Australia
New ZealandHere you’ll find user resources to help referrers get started with using HealthLink to electronically refer to participating clinics.
The NSW Health Engage Outpatients program
Electronic referral (eReferral) forms
NSW Health is delivering state-based eReferral forms delivered by Healthlink as part of the Engage Outpatients program. eReferral forms offer a digital solution for primary health care clinicians to refer into NSW public outpatient clinics and services. Digital referrals will facilitate the delivery of referrals to appropriate outpatient services and improve referrer and patient experiences.
General Practitioners (GPs) and other primary care referrers (e.g. Optometrists) will have the ability to send electronic referrals from their practice management software, or a web-based portal, to selected NSW Health outpatient clinics. Referrals will be received for processing and triaged in the electronic Referral Management System (eRMS).
What is happening?
NSW Health aims to develop over 20 specialty specific forms by June 2024. Outpatient clinics in the following Districts are accepting Healthlink referrals:
Learn how to use HealthLink to electronically refer to participating clinics with our video tutorials and PDF user guides.
FAQs
Electronic referrals (eReferrals) allow referrers to send referrals to NSW Health outpatient services digitally in a secure way.
eReferrals are integrated with existing practice management systems and pre-populate available patient data. This makes eReferrals the quickest and easiest way to refer patients to NSW Health outpatient services.
eReferrals were introduced in response to general practitioner (GP) feedback that paper-based referral processes, such as fax and post are time consuming.
eReferrals digitise the referral process, making the management of referrals safer and more efficient for GPs, local outpatient services and patients.
The introduction of eReferrals has been established as a state-based project through the Engage Outpatients program to enable referrals to be sent electronically to outpatient services in NSW.
eReferrals aim to support more timely access to outpatient services, improve the quality and referral processes and ensure the required patient data is captured and supplied correctly the first time.
eReferrals support a patient’s transition from primary to secondary care by enabling referrals to be securely sent, reducing the reliance on fax and improving communication between clinicians, referrers, administrative staff and patients/carers.
General practitioners and patients are able to receive a notification when the eReferral has been received by the outpatient services and following an outcome of the referral. This provides GPs and their patients/carers with peace of mind and saves time on manually handling referrals.
To send an eReferral, simply check the patient details (detailed in the reasons for referral) and add the necessary information to support with an assessment. This makes eReferrals the quickest and easiest way to refer patients to NSW Health outpatient services.
HealthLink eReferrals are available on:
- Best Practice Lava SP3 and above
- Genie v8.8 and above
- MedicalDirector 3.16 and above
- Medtech Evolution 10.4.4 and above
- Shexie Platinum 7.0 and above
- Zedmed v35 and above
These practice management systems make up more than 80% of the GP practice management system market in Australia.
You can send and receive eReferrals without a practice management system through MyHealthLink Portal.
MyHealthLink Portal is an online portal that enables smaller medical practices and individual health care providers to submit via a web browser.
MyHealthLink Portal is protected by digital certificates and advanced HealthLink security and backed by expert technical support from HealthLink.
You can watch a tutorial video to learn about how MyHealthLink Portal works.
You will receive a notification at the top of the eReferral form confirming it has been sent and when the eReferral has been received by the outpatient service.
If your submission is unsuccessful, an error message will appear. In this case, please either:
- Call the HealthLink help desk on 1800 125 036 or
- Email helpdesk@healthlink.net
The information you already entered should be saved. To check for any outstanding referrals, you can access ‘Parked’ forms and resume completing the referral for submission.
All practice management systems store eReferrals in an inbox or folder that you can refer back to.
The eReferrals use end-to-end encryption to ensure privacy and security. Personal information and documents are retained securely within the system.
Anyone who currently has access to your practice management system will be able to access eReferrals. Depending on how your practice management system is configured, it may be possible for practice nurses to submit an eReferral.