This Prevention and Early Intervention Coordination (PEIC) Model is a VACCHO led, joint initiative with the Department of Health and Human Services Victoria (DHHS).

The PEIC Model takes place over a three-year funded period and focuses on supporting selected Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) to strengthen their primary and secondary preventive health activities by investing tailored support and resources at state and local levels. 

The PEIC Model helps ACCOs to implement systematic changes to move from a reactive model to a proactive, preventative healthcare model.

Within this framework, we include a focus on promoting the benefits of clients undertaking the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) Item number 715; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People Health Assessment, and follow up review cycles.

Regular health assessments help clients to maintain a sense of wellness, and incorporate key preventative health messages to encourage smoking cessation, improve immunisation status and increase screening for breast, bowel and cervical cancer, along with sexual health screening.

Workforce training to support data capture is a key element of the program. Regular Health Assessments cycles also assist clients with a pre-existing diagnosis to keep well within that diagnosis.

Regular Health Assessment and review cycles simultaneously increase MBS revenue for the ACCOs, which helps to sustain them working within this preventative healthcare model, and allows them the opportunity to increase workforce to meet community need.

Increased MBS revenue also helps ACCOs to work towards economic independence, giving them the flexibility to respond to their community priorities in innovative ways.

The PEIC Model is being evaluated by Dr Bill Genat, an Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne.