The BEACH Project Bettering the Evaluation And Care of Health Conducted by the Australian General Practice Statistics and Classification Centre (AGPSCC).
	Australian General Practice Statistics and Classification Centre (AGPSCC) is a Collaborating Unit of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

BEACH 10th Birthday Party : Photo's and video

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What is the BEACH program?

The BEACH^© program continuously collects information about the clinical activities in general practice in Australia including

	characteristics of the GPs
	patients seen
	reasons people seek medical care
	problems managed, and for each problem managed (direct link)

	medications prescribed, advised, provided, clinical treatments and procedures provided
	referrals to specialists and allied health services
	test orders including pathology and imaging

The BEACH database includes currently includes about 900,000 GP-patient encounter records (07/07)

It uses a cross-sectional, paper based data collection system developed and validated over 30 years at the University of Sydney. Data generated is used by researchers, government, industry and non-government organisations.

We will analyse data regarding specific topics for external organisations. You can purchase Standard Reports, or specify your own analyses.

We thank the following organisations for their financial support and their contribution to the ongoing development of the BEACH program since it began in April 1998.

Current major contributors:

	AstraZeneca Pty Ltd (Australia) (1998—)
	Janssen-Cilag Pty Ltd (2000—)
	Merck, Sharpe and Dohme (Australia) Pty Ltd (2002—)
	Pfizer Australia (2004—)
	National Prescribing Service (2005—)
	Abbott Australasia (2006—)
	Sanofi-Aventis Australia Pty Ltd (2006—)
	Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2007—)
	Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (2007—)

Additional financial support for the program is also currently provided by:

Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs (2004—).

In past years other major contributors to the BEACH project have been :

	Roche Products Pty Ltd (1998–2006)
	Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (1998–2004)
	Australian Government Department of Veterans’ Affairs (1998–2000)
	National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (1998–2000)
	Aventis Pharma Pty Ltd (1998–2002).

We acknowledge the support of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the Australian Medical Association, the Australian Divisions of General Practice, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, and the Consumers Health Forum, and the contribution of their representatives to the BEACH Advisory Board.

Aims

	to collect reliable and valid data about general practice which is responsive to the ever-changing needs of information users.
	to establish an ongoing database of GP/patient encounter information.
	to assess patient based risk factors and the relationship these factors have with health service activity.
	to provide accurate and timely data to a wide variety of users including government bodies, GP organisations, consumers, researchers, and the pharmaceutical industry.

The process

	An on-going data collection process - 20 GPs recording per week
	Random sample of 1000 GPs annually across Australia - from HIC Medicare records
	100 consecutive consultations from each GP
	All consultations recorded - including indirect consultations (e.g. telephone) - which result in a management action e.g. prescription, referral, etc.

        Year 8 (April 2004-March 2005) BEACH recording form
        Year 9 (April 2005-March 2006) BEACH recording form, Instructions for participating doctors

Data variables collected

The management of depression and what is the top lipid lowering drug prescribed in general practice are just some of the topics that can be investigated using the BEACH data.

Other topics can be investigated by making use of the interrelationships of the BEACH data variables -

Encounter characteristics

GP characteristics

age; gender; years in general practice; number of sessions per week; country of graduation; size of practice; computer use; hours worked and on call each week; location (rurality) of practice.

Patient characteristics

age; sex; NESB status; aboriginality; Torres Strait Islander status; Health Care Card and Veterans’ Affairs status; status to the practice (new/seen before).

Patient reasons for encounter (up to three)

Problems managed at the consultation (up to four)

status of each problem to the patient (new/managed before); whether the problem was work related.

Management: for each problem managed

	drugs prescribed; OTC advised; drugs supplied by the GP; status of the drug (new, continuation); dosage; regimen.
	other treatments, including therapeutic procedures and counselling; referrals to specialist; referrals to allied health professionals; admissions.

Tests and investigations:

pathology and imaging ordered at this consultation.

SAND = Supplementary Analysis of Nominated Data:

Additional questions asked of patients in subsamples of encounters.
Different questions may be asked in each recording block (5 weeks).

Population risk factors investigated include: smoking status; alcohol consumption, body mass index. Specific interests of BEACH stakeholders are also investigated.

Enquiries

A/Prof Helena Britt Telephone: +61 2 9845 8150 Fax: +61 2 9845 8155 E-mail: beach@fmrc.org.au

Jan Charles Telephone: +61 2 9354 0612 Fax: +61 2 9845 8155 E-mail: janc@med.usyd.edu.au