protected and securely stored and managed in Australia.
• Access to new and updated Primary Sense reports
• Ensure the version being used is supported beyond 30 June 2023.

Next steps for practices

• An email will be sent from practicesupport@gcphn.com.au with an updated Practice Agreement. Please review/sign and return via email to practicesupport@gcphn.com.au.
• Once the signed Practice Agreement has been returned, your practice Primary Contact and IT provider will receive an email from primarysense@phinsights.org.au which will contain:
  • Client ID and Secret required for Primary Sense Install
  • Link to download Primary Sense extractor
  • Link to install instructions
• Please note, if your practice uses Best Practice clinical software, the October 2022 Drug update or later needs to be downloaded and applied prior to updating Primary Sense.
• Your practice IT provider will be required to manually update Primary Sense extractor from the above email (Completed on practice server) and update Primary Sense desktop applications (Installed on computers in the practice).

Please note

• After the updated Primary Sense extractor is installed by your IT provider, your practice will initiate a ‘first run’ data extraction from the clinical database in Primary Sense. During this time, the Primary Sense desktop application functions such as medication alerts, reports and prompts will not be available. This ‘first run’ will not impact any other systems at your practice. GCPHN will notify your practice when the ‘first run’ data extraction is completed.
• We recognise that this may affect your use of Primary Sense, and we aim to provide you with adequate notice and support to minimise any disruptions to your access. We recommend planning to complete any critical tasks that require Primary Sense desktop application before the downtime begins.

Please direct any questions regarding the update to the Primary Sense team phone: (07) 5612 5476 or email: primarysense@gcphn.com.au