​About the study

This study uses data from the Lumos program which links deidentified general practice data with other health service data, to shine a light on patient journeys through the health system.

Study period

1 January 2018 - 31 December 2019

Who is included?

All patients that attended one of the 198 Lumos-participating practices across NSW during the study period.

Findings

Patients that attended a high-frequency servicing practice were:

• 10% less likely to have an ED presentation
• 12% less likely to have an unplanned hospital admission

This is seen in both patients who attended the practice frequently and those who attended less often.*

Patient characteristics

Patients managed by the high-frequency servicing practices tended to be:

• older
• from a disadvantaged area
• more likely to have a chronic condition.

Practice characteristics

Practices that saw patients more often tended to be:

• located outside of major cities
• smaller. No high-frequency servicing practice in this study had over 12,000 patients.

How are practices defined?

High-frequency servicing practices are practices where >30% of patients visited at least 12 times in 2 years.

• 22% of the practices in this study met the criteria for being a high-frequency servicing practice.
• 78% of practices were considered lower-frequency servicing.

Further information

Lumos will continue to uncover and share insights to support health system improvement across NSW.

* These insights have been rigorously peer reviewed. For further information on the methodology of this study please visit Insights.

The Lumos program has been funded by the Commonwealth Government under the Health Innovation Fund.