1. Lower Hume Primary Care Partnership

It is now universally accepted that an effective primary health care system plays a crucial role in managing the rapidly increasing demand pressures on the acute and residential sectors of the health system, as well as improving the general well-being of individuals and communities. Furthermore there is considerable evidence that partnerships and collaborative action are very important in the planning, coordination and delivery of primary health services and facilities. The Victorian Government, Australia has adopted better primary health care as an important priority and adopted a Primary Care Partnership Strategy to develop this cooperative and collaborative approach. There are 31 Primary Care Partnerships across Victoria in which more than 800 service providers have established voluntary alliances called Primary Care Partnerships (PCPs). The Lower Hume PCP brings together four hospitals, two community health services, two local government authorities, two family care services, a mental health agency, and a range of local community service providers. Its geographic area is within the shires of Mitchell and Murrindindi, rural areas totalling 6,735 sq kms and a population of 45,000 across two municipalities. The development of efficient SDI and GIS aims to enable ready and effective access and use of the large number of health and community services data sets and technology assets of the collaborating agencies and the general community. SDI/GIS was seen as offering a strategic means of developing and strengthening the complex partnership to encourage effective collaboration on a range of important health projects, and it also presented an opportunity to derive substantial additional clinical, economic and community benefits from large under-used data sources