3 rd World Congress on Integrated Care, Mexico City, Mexico, 19-21 November, 2015 Volume 15, 17 Nov 2015 Publisher: Uopen Journals URL: http://www.ijic.org Cite this as: Int J Integr Care 2015; WCIC Conf Suppl; URN:NBN:NL:UI:10-1-117345 Copyright: Conference Abstract Integration through co-location of allied health services into general practice: a demonstration trial in north coast nsw medicare local / Integración a través de la co-localización de los servicios de salud aliados en la práctica general: un ensayo de demostración en la costa norte de NSW y el seguro medico local Susan A Nancarrow, Southern Cross University, Australia Alison Roots, Southern Cross University, Australia Bernadette Carter, North Coast Primary Health Network, Australia Fiona O'Meara, North Coast Primary Health Network, Australia Vahid Saberi, North Coast Primary Health Network, Australia Correspondence to: Susan A Nancarrow, Southern Cross University, Australia, E-mail: susan.nancarrow@scu.edu.au Abstract Introduction: An impediment to integrated care in Australia is the fragmented nature in which care is delivered, without coordination, in the public, private, acute and community settings. This paper describes the evaluation of an initiative to determine whether the co-location of local health district (LHD) employed community and allied health professionals in general practice (family physician) settings results in better service integration and improved patient access and experience. The project aimed to improve the integrated care by facilitating skills transfer between specialist allied health and nursing staff and the general practice team while testing the feasibility of partnership arrangements for co-location and the establishment of shared governance between agencies. Practice change implemented: Between April 2014 and April 2015, 11 general practices were involved in the project across two Local Health Districts (Government public hospital and ancillary services sector). They worked with 4 co-located practitioners: 2 nurse practitioners (NPs) (chronic kidney disease and chronic cardiac and respiratory disease) and 2 clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) (respiratory failure and asthma). Three data sources were used in the evaluation: audit and activity data, surveys, and interviews. Data were synthesised into a logic model using Valentiijn and colleagues' (2013) integrated care framework. Key findings: The co-located practitioners delivered 294 consultations across 77 clinics to 217 patients. Practitioner co-location enhanced service integration by providing patients with accessible and appropriate services by: providing a timely and convenient service (the pathway from referral to receipt of services, distance travelled, ease of referral, and making the appointment). Co-location facilitated improved coordination of patient care by enabling practice