General Practices

The PARTNER Network creates an environment of research-ready GP practices that improves the speed and quality of research conducted in primary care, and allows patients in regional, rural, or remote locations equity in access to clinical trials and improved health outcomes.

The PARTNER network will be a national rural practice-based research network (PBRN) of 90 rural general practices and a related database. Together this will create a clinical trial development and participation resource for:

- Rural Australians
- Rural primary health care professionals
- Researchers

You will be contributing to a research program that aims to understand general practice activity, improve clinical practice and patient outcomes in the future.

Through your participation, you might have opportunity to invite some of your patients to participate in clinical trials – benefits of such for patients can include improved health outcomes.

What will the PARTNER Network do?

The PARTNER Network will:

Connect rural Australians to clinical trials through their local general practice
Create research-ready rural general practices that improve the speed and quality of research
Improve general practice skill and capacity to develop and conduct rural practice-based research
Support trials that a relevant to the needs to rural Australians
Identify eligible patients for specific trials, making trial recruitment more efficient

What are the benefits of participating?

The PARTNER Network provides many benefits to your practice, your staff, and patients.

Improved patient outcome: Patients in clinical trials often have better outcomes regardless of whether they are in the intervention or control group.
Be part of research: Improve clinical practice and patient outcomes through needed primary care clinical trials and teletrials. The ‘secondary’ use of de-identified patient data decreases the burden and cost of collecting new data for research.
Ongoing education and continuing development activities: Your practice team will be trained in the conduct of clinical trials.
Early exposure to new medicines, devices and models of care
Generate your own research questions and projects: To participate and contribute to the development of new research that is important to you and meets the clinical needs of your community.
Patients like clinical trials: They have increased access to specialists and can meaningfully contribute to research that helps people with similar conditions.
Opportunities for income: $2000 sign-up amount for each practice, and opportunities to participate in paid clinical trials.

$2000 payment for sign-up, covering installation of GRHANITE® ($1000) and Torch Recruit™ ($1000). Further payments will be considered for PARTNER Network involvement. Some clinical trials will provided further payment.

Who is leading the PARTNER Network?

PARTNER is spearheaded by a dedicated network of internationally recognized academic GPs and primary care experts focused on enabling rural primary care to develop and conduct trials.

Prof Jon Emery (University of Melbourne)
A/Prof David Gonzalez-Chica (University of Adelaide)
Prof Andrew Kirke (University of Western Australia)
Prof Jan Radford (University of Tasmania)
Dr Zoe Schofield (Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia)
Prof Nigel Stocks (University of Adelaide)
Prof Katharine Wallis (University of Queensland)

Who is funding the PARTNER Network?

The PARTNER Network is part of the Australian Teletrial Program, funded by the Australian Government under the Medical Research Future Fund, National Critical Infrastructure Initiative, 2019 Rural, Regional and Remote Clinical Trial Enabling Infrastructure grant.

Practice eligibility

Participating general practices must meet the following eligibility criteria:

Located in rural or regional area categorised by the Modified Monash Model as MMM2-7.
Practice clinical software is either Best Practice or Medical Director (not cloud-based or a shared server) and the Edge or Chrome browser is available.
Have available a PC with Windows 10 or above.
Stable Internet or NBN connection.

Further Information for General Practices

What is involved for general practices in taking part in the PARTNER Network?