HealthPathways Melbourne: the online, handy source of truth for GPs and other clinicians 

Pictured: Cherylynn Garner, Acting Manager of HealthPathways Melbourne.

In much of the greater Melbourne area, the system is known as HealthPathways Melbourne. It is a joint venture between NWMPHN and Eastern Melbourne PHN.

Here is an actual, anonymised example of how the platform can be used as a decision-making support tool and information resource. 

Lucy is a new patient. She is 32 years old, and presents with her partner Jack, with concerns around some light vaginal bleeding. Gathering her history, the GP establishes that Lucy has had a positive result on a home pregnancy test and is 6 weeks pregnant by dates. 

The GP consults the Pregnancy Bleeding pathway to aid assessment, and arrange an urgent quantitative bHCG, FBE, blood group and Ab screen.

The GP also schedules her for a trans-vaginal pelvic ultrasound, along with other routine antenatal investigations listed in the Antenatal Care – First Consult pathway. 

On review later the same week, Lucy’s condition is reassuring. Her bleeding has stopped. The GP explains to her that bleeding in early pregnancy is common and often resolves with no long-term effects. 

Then Lucy mentions that this is her third pregnancy. The first 2 ended in miscarriage. 

On the basis of this, GP consults the Recurrent Pregnancy Loss pathway, and determines that given her history her patient may benefit from vaginal micronised progesterone. 

The GP uses HealthPathways to arrange a prompt pregnancy booking and reviews information on the platform for an Early Pregnancy Assessment Service (EPAS), which is recommended if there are ongoing concerns around bleeding. 

Several weeks later, Lucy presents with concerns that she may have a urinary tract infection, so the GP consults the UTI and Asymptomatic Bacteriuria pathway and arranges testing and empirical treatment. 

Lucy is concerned, because she has had resistant UTIs, so the GP elects to seek further advice from a medicine’s information service. 

The GP consults the pathway again for further advice about when to re-test, and what to do if she were develops recurrent UTIs during the pregnancy. 

Several months later, Lucy and Jack arrive with baby Matilda for their 6-week check. Everyone is doing brilliantly!

HealthPathways is a dynamic and growing resource. By the conclusion of 2022-23 it contained 892 pages, of which 34 had been added in the previous 12 months. Another 308 been reviewed and where necessary updated to reflect changing clinical tools or treatment recommendations. 

HealthPathways also employs clinical editors – all of them working GPs – who compile case studies, such as the one used in this story, to illustrate how the platform can be used to produce real-world outcomes for patients. 

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