Arthritis Australia’s submission to the Standing Committee on Health Inquiry into Chronic Disease Prevention and Management in Primary Health Care identified a number of primary care based strategies which offer the greatest scope for improving care for people with arthritis. These include:
- Improve non-surgical management of osteoarthritis in primary care
- Support early diagnosis and urgent referral to specialist care for inflammatory forms of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis
- Improve access to multidisciplinary care for people with severe and complex forms of arthritis
- Provide outreach clinics and telehealth to improve access to specialist services in rural areas and support local primary health care practitioners
- Improve data collection in primary care to increase efficiency in chronic disease prevention and management