The eCollaborative: Quality improvement collaborative to implement the National eHealth Record System in Australian primary care practices

The new Australian national patient-controlled electronic health record is an important quality improvement, and there was a pressing need to pilot its use in Australian primary care practices. Implementation of electronic health records in other countries has met with mixed success.

The collaborative methodology was adapted for implementing innovation and proved useful for engaging with multiple small practices, facilitating low-risk testing of processes, sharing ideas among participants, development of clinical champions and development of resources to support wider use. Email discussion between participants and system designers facilitated improvements. Data quality was a key challenge for this innovation, and quality measures chosen require development. Patient participants were partners in improvement.