Oral Presentation 46th Annual ARA NSW-ACT Branch Meeting 2024

Delivering convenient, cost-effective and enhanced care as part of the 2023 Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinical Care Standard (108160)

Errol Lim 1
  1. BJC Health, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Aim: The aim is to deliver on the 2023 Australian “Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinical Care Standard” (RACCS) at scale by being convenient and cost-effective. BJC Connect, an online platform aims to deliver five out of the twelve of quality statements of the RACCS, which are:

  • Access to supportive resources
  • Access to advice between rheumatology consults
  • Support to engage in physical activity
  • Pain management
  • Emotional and psychological wellbeing

Method: A patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) can access BJC Connect for free through a gated platform. First time users are prompted to register. Once logged in, they are two clicks away from accessing:

  • Free live education workshops facilitated by experienced rheumatologists and allied health professionals (AHPs) on medications, disease management, pain management, diet & nutrition, mental wellbeing and much more
  • Recorded content
  • Paid live guided exercise sessions

Patient engagement is delivered through:

  • Emails notifying them of upcoming workshops
  • Add to calendar feature for 30 to 60 days of workshop topics
  • During the workshops, patients can ask questions verbally or through chat with answers delivered in the same way by both facilitators and other attendees

Results: The platform, www.bjcconnect.com.au, now provides:

  • 3 to 5 free live interactive educational workshops per week
  • Resource and recorded content sections
  • Paid live and guided exercise classes
  • A practitioner specific portal supporting the clinical rheumatology community that includes live education events, recorded webinars and archived education material
  • 7500+ registered members (at July 2024) with 15% of these members logging in to engage with the platform each month
  • Monthly Net Promoter Scores ranging from +50 to +79

Conclusion: BJC Connect’s aim is not to replace face to face care from rheumatologists or rheumatology AHPs. It has been designed to enhance existing care by empowering patients through conveniently accessible education, support and interaction with their rheumatology community.

We are confident that it helps to deliver on five of the twelve quality statements of the 2023 RACCS and can enhance healthcare delivery for rheumatology health professionals in NSW, ACT and other jurisdictions in Australia. Please take a closer look at www.bjcconnect.com.au

Note: The presentation given will demonstrate many components of the platform and is suited to an oral presentation.