A big week for primary care, policy, and practice
- paresh
- Mar 28
- 3 min read
It’s been one of those weeks that reminds us why we do this work.
At Prestantia Health, we had the privilege of delivering a hands-on multidisciplinary team (MDT) training program with Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN. The focus was simple—but powerful:
How do we lead change in primary care through team-based care?
What stood out wasn’t just the content, but the commitment in the room. Teams worked through defining a shared purpose, identifying practical changes, understanding barriers, measuring what matters, and—most importantly—committing to action. The energy was grounded in real-world impact. This is how sustainable change happens: when teams think, plan, and act together.
At the Primary Health Care Conference in Canberra, the conversation shifted to system-level reform.
Across policy briefings, panels and discussions, several themes were clear:
A growing focus on team-based, integrated models of care - a model of care that Prestantia Health has been championing and discussing with policy makers and PHNs across the country, and working with progressive and innovative networks to build capacity and capability.
Recognition that primary care reform requires stronger alignment between policy intent and frontline reality
Increasing attention to equity, particularly in rural, remote and underserved populations
The critical role of data, digital infrastructure and AI governance in shaping the future system
The need to strengthen PHN roles, commissioning capability and local system leadership
These themes strongly align with the work we’ve been advancing through our insight series, including:
We’re proud to be contributing to this national conversation—not just as observers, but as active thought partners.
We also attended the Heidi Unlocked Conference, where the evolution of digital tools in general practice was on display.
New capabilities such as Heidi Evidence and Heidi Remote point to a future where clinical intelligence, documentation and decision support are more seamlessly integrated. While we’ve been working with similar tools across independent ecosystems, seeing these capabilities come together is encouraging.
And yet, we’re still some way from our vision of the electronic health record reimagined—one that truly supports connection, clinical reasoning, and team-based care, rather than fragmenting it.
Closer to home, it was a significant moment as Paresh Dawda, our Principal and Founder, attended the announcement of three new bulk billing clinics in Canberra.
We are proud that our sister organisation, Next Practice Deakin, will be operating one of these clinics.
This represents more than just service expansion—it’s an opportunity to put into practice what we’ve long explored conceptually.
Paresh described it using an airline metaphor:
There will always be a place for full-service carriers, offering different classes based on perceived value. There is also a strong and important role for low-cost carriers. The common ground? Neither compromises on safety.
In the same way, a system that includes both private/mixed billing and bulk billing models allows us to better respond to diverse patient needs.
Operating across both models across the two clinics strengthens our ability to deliver on one of our core values: equity.
Bulk billing is one important enabler—but equity goes further. It’s about designing systems that deliver:
Better health outcomes
Better patient experiences
Better workforce experiences
Lower overall system cost
In other words, progressing towards the quintuple aim.
What ties all of this together is our “living laboratory” approach.
Through our close partnership with Next Practice Deakin, we are able to rapidly test, iterate and refine new models of care—translating policy, theory and innovation into operational reality. That learning then feeds back into thought leadership, system design and broader reform conversations.
Weeks like this reinforce a simple truth:
Real transformation in healthcare happens at the intersection of practice, policy, people and purpose. We’re excited to keep building in all four.
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