The Clinical Panel consists of highly experienced allied health, disability, mental health and medical professionals who can provide you with support and advice as you treat TAC clients. They can work with you to discuss the most effective treatment options and pathways, support you with managing complex clients and address any concerns you have about your patient.
You can access outcome measures that Clinical Panellists have identified as particularly useful in clinical practice. These tools can assess a person’s current or future health status and demonstrate the effectiveness of treatment.
The role of the Clinical Panel
Members of our Clinical Panel routinely conduct reviews in line with the Clinical Framework. During a review, a Clinical Panellist will contact you to discuss aspects of your patient’s recovery, including:
- the effectiveness of treatment or services
- return to work capacity and issues surrounding certification
- clarification of medical issues, injury or prognosis
- new or ongoing treatment/services requests
- surgical requests, medical intervention or pharmacotherapy
- independent medical examination findings or recommendations
We will also notify your patient when a clinical review is underway.
In addition to reviews, the Clinical Panel has broadened its focus to include:
- identifying and developing new service models and effective interventions to achieve optimal outcomes
- identifying and evaluating early interventions to support clients to get their life back on track and maximise their independence
- supporting staff in proactive management, making external provider visits (e.g. case conferencing) and worksite visits, promoting general peer in-practice support and cross discipline education, and presenting at conferences, universities and peak bodies
- reviewing outlier provider performance to manage health risks and quality safeguards
Watch this video to learn more about the Clinical Panel's role.
Paul Coburn: We’re encouraging providers at the moment, if you’ve got a question about a particular patient, please contact the Panel. We love getting enquiries from providers. We love talking to you about ways that you might be able to think about [how] you can manage things better.
Tania Gibbie: I think this resource that the Clinical Panel aims to provide to our providers in the community will be a really rich resource in terms of peer support.
Paul Coburn: So, by having a panel, a group of people, we’ve got people like psychologists, we’ve got people who specialise in pain, we’ve got people who specialise in hip injuries, in back injuries, in neck injuries, and together, we can get information about how to manage particular client’s problems.
Hugh Steward: We want to actually be providing the treaters with advice. It’s very important that the providers to TAC clients understand that when they get a call from a member of the Medical team in the Clinical Panel, in fact all Clinical Panel members, they are practicing clinicians.
Kate Phillips: We’re really keen to provide education and guidance and mentoring. It’s really to support them to help the clients get what they want to get to.
Tania Gibbie: I’m working with a provider, a psychologist that lives in regional Victoria, and really doesn’t have access to a multi-disciplinary team around her. The client she was working with was really struggling with chronic pain, and some mood issues, some depression as well. And really being able to provide some input for that provider, she was the only person in that town, really being able to help her and upskill her with some chronic pain management and online resources, really had a great impact; one with her, as well as directly with the TAC client.