NSW Health and HealthLink eReferral expansion hits key milestones

In October 2023, HealthLink part of global healthtech company Clanwilliam and NSW Health began a phased roll out of the HealthLink eReferral SmartForms technology, and the NSW Health electronic referral management system (eRMS) across multiple Local Health Districts (LHDs).

This expansion has proven to be a huge success one year into the roll out, and GPs are singing its praises.

The solution integrates into practice management software such as Best Practice, MedicalDirector Clinical, Genie, Medtech, Zedmed, Communicare and Shexie, enabling direct, two-way electronic communications between referring practitioners and NSW Health’s outpatient clinics. These communications support the initial submission of outpatient referrals by external healthcare professionals, triage review and acceptance by the LHD clinics via the eRMS system. Additional integrations with practice management software for SmartForms are planned for the near future.

Several key milestones in the joint expansion project have now been achieved:

The development and adoption of new Specialty eReferrals that meet the NSW Ministry of Health’s state-wide Referral Criteria
The use of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) as the standard to exchange communication between NSW Health and external healthcare providers
6x LHDs implementing the eRMS;
- Sydney LHD (Women’s Health)
- South East Sydney LHD
- Western Sydney LHD
- Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD
- Central Coast LHD
- Far West LHD
Increased usage with now over 22,000 eReferral SmartForms submitted from 1,500 Healthcare Practices to the LHDs
Enhancements to the secure communications capability enabling seamless Referral Updates and Addendums to be facilitated between GPs and hospital across NSW.

More expansion and more features to enrich the solution

The Update Referral feature now enables hospitals to request GPs to submit additional information to their initial referrral supporting more accurate and efficient triage decision-making, while GPs can also proactively use the feature to submit additional information to previously sent referrals.

Other features include the development of more specialty forms to provide greater assistance to referrers and receiving clinics, as well as patients being notified of their referral outcome via text and email.

From July 2024 onwards, expanding the use of the eRMS and the HealthLink SmartForms is planned to continue across:

South East Sydney LHD (Sutherland Hospital, Prince of Wales, and Royal Women’s Hospital)
Far West LHD
Western Sydney LHD – Westmead Hospital

With more LHDs, like Western NSW LHD planning their implementation of the eRMS later this year.

GPs thrilled with eReferrals

NSW GPs are singing the praises of the eReferral solution, including Dr Annabel Kain who is a GP at Erskineville Doctors.

“Using HealthLink to provide referrals to my local hospital outpatient’s clinic has made the process much more efficient and just as easy as using HealthLink for driver’s licence assessments and My Aged Care referrals,” Dr Kain says.

“Having the ability to click a few buttons to include reports and investigations saves time and often I’ve sent it while still chatting to my patient. If I send a referral through HealthLink I know that it’s gone to the right place and is not floating around on a fax machine somewhere. I get a response from the clinic that it has been received and even the patient getsnotified of their referral outcome.”

Similarly, Dr Julie Ong, a GP at Healthway Medical Practice, says eReferrals are a free, easy, efficient and user-friendly tool.

“It allows me to refer my patients to many specialists of my choice.” she says.

Collaborative effort

HealthLink, Clanwilliam Australia, National Manager, Jean-Christophe Meunier, says the most satisfying compliment they’ve received so far working on the system roll out with NSW Health has come from recent evaluations conducted with hundreds of referrers using the system.

“When we asked referrers whether there were any specific hospitals, services and/or specialties they’d like to see available for NSW Health eReferrals, every respondent confirmed they wanted the eReferral capability expanded to cover more services and specialties at their local hospitals.”

HealthLink’s SmartForm technology is used by over 90% of general practice in NSW to refer patients from their PMS to other organisations. The MyHealthLink Portal can also be used by referring practitioners who don’t have a SmartForm-compliant PMS.

About HealthLink

HealthLink, part of Clanwilliam, is Australasia’s largest Health IT network, connecting more than 15,000 medical organisations and facilitating the secure exchange of over 100 million clinical messages annually. HealthLink’s solutions enable healthcare providers to seamlessly integrate with other health systems, ensuring the accurate and timely sharing of clinical information. Through innovative technology and a commitment to interoperability, HealthLink empowers healthcare professionals to deliver better patient outcomes.

HealthLink was acquired by Clanwilliam, a global healthcare technology organization, in 2017 and forms part of the Clanwilliam ANZ division which includes leading healthcare technology products and brands: Konnect NET (medical information request platform for insurers), Toniq (pharmacy software), and MBS (anaesthetic private practice software).

Connecting health providers across Australia