What is Veterans' MATES?

The program aimed to support veterans and their families to manage their health. Administrative claims data were used to identify DVA clients who were at risk of medicine related problems and the health providers who treated them. Veterans’ MATES used this information to provide educational material that was tailored to DVA clients’ specific health care needs. Veterans’ MATES also provided direct patient-based feedback to treating doctors regarding medicines and health services that had been provided to their DVA client patients. This information was tailored to an individual doctor's practice.

Supporting educational material was also sent to community pharmacies, accredited pharmacists and other health professionals who provided care for DVA clients. A team of clinical experts contributed to the development of the health and medicine information.

Each year Veterans’ MATES focused on four topics and utilised DVA’s administrative claims data to pinpoint members of the veteran community who would benefit. The program focused on increasing use of under-used medicines, reducing adverse medicine events, reducing use of unnecessary medicines and improving the utilisation of health services. A range of health conditions and medicines were covered including pain, diabetes, insomnia, depression, falls, osteoporosis and wound care.

The national program was evaluated using surveys provided at the time materials were distributed, as well as observational studies using administrative claims data to measure the impact of the interventions. Over the most recent years, 70% of DVA clients and 80% of general practitioners who had provided feedback through the surveys reported the educational materials were beneficial.

Whilst the program was active:

• Veterans’ MATES reached more than 300,000 DVA clients, 33,000 general practitioners and 8,500 pharmacists.
• Each year approximately 77,000 DVA clients received educational material from Veterans’ MATES specific to their health care needs.
• Collectively there was over 500,000 mailings sent to doctors, with 1.5 million targeted messages individually tailored for each DVA client’s health care needs.
• The program delivered 1.5 million mailings to identified DVA clients providing health education and self-management advice.

Results from the program showed:

• 22,000 years of more appropriate treatment with medicines;
• 67,500 DVA clients received tests and services necessary for their care;
• 930 hospitalisations were avoided; and
• At least 140 premature deaths avoided.

Topic materials available on this website reflected information current at the time of distribution.