In recent months GPSpeak has paid close attention to the subject of Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs), first introduced to GPs in the Northern Rivers (and Australia) by visiting US authority Dr Edward B. Noffsinger in 2013.
Since then the concept of a doctor supported by other clinicians and a facilitator consulting with a group of common-morbidity patients has attracted considerable interest. As reported in GPSpeak, recent trials showed high approval ratings from both patients and their doctors. One advocate of the SMA model is Dr Garry Egger from Southern Cross University. He explained the thinking behind the SMA model in a talk on ABC Radio National's Ockham's Razor program on 7 Dec 2014.
