Dr. Patrick Coleman

Dual accreditation in both nephrology and general medicine allows me to pursue my passion of approaching patients more broadly than focusing on isolated problems or individual organ systems. In recent years, advances in information technology and electronic health records, including My Health Record, have provided the opportunity to forensically investigate each individual patient’s clinical profile. This enhances clinicians’ ability to reach more accurate diagnoses and recommend more focused interventions. Although a great deal more needs to be achieved to reduce fragmentation of care, the development of rapid encrypted medical communication has the potential to promote greater coordination of care in a timely manner. Dramatic advances in the health sciences in recent decades have led to previously fatal conditions becoming chronic conditions. Though the resulting improved life expectancy is to be cherished, it frequently comes at the cost of a progressively reduced quality of life. In my lifetime, society has addressed many important previously taboo issues however we have not yet adequately addressed the most ubiquitous issue, death. I am a strong advocate for the greater education of clinicians in the sensitive completion of Advance Care Plans and the creation of a Medicare item number to allow clinicians, primary care clinicians in particular, to dedicate sufficient time and resources to completing Advance Care Plans where clinically indicated and appropriate. I believe that creating such an item number would be cost-saving to the Australian health budget whilst simultaneously improving clinical outcomes for patients and their families. I look forward to a time when the community at large accepts that the completion of an Advance Care Plan is an essential part of good clinical care much in the same way as the community already accepts that the completion of a Last Will & Testament is an essential part of good legal care.

Board certifications