Australia
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Submitting Fitness to Drive medical assessments electronically instead of on paper is saving healthcare workers and patients precious time and hassle.
Transport for NSW, using the HealthLink SmartForm technology, now allows Fitness to Drive medical assessments to be submitted electronically making life a lot easier for GPs and patients.
Online medical submissions also protect older drivers and help slow the spread of COVID-19 as patients don’t have to attend a Service NSW Centre to hand in a paper form.
The HealthLink SmartForm is compatible with Medical Director, Best Practice, Genie and Medtech Evolution practice management systems.
Transport for NSW Licence Review Unit Manager Kylie Williams says annual Fitness to Drive medical assessments were required for people over 75, people with certain medical conditions and people holding specific licences.
“Right now, it’s important to think about our older drivers and ways we can work together to help them out as much as possible,” Ms Williams says.
“Helping them avoid a trip to a Service Centre is key. After feedback from doctors, we’ve planned further improvements to the electronic form, making it even quicker and easier to use,” she says.
One medical practice near Sydney, which uses Medical Director, has been using the SmartForm since its inception in 2017.
The practice nurse says they submit a large number of electronic medical assessments via the Transport SmartForms.
“We probably do about 80 a month all up. It saves patients a lot of time and hassle because they no longer have to post all the documents or drive to the Service Centre and wait around for ages for their form to be processed,” she says.
High demand from patients
She says many of the practice’s patients are elderly and living longer, so they have a high number of people needing to submit Fitness to Drive medical assessments.
“Sending the forms by post is slower, and having to drive to the Service Centre is a big ask for a lot of people due to our location. They also have to wait for their form to be processed, which can be stressful for older people.”
She says submitting forms electronically also saves patients money because they don’t have to pay for petrol or parking.
The electronic form is quicker to fill out than the paper-based one, and the electronic submission remains in the patient record, so GPs and nurses can easily access it, she says.
“I’d definitely recommend the electronic form to other practices, especially if you have older patients and aren’t in a big city.”
HealthLink Customer Service and Deployment Lead Technical Analyst Lawrence Peterson says the SmartForm continues to gain popularity across NSW.
“There are 1,350 medical practices now submitting more than 9,000 electronic Fitness to Drive medical assessments each month for their patients.”
How to submit Fitness to Drive medical assessments electronically:
Quick Start Guides for:
- Best Practice
- MedicalDirector
- Genie